Gay Man Walking

23/06/2022

SO turns out I won’t be able to walk the remainder of the with my big ass backpack for the rest of the summer due to my knee 🥵 but tbh I’m okay with it because a) it’s summer b) my knee is more important than dancing at cliff edges c) it’s been two months since I’ve been off trail which has helped ease me into not walking d) super grateful to even be able-bodied enough to do 8 days of it and feel like a lucky boy in general. Onwards and upwardsss (expect not literally)✨ also Physio has taught me so much about human bodies; specifically patellar tendons and I am soooo grateful for body scientists the world over 🙏🏼 Anyways time for a gay ass summerrrr 🌈

I’ve been in Teignmouth for a little blur of time and managed a walkies to Shaldon, and yes the seagull baby was blasting Break My Soul from that speaker and vibing like the rest of us 👏

**oy

06/05/2022

properly missing this today!
☀️ + 🌊 + 🥧 - 💨 x ♾, please and thx xoxo

26/04/2022

hiiiiii 👋🏼 NEWS y’all: okay so FYI I have a pretty bum set of knees at the moment from going straight out the gate guns blazing (=knees blazing) on the South West Coast Path and have been resting for about a week now. I went to the doctor yesterday and have been told I shouldn’t walk up and down hills for a month to heal; and this trail I’m on contains an elevation that adds up to four times the height of Everest, so: HILLS to the power of infinity, which means, no walking here until either this land becomes flat or my tendons heal. Womp womppp (or that trumpet sound after “it’s chocolate”).

Definitely a bummer, literally as I’ve just been sitting for a while now, but the plan was heading home to Canada for a few weeks very soon regardless - so now the updated plan is to start up again when I get back here early June! At least it’s not too long until then, and a great part about starting this early in Spring is that I’m still just at the start of the hiking season, so plenty of time to frolick (gently I’ll add) 👏

I’ve already had my pity party (there was cake, it was cute) so none of that! I’ll be back on it ASAP, and otherwise will be keeping busy with some content here and general life things as I day dream about walking from pasty to pub. I also want to thank and his family for adopting me right off the trail, for the time being - it’s been a weight off my shoulders and knees being able to stay put. ♥️

PSA to listen your body ✨ eat ur greens ✨ believe in your stars ✨ and reach for the dreams ✨ xoxo rossipgirl

23/04/2022

some snippitysnaps along the ☀️!

1. so a “public footpath” here means there is a right of way through private land/farmer’s fields, they’re very handy and because of their abundance they make for a great choose your own adventure style of walk. This path is entitled “I say hay you say fever”

2. Fisherman huts on Portland island/today’s affordable housing

3. no. 2, most welcomed photo bomb

4. The Jurassic coast east of Branscombe beach 👌

5. Wild camping view of Quaint Village no. 572, also don’t tell anyone I’m wild camping I don’t wanna make it public 🙏🏼

6. The view looking back at Dawlish. That train journey tho 👀

7. The view out my tent somewhere , also note how stoked my campstove is for the photo-opp 🕺🏼

8. accidentally stalking humans while nature does her thing

9. Did I mention there are cliffs here?

10. taking a break from human stalking and cliff photographing ♥️🧚🏼‍♂️

21/04/2022

wowwwwie I’ve hit 3000 followers here 🤩 thanks for the love and support y’all! can’t stop and won’t stop sharing tales, tips, tricks, info, history, pictures of pastries, and selfies from the trails! On that note anyone got any recommendations of trails they’ve done/heard about in Europe?! Might fancy somewhere super warm to walk through next 👀

Also if you get a chance I’d love it if you could subscribe to my YouTube if you haven’t already 🙂 the link is here: https://youtube.com/c/ItsRossJackson

Also I’ll be posting lots to instagram now too as I’m on the currently! Follow me here: www.instagram.com/itsrossjackson

XOXO Ross

The true story of a real life gay human male tripping his way down the world's long-distance trails! So, 9999+ hours of him trying not to die.By the way, the...

20/04/2022

🧚🏼‍♂️!!!!

20/04/2022

Days 7 + 8 🌊
📍 Beer to Teignmouth, 50kms 🥾

Even typing out 50 km just now made me do a 😬 in real life. I’m currently in Teignmouth being hosted by and his family, in their yurt no less, because: ; I’ve ordered myself to be flat and let my knees recuperate fully (and not just for 2 days like last week) - with the 200 meter walk to the bakery this morning sending waves of dull pain to my knees, “50 km” looks like a full on tsunami. But for the most part I was able to crack on without any bones cracking, and:
• I’ve complete the Jurassic coast! Constantly stunned, a highlight was the path from Beer to Branscombe beach first thing in the morning. The whole 96 mile coast feels like a highlight tbh, when I look at it it’s like that page of study notes I’ve started highlighting important bits of only to see I’ve highlighted the whole thing by the end (bar a few lines, in this case: busy beaches during Easter weekend😑). 185 million years of history in these rocks…just enough time for them to learn the best way to destroy my body (jk that’s on me, forgive me, layers of ancient skeletons).
• the days are warming up and the coast is getting busier as I head south, and I’m running into so many more day hikers who’ve done the whole SWCP, other thruhikers walking the opposite direction as I am, and all the walking related chats are so informative, familiar, and reminders of how awesome all of this is to so many humans. The more I walk here the more I understand why so many locals have walked the entire thing, and love that most know where to find the best pasty.
• on Monday I was delighted by a random woman who handed me chocolate she was going to throw in the bin, so: celebrated Easter ✔️
• on that note it’s nice for the hectic weekend to be done, finding a seat at a restaurant was tricky, a campsite with a free pitch even harder (come through: wild camping!), no local pharmacy open for knee bandages, and just a bit exhausting trying to not whack kids on the boardwalk with my hiking poles. Might not be using the weekdays to walk right now but happy to be listening to my body; hopefully will be repaired by the weekend!💪

19/04/2022

Day 6 👌
📍 Beer to West Bay, 32 km 🥾

OK this stretch of coast was the chef’s kiss of coast, but like a really hot chef who makes you your favourite pizza and then actually kisses you.
Perfect balance of good ol’ :
•the longest stretch of wild forest I’ve walked through in the UK (the Undercliffs Reserve near Lyme Regis). So much not-farm I could almost trust the stream water to taste less like cows and more like cow (singular, def a farm sneaking somewhere around the forest edge).
• Golden Cap, the highest peak on the SWCP! It’s only a few feet taller than hundreds of other hills here, but this GC is like the more famous GC () in that they’re both literally top tier British beauties and deserve all the attention they get.
• after so many years of walking through the countryside here I finally walked through a bluebell covered woodland/my current laptop desktop background (if it was the year 2000 I’d be walking through some land in Neopets, which tbh is kind of the bluebell woodland vibe so 10 yr Ross is loving this 🌈)

This day I was able to leave my big backpack in Beer and make my way to West Bay with just my hurting knees and a day bag full of peanuts, painkillers, hopes, and dreams ✨. The hopes and dream section of my bag was for my knees to act like knees again but by km 20 they starting their dull roar/creak through the ibuprofen cream and my ignorance; yet (y’all wanted a twist) I’d ignore them properly for two more days of walking! 😬. We’ll get there. I had a bus to catch to head back to Beer so had to hustle to make it, and according to you must ignore when your body needs a break for the sake of making coin (in this case “coin” means “a bus”). Hustle culture is like the amount of blue hiking gear I wear: somewhat toxic by design, so I was happy for the rush to be done, found a spot to stealth camp, and watched as the very bright full moon rose and eliminated any sense of the word stealth from my camp.

18/04/2022

Waiting til the sun sets so I can start my stealth camp, a series, ft. a ginger nut biscuit. 🏕

18/04/2022

ok hear me out but pirates are like THE human history of the coast here so because of that fact and also that I spend 90% of my day staring at a trail so this is bound to happen at some point: is Mother Earth giving us a gigantic depiction of a map with a trail that leads to an X marking some treasure?? Very that?? And it’s marked above a town named BEER to further nail this in?? although I’m hoping the treasure is a hot shower???…right?

Also this gave me the same wow factor I got as a kid during the final scene/when everything came together on one of Neil buchanan’s big art attacks ♥️

x2

17/04/2022

It was only day 2 and because of trail closures I had to add 16 km of road walking on top of an already long day, which is fine, because I have music, and am slightly mad. It was this level stunning for most of the way so that very much helped.

The red flag in the distance marks the area where the military training grounds’ border is, which was being used hence the trail closure. I’m realizing now I could have passed as a military human with my army green jacket and big ass backpack and just walked through but I don’t think singing along with Little Mix is part of the regiment but it SHOULD BE

16/04/2022

When the sun is out in England in spring the rule is you get it on you in every way possible - directly through eyeballs even ☀️👀
also I am in full Friedrich Von Trapp fantasy mode with this hair right now, someone make me a backpack out of curtains and I’m SET