I wanted this "Philosophical Hike Through the British Isles" to be so much better - with its promise of Plato and
a nice long walking journey - than it was.

The early chapters were crowded with avoidable complaints of the road, the blisters, the pressures of the time
line that the author and his wife had set, the lack of enough money set aside, the weight of the tent and rucksacks,
the boredom, the scenery, skipping the good attractions of the towns, the rain, etc., etc. This detracted from
any pleasure in the walk. Where were any birds and their songs? Wildlife? Flowers? Plants? Trees? Churches?

And no Singing?!?

Lots of details got missed - did they dig toilets? what and how did they cook?

The last third was totally repetitive and so even more disappointing.

Viktor Frankl's quote was the highlight of the book:

"The meaning of life differs from man to man, from day to day
and from hour to hour. What matters, therefore,
is not the meaning of life in general but rather the specific
meaning of a person's life at a given moment." ( )

Walking with Plato is a book of philosophical and other musings inspired by the author's thousand-mile walk from John o’Groats, the northern tip of Scotland, to Land’s End, the southernmost tip of England. Hayden recounts the scenery, midges, books, ups, downs, and adventures he and his wife have along their journey. The book is pure charm and any Anglophile who's enjoyed a country ramble or a poke through old villages would love it. ( )

I received a ARC through the Library Early reviewers give-away. I usually love such teavel reports, but this one left me wanting more (lots more!). The first thing I noticed, there was no map or even just a drawing of the route anywhere in the book. A picture or two wouldn't have hurt either!
I also disliked the very dry description of the actual walk, it seemed like every day was written for Twitter or something like it.... The author was obviously limited by how many words he could right in each chapter! ( )

This was quite different from most of the road trip books I've read. Often I come away thinking I'm glad they did the trip, I wouldn't want to. This book left me wanting to follow in their footsteps. It felt more like an Impressionists story of the trek. I did very much wish for maps to accompany the text. I do also wish that a couple of the photos that were described were included to be able to see a part of the hike. I appreciated the author's growth as he moved from viewing the journey as a challenge and a trudge to an exhilarating and enjoyable end in itself. I noticed that he grew out of depression into comfortable happiness. Exercise will do that for you. It made for an uplifting and inspiring read. Thank you to LibraryThing from whom I won an advanced readers copy. ( )

I enjoyed this quaint little novel, while not only learning about this amazing walk, but the insights of what walking can do to clear your mind. As the author and his wife embark on this pretty unique journey, he shares his insight and and also gives a very basic and not to difficult to understand philosophy lesson. Of course after the walk, the understanding of why he felt better and different were the most insightful points. I enjoyed that he didn't have any intention of writing about this trip, and only after they were home did he decide to recount what happened, so it was all from memory. I was ready to start my own walking journey and learn my own philosophies. ( )