Stephen Graham (2) (1884–1975)

This must be the most eloquently written book about tramping I’ve encountered. It was first published in 1927.

The author begins by stating: “Know how to tramp and you know how to live.” “Manners makyth man, and tramping makyth manners.”

The tramp is a friend of society, he pays his way if he can.

It is important to have the right boots – you should have leather-lined boots with substantial soles. Graham tells us that it is difficult to better a new pair of army boots, but not army boots already worn by other men.

One should wear thick woollen socks, or even two pairs of socks at once.

The most delightful is to tramp in the mountains, the most trying is along great highways.

It is a good plan on a long tramp to carry a duplicate pair of boots with you.

There’s a chapter about what to take with you in the knapsack. One valuable extra to take is a few yards of mosquito netting.

Do not take a cap or a straw hat; a tweed hat is best.

He advises carrying a blanket, or a couple of blankets.

You will need a coffee pot, an enamel mug, a knife and spoon; you do not need a fork.

Graham tells us that though it may be good to have a companion on the tramp, we all know that prolonged companionship may be trying.

It is a test of friendship to tramp with a companion. If you do not quarrel “irreparably” you will probably find your friendship greatly increased.

“You have naturally long conversations. You comment on Nature around you, and on tramping experiences. You talk of books and pictures, of poems, of people. But above all, almost inevitably, of yourself.”

The slower walker should set the pace. Some can do forty miles a day, many can hardly manage fifteen.

Graham says we should carry a notebook or volume of poems.

He has vagabonded throughout the world, in London and New York, and for thousands of miles in Russia.

In America, the roads are killing. The noontide is too hot, there is too much dust. “Cross-country tramping is much happier and provides more adventures.

The Grand Canyon can afford at least a week’s walking. If you go in August, you should visit the Hopi Indians and see the Smoke Dance.

In Europe he found the language difficulty the chief drawback.

In Spain it is not wise to wear tweeds. All respectable beggars wear black. In Spain it is much colder than people think, Northern Spain being exposed to bitter winds in the spring.

There are chapters on the fire, the bed, the dip, drying after rain, scrounging, seeking shelter, books and much more.

Graham tells us about the “zigzag” walking he invented: first turn to the left, then the first to the right, then the first to the left again and so on. He did this in both New York, Paris and also London.

The book contains many literary references and quotes.

It is very readable, in fact entertaining, and the writing is of a high quality; it contains much practical information for those who themselves want to tramp. Highly recommended!… (altro)

'An absolute gem of a book' Alastair Humphreys

Know how to tramp and you know how to live... Know how to meet your fellow-wanderer, how to be passive to the beauty of nature and how to be active to its wildness and its rigour.

The tramp is a friend of society; a seeker, they pay their way if they can. One includes in the category 'tramp' all true Bohemians, pilgrims, explorers afoot, walking tourists, and the like. Tramping is a way of approach, to nature, to your fellow man, to a nation, to beauty, to life itself. It is a gentle art and there is much to learn; illusions to overcome, prejudices and habits to be shaken off.

The adventure is not the getting there, it is the on-the-way. It is not the expected; it is the surprise; not the fulfilment of prophecy but the providence of something better than prophesied.

Originally published in 1926, The Gentle Art of Tramping is a guide for anyone who has dreamed of taking to the road with nothing more than a bag full of essentials and big ideas. It gives guidance on walking, being open to discovery and being kind - advice as relevant now as it was then.… (altro)

America has its hobos, and the UK has always had its tramps; men who walked the lanes and roads of our country. Graham sees these as vagabonds and outlaws. What he considers as tramping is a gentle and meditative style of walking that you take as much time as you need to enjoy the walk and you are friend of society, a seeker of the unexpected and someone who travels light.

Know how to meet your fellow wanderer, how to be passive to the beauty of nature and to be active to its wildness and its rigour. Tramping brings one to reality

If you are considering taking to the lanes of the UK, then Graham has lots of advice for you. There are chapters on what boots to wear, carrying money, lighting a fire, drying off after rain, what to carry in a knapsack, the tobacco to take and that the book to take when walking should be one that you are just on the cusp of making your own.

From day to day you keep your log, your day-book of the soul and you may think at first that it is a mere record of travel and facts; but something else will be entering into it, poetry, the new poetry of your life

It is a book very much of its time, but then it was first published in 1927. Some of the advice isn’t relevant now, but as you read it you can find gems that still are relevant to walking and enjoying the outside world today. Things like, enjoy the time taken and not concern yourself with the distance covered, tramping is about earning happiness not money and the less you spend the more you will experience. I thought it was a charming little book and I really love the endpapers too which are reproductions of his notebooks. Mostly it is a reminder that it is often the journey that matters more than the destination.… (altro)