fun

I did my first solo hike during a sunny September, seven years ago. After a summer of feeding and ferrying four noisy teenagers (and their friends) around, I was exhausted. But despite being bone tired, I had barely moved. I yearned, above all, for time on my own, for the chance to walk without interruption (and at the pace I chose), and for the silence of some empty wilderness.

But I was nervous. Not of being on my own, but of what might happen to me with no one around to help (breaking a bone, encountering a psychopath, being chased by a bull, getting fatally lost). I could have found a companion or joined a group, but my need for silence and solitude outweighed my fears.

It seems that many women feel the same: in the UK, the proportion of women solo hiking surged by 27% between 2020 and 2022. In America, 41 % of female hikers report regularly walking alone. And yet many women, although keen to do something similar, feel intimidated. According to researchers at the Munich University of Applied Sciences who are studying solo female walkers, 30% of women interviewed said they would like to hike solo but are hesitant.

In truth, women have long enjoyed a tradition of solo walking. From religious pilgrims to goat herders to 19th-century adventurers, there have always been women wandering, radically alone, through wild landscapes. But for those new to it, I’d say the best way to overcome your fear is to do it – and I’ve learned some simple ways to make the experience fun, not daunting.

That first solo hike followed a French canal. It was beautiful but sometimes felt a little too abandoned. It was also bereft of facilities, and frequently involved a long, complicated walk to my accommodation. So here are some of the things I now look for in a route: no discomfort-inducing stretches of urban wasteland; wide open landscapes (ridgeways, cliffs and hilltops are favourites); excellently waymarked, well-maintained paths (like national trails); navigation-lite routes that follow rivers, (lively) canals or coastlines; and countries/regions with a tradition of hiking.

I do my research with care, and I’ve always returned home exhilarated, revitalised and high on my own bravado. I’ve learned to avoid the trails where I might feel uncomfortable. I know now which landscapes calm me, and which trails are (almost) impossible to lose my way on.

For the last seven years, I’ve walked solo every autumn. Indeed, autumn is the perfect time for a liberating, empowering and restorative (solo) hike. Falling leaves improve visibility, temperatures are pleasant, and the days are still long enough to ensure I can reach my destination before dark. Importantly, there are lots of other walkers around – but without summer’s hordes – and the landscape is autumnally crisp and colourful.

If you’re new to solo walking, start with a single day. If you want to try walking for multiple days, consider paying for your luggage to be transported (or use a specialist tour operator who will plot your route, arrange accommodation and move bags). Otherwise pack as lightly as possible. Take a non-digital map and a stick/walking poles, and let someone know your arrival time. Study every aspect of your route – including transport options and the weather – before you set off.

FOUR GREAT ROUTES FOR SOLO HIKERS

The Bernese Oberland, Switzerland

The Swiss Alps are one of my favourite places to walk alone. Swiss women are keen solo hikers (so no one bats an eyelid at yet another single woman), the waymarking is superb and the scenery is jaw-dropping. Because this is a nation of farmers and hikers, there are always people (and a phone signal) around. And yet – because of the mountainous terrain – there’s often a genuine sense of wilderness and solitude. The Bernese Oberland is overrun with tourists in summer, but come to this Unesco world heritage site in autumn and you’ll be walking, calmly, in the footsteps of dozens of 19th-century women who once came here specifically to hike alone. Base yourself in the car-free villages of Wengen or Mürren, and expect to find farm-cafes with homemade cakes and honesty boxes in the remotest of spots.

The South Downs Way

From Eastbourne
To Kingston, near Lewes
Time 2 days
Distance 19 miles

The UK has plenty of well-kept trails, but top of my list is the (expansive, clearly signposted) South Downs Way. In summer the Eastbourne to Alfriston clifftop stretch heaves with tourists, but in autumn you’ll share the panoramic views – dazzling sea, dramatic chalk cliffs – with a handful of dogwalkers. Just a few steps off the trail are cultural hotspots like the pretty village of Alfriston, Charleston Farmhouse (museum home of the Bloomsbury set), and Rodmell, where you can visit Virginia Woolf’s house. So you’ll never feel completely disconnected.

The Cleveland Way

From Saltburn
To Filey
Time 4 days
Distance 52 miles

The Cleveland Way was the UK’s second official national trail, meaning the route is well maintained, the signage is excellent and the scenery is glorious, covering coastline and windblown moors. The moors can feel bleakly exposed in the wrong weather, so opt for the four-day coastal section, Saltburn to Filey, with its quirky towns and villages. This is Yorkshire so expect plenty of conversation with passing walkers and the chance to feel romantically windswept – an intoxicating blend for the solo hiker who wants to feel alone in nature, but not too alone.

The Fishermen’s Trail, southern Portugal

From Praia da Luz
To Sagres
Time 3 days
Distance 27 miles

The Fishermen’s Trail is far too hot in summer, but when I went (November) the temperature was just right, the sea was warm enough to swim in, and there were enough solo female hikers to feel pleasantly companioned. With some rocky scrambling to make one feel suitably youthful, and sufficient sandy coves to squeeze in a siesta, this route (a chain of old fishing villages) also has abundant, inexpensive accommodation and fresh seafood galore. Like other sea-hugging routes it’s (mostly) impossible to get lost – just follow the coastline.

I’ll leave the last word to writer Mathilde Blind, who (aged 19) walked alone through the Bernese Oberland in 1860 (no phone, no GPS, no bra, no waterproof trousers): “For once I felt truly free.”

Annabel Abbs is the author of The Walking Cure and Windswept: Why Women Walk. She was a guest of InnTravel on its Coastal Algarve and Fishermen’s Trail route, and of MACS Adventures on its Highlights of the Bernese Oberland route.

At age 14, Glen Walsh started surfing because of a crush. He was a boogie boarder until the object of his adoration told him, “What are you riding that for? You should be surfing. Get a surfboard.” So, he did. “I was terrible at it, but I kept going. I was super persistent.”

That resilience proved useful. As a gay teenager in Santa Monica, Walsh was often called slurs on the Venice Pier. “You think you’re like a unicorn — a weirdo,” he says. He felt at odds with the local surf community. To Walsh, surfing was “super straight, very hypermasculine, very intimidating.” Yet his love of the ocean — and sure, crush-worthy surfers — kept him returning to the water. “I wanted to be around them, and surf with them,” he says.

When Instagram launched in 2010, Walsh began posting one of his early loves — only this time, it was morning surf conditions. Every morning, before surfers paddled out, the longtime Venice resident described swells, winds and surf conditions to his followers, becoming for some the town’s trusted surf chronicler.

A “Surf Swim” sign greets beachgoers at Venice Beach — a stretch of coast where daily surf reports and grassroots organizing have helped break down traditional surf stereotypes.

(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

His videos combined informative dispatches with the laid-back vibe of surfer ASMR. “Light offshore wind. Clean, glassy barrels,” he declares softly to the camera as gray waves break behind him. “Lumpy close-out with hollow barrels with low tide, fam.”

At first, the account functioned like a group chat for local surfers. “Friends were asking me how the waves were, and I was texting them. I figured I’d jump on Instagram and start doing it for them,” says Walsh, who has been a Venice resident for 15 years.

What began as a practical update for a handful of friends eventually attracted followers in London, Berlin and Tokyo — people who checked in daily to see whether the surf was firing in Venice Beach. The account has amassed over 10,000 followers, inspiring imitator accounts. “Now it’s just for everybody,” says Walsh. “I built a community around the surf reports. It really blew me away. I didn’t realize that people were so interested.”

His surf reports have made him an unofficial mayor of Venice surf culture, getting recognized at the beach town’s local hangouts like Hinano Cafe and the Cow’s End. “People stop me and tell me they love my surf reports. They don’t even surf, but they see it every day,” says Walsh. “I always tell people I’m very popular between Washington Boulevard, Lincoln Boulevard and Rose Avenue.” His nickname around town is Glenice Venice.

However, the real triumph wasn’t becoming recognizable around Venice — it was finding other queer surfers, something that felt elusive in Walsh’s youth in Southern California. “I had met a lot of other surfers from all over the world and built a queer community of surfers here in L.A.,” says Walsh. “It was pretty awesome.”

Walsh saw an opportunity to use his surf report to not only report on the condition of the ocean — which is especially unpredictable during our current El Niño cycles — but to also create a burgeoning queer space in the Venice surf scene. “I could set up a community-based surf report for everybody, and the fact that I happen to be queer made it a little more unique,” he says. He began to connect with gay surfers, organizing trips with them and building lasting friendships. “It was just a lot of fun, building a little team.”

Later, Walsh became a co-producer and music supervisor of a movie about homophobia in surfing titled “Out in the Line-Up” that premiered at film festivals across the world in cities such as New York, San Francisco and Sydney, Australia. “The movie kind of spoke for itself. It was a worldwide issue — homophobia in surfing.” Since then, Walsh has served on panels about queer people in the surf world. Last June, the film had a 10th anniversary screening in Venice, hosted by the Venice Surfing Assn. “At some point, I brought some diversity to this culture. I put my name on it,” he says.

In recent years, others have joined Walsh’s efforts to create a burgeoning queer surf scene at Venice Beach. In 2020, Shelly Guidera relocated to Venice and noticed that there wasn’t a strong queer presence in surfing. “My friend and I were maybe the only queer people some of these surfers had ever seen,” she says. Shortly after, Guidera started Dream Team Surf, a collective for queer surfers to meet up and build camaraderie.

Its mission is simple. “It’s all of us looking out for each other,” Guidera says. “ Having a team of people makes the experience that much more enriching and safe.”

Surfers ride the waves near the Venice Pier, where Glen Walsh does his daily surf reports.

(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)

Early on, Guidera was inspired by Walsh’s uplifting presence in the Venice surf scene. “This person is respected in the community for what he brings, which is knowledge and insight and fun and flair,” says Guidera. In turn, Walsh has championed Dream Team Surf.

In January 2025, Dream Team Surf hosted a Pride beach party with a banner that read: “Trans bodies belong on the beach.” In some San Diego area beaches, Guidera says, queer representation can still feel like an anomaly. “It’s so funny because it’s like these people have maybe never seen a woman in a bathing suit with hairy legs,” she says. “I’m like, ‘Oh my God, it’s not that deep.’”

Guidera is certified in surf therapy, taking courses through Groundswell Community Project, a surf therapy program that uses surf to promote holistic healing. The mental health benefits of surfing are lifelong, Guidera explains. “Growing up as a swimmer, surfing was a form of play and wellness,” she says. “It eased the brakes on competition and the structure within competitive swimming.”

Group photo of Dream Team Surf, which hosted a Pride beach party.

(Sara Werner)

Even if you don’t shred waves, being in the ocean can promote healing. “To give people access to the ocean that is in and of itself a form of wellness,” she says. “There’s a level of surrender and humility that comes with surfing and that comes with being in nature. … You have to be so present in such a way that makes you a stronger person.”

Like Guidera, Walsh also works as a surf instructor with a similar goal to instill confidence in his students. “I was teaching a lot of people to surf, mostly women who didn’t want a straight man to teach them how to surf because it feels vulnerable enough,” says Walsh. “I try to break down the stereotypes and have a little fun with them and let them become a kid again.”

When done correctly, he argues, surfing can invite expansiveness. “I love seeing people out there. Feel the fear and do it anyway,” says Walsh. “And creating a lifestyle around it — going to different beaches — and meeting friends.”

The Caitlin Clark–Angel Reese connection has been strong during the women’s FIBA World Cup.

The college rivals turned teammates on the U.S. national team showed off their growing chemistry in Team USA’s blowout victory against Hungary on Thursday in Berlin. The Americans knocked out their quarterfinal opponents 108-56, notching the team’s 34th consecutive win in World Cup play since 2006.

“We’ve played against each other so many times, so I’m sure we know each other’s game like the back of each other’s hand,” Reese said when asked after the game about playing with Clark. “Just easily dishing it off to her. She dishes it off to me. She knows my spots. I got one to her today, maybe two. So it’s fun. We just continue to build chemistry because we know we’re gonna be USA teammates for a while.”

The strength of Clark and Reese’s two-person game was on full display Thursday. Clark assisted on six of Reese’s nine points, and Reese returned the favor during the third quarter. After securing a steal, she hit Clark for an easy transition layup.

Reese ended the game with nine points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals. Clark finished just shy of a double-double with 10 points, nine assists, three rebounds and two steals.

Clark also has complimented Reese as a competitor and teammate during the tournament.

“We’re both fiery, fiery competitors and we want to win and it’s one of the things I really admire about her game,” Clark told the Associated Press in an interview published Wednesday. “She’s competitive and she has a tremendous motor; like, she has one of the best motors in the league. She works just as hard as anybody on the court. So, it’s been fun to to be able to play with her.”

Clark, who set records at Iowa, and Reese, who won an NCAA championship at Louisiana State, have been household names since their college matchups. Thanks to their intensely loyal — and often vocal — fan bases, that rivalry has been carried into their WNBA careers, where every matchup and interaction invites heightened scrutiny, especially online.

Clark told the AP that many of these stories about her and Reese’s relationship are “false takes.”

“No matter what, there’s always going to be people that create those narratives and say whatever they want to say,” Clark said. “There’s definitely no stopping that and they’re always going to be there.”

Reese and Clark are among Team USA’s young core, dubbed the “young and turnt” crew by teammate Paige Bueckers during training camp in December. The World Cup marks the first major international competition for six of those players: Bueckers, Clark, Reese, Aliyah Boston, Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen.

Team USA is set to play Spain in the semifinals on Saturday.