Happy New Year + Unfolding Insight

January 6, 2025

Waiting to enter the NYE party at Tropical Fruits, in Lismore, New South Wales. Hello fellow traveller-through-life :) First of all, I want to wish you a...

Ise Does it - Day +24

December 9, 2024

09.12.24 It’s taken me a while to get here — this last post of Ise Does It — because things always do after a transformative experience. A pilgrimage, like a...

Ise Does It - Day + 3

November 20, 2024

Ise Does It would have been a very different journey without my walking buddy, Kalia. When she expressed a desire to share her take on the walk with you all,...

Ise Does It - Day 10

November 14, 2024

14.11.24 24.7Km Matthew died last night. I found out over breakfast in some roadside kissa completely bereft of charm except for the kind woman running it....

Ise Does It - Day 9

November 13, 2024

13.11.24 21.52Km Belly full of Mos Burger (and fries and ginger ale) and a kissa fruit parfait, I’m feeling fat and happy. Between 21.52km and 1190m gain in...

Ise Does It - Day 8

November 13, 2024

12.11.24 23Km Craig Mod, the inspiration for this newsletter and, indeed, this entire walk has talked about the incredible untapped potential of Owase, the...

Ise Does It - Day 7

November 11, 2024

11.11.24 10.7Km First things first: I need to address the four-fruit sando. This combination of the most nutrient-deficient white bread you can imagine,...

Ise Does It - Day 6

November 11, 2024

10.11.24 23.1Km Here’s the thing about heartbreak: contrary to popular belief, I’m learning that it does not entail taking your heart and breaking it — or...

Ise Does It - Day 5

November 9, 2024

09.11.24 20.7Km What does it take to believe in magic? Is it the sobs that started deep in my gut as Chicquitita started playing in a cafe in Kii-Nagashima,...

Ise Does It - Day 4

November 8, 2024

08.11.24 25Km For those that were wondering, because I know you were, success came my way. Although I should warn you: one pink pill was too few, and three —...

Ise Does It - Day 3

November 7, 2024

07.11.24 15.6Km The shoji are rattling gently in their frames as a cold wind rustles up the valley, rocking our washing from side to side in an open window....

Ise Does It - Day 2

November 7, 2024

06.11.24 19.3Km One of the reasons I’d set my self the rule around no social media, no news and no email was so that I might avoid hearing of the outcome of...

Ise Does It - Day 1

November 5, 2024

05.11.24 16.36Km (bicycle) 15.21Km (walking) “Heavy!” the host of our ryokan offered, smile on his face, pointing to me and making a movement that was...

Ise Does It - Day 0

November 4, 2024

04.11.24 My head is full, tension starting to tear ever so gently at my temples, the type of feeling the reminds me of jet lag, even though I’m only two...

Ise Does It - Day -1

November 3, 2024

03.11.24 A warmup of another kind today: I joined Aidan for a 10km walk through the fields to the north east of his house. This is the first walk of any...

Ise Does It - Day -3

November 2, 2024

02.11.24 Hi there friends! My name’s Drew Smith, this is my pop-up newsletter, and if you’re new here, welcome! If this email is landing in your inbox after...

A600AASS 23 - The Four Seasons, Amsterdam in December, Presentations and Podcasts, and Bedtime Books

December 12, 2022

A600AASS 23 - 11.12.22 The Four Seasons, Amsterdam in December, Presentations and Podcasts, and Bedtime Books From the abstract to the concrete How do I...

Looking up and looking out

November 23, 2022

It’s taken me a while to get around to writing this because it turns out that settling back in after a month on the road takes, well, a while. But in that...

A600AASS Day 21 - Thank you.

November 4, 2022

It’s been hard to pinpoint exactly where this journey started. Apparently, Chris and I talked about walking the Camino some years ago, but I can’t remember...

A600AASS Day 20 - Salceda to Santiago de Compostela

November 3, 2022

I

A600AASS Day 19 - Melide to Salceda

November 2, 2022

Super

A600AASS Day 18 - Palas de Rei to Melide

November 1, 2022

31.10.

A600AASS Day 17 - Portomarín to Palas de Rei

October 31, 2022

—-

A600AASS Day 16 - Sarria to Portomarín

October 30, 2022

Walkin’ walkin’, wet, wet walkin’. It rained all day today, mostly down, sometimes sideways, often heavily. Water breached my waterproof socks and by the...

A600AASS Day 15 - Samos to Sarria

October 29, 2022

28.10.22 15 Km Bone tired. After landing in a wide, comfortable bunk after 15 kilometres on muddy paths in the rain, I’m starting to get a feel for where the...

A600AASS Day 14 - Fonfría to Samos

October 28, 2022

27.10.22 20 Km The cross shimmered in burnished golds, floating in mid air, suspended from fine wires. 8 windows encircled the dome that soared above me,...

A600AASS Day 13 - Las Herrerías to Fonfría

October 27, 2022

26.10.22 20 Km Uuuuuuup. UpUpUp. And up. Today we climbed like I’ve never climbed before. To be honest, I’ve never really walked before. At least, not like...

A600AASS Day 12 - Villafranca del Bierzo to Las Herrerias

October 26, 2022

25.10.22 25 Km Today was my first, real wet weather day. Like, twenty kilometres of walking-in-moderate-to-heavy-rain wet weather. Had I been walking through...

A600AASS Day 11 - Molinaseca to Villafranca del Bierzo

October 25, 2022

24.10.22 34 Km A short newsletter tonight because, well, thirty four kilometres. We started under starlight from Molinaseca, walking 8 kilometres before a...

A600AASS Day 10 - Foncebadón to Molinaseca

October 24, 2022

23.10.22 19 Km Best day walking, bar none. So far, at least. The descent from Cruz de Fero was as brutal as folk said it would be. Not initially, but...

A600AASS Day 9 - Rabanal de Camino to Foncebadón

October 23, 2022

22.10.22 5.6 Km Soooo… We made it 5.6 Km today before the fever and the nausea got the getter of me. We slept — if that’s the word for it — at a large...

A600AASS Day 8 - Astorga to Rabanal del Camino

October 22, 2022

21.10.22 21 Km I left Australia for Europe in August 2005. That means that I’ve been living overseas for 17 years, bar 9 months spent in retreat from the...

A600AASS Day 7 - Hospital de Òrbigo to Astorga

October 21, 2022

20.10.22 16.5 Km I made it 8 Km before the pain kicked in. A win. But we walked through rolling hills today, and the downhill sections were excruciating. A...

A600AASS Day 6 - Villar de Mazarife - Hospital de Òrbigo

October 20, 2022

19.10.22 15 Km For a few years now, I’ve been conscious of the impact, both positive and negative, that the internet has had on my ability to be in this...

A600AASS Day 5 - Léon to Villar de Mazarife

October 19, 2022

18.10.22 25 Km Quintana Roo Dunne. This was the name given to Joan Didion’s daughter with her husband John Dunne. She was named Quintana Roo after a state in...

A600AASS Day 4 - Léon

October 18, 2022

17.10.22 Rest day The thunder rolls above the clouds, sounding like a fireworks show mounted for the gods above. Every now and then, elegant lighting arcs...

A600AASS Day 3 - Agen to Léon

October 17, 2022

16.10.22 1000 Km (or thereabouts) There's a crow flyingBlack & raggedTree to treeHe's black as the highway that's leading me A sinister opening to Joni...

A600AASS Day 2 - Poitiers to Agen

October 16, 2022

15.10.22 333 Km “Emovare”, said the physiotherapist, in Dutch-accented English. “It’s the Latin root of the word “emotion”. It means “to move”. And what we...

A600AASS Day 1 - Amsterdam to Poitiers

October 15, 2022

14.10.22 962 Km It was like being inside a pack of bubblegum. Three stories under ground, the car park had been drenched in a kind of industrial perfume, no...