It's just over one month before the start of my big walking adventure around the entire border of Wales. This trip has been in the planning for so long, with the original walk due to take place in 2020, that it feels surreal finally to have reached this stage.

The overall distance (1,050 miles) will be around 100 miles more than my last major walk between John O' Groats and Land's End (JOGLE) back in 2013. However, there will be significant differences in the two journeys:

1. The Walk Around Wales will follow just two defined footpaths - the Wales Coast Path and Offa's Dyke Path, whereas JOGLE offered complete freedom in the choice of route between the start and finish points.

2. The Walk Around Wales route will pass through dozens of coastal resorts, hopefully thronging with tourists willing to part with their cash by donating to my Cancer Research UK fundraising. In contrast, most of my JOGLE route passed through rural areas, so I had minimal human contact for long sections of the walk.

3. By definition, most of the Walk Around Wales journey will be in sight of the sea (hopefully on my right, if I'm heading in the right direction!), with the obvious exception of the Offa's Dyke path along the Wales-England border. On the JOGLE route I only saw the sea at the start and end of the route.

4. Finding convenient and affordable accommodation has been a major challenge for my Walk Around Wales journey - there are multiple sections where B&Bs, hotels or hostels are non-existent, unavailable, or simply too expensive for a self-funded charity walk. So I'm stuck with numerous days where I have to catch a bus or train to the start and/or from the finish of a day's walk. There's even one day where I still have to find transport to take me 12 miles to my evening accommodation as local buses do not run on a Sunday! Finding and booking accommodation for JOGLE seemed so much easier and affordable.

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