00:00 Lindsay Bell from Essex has chosen the Kent coastline to launch her bid to become the
00:05 first solo woman to hike the entire British coastline in 306 days or less. Today she's
00:11 been out by Thanet, Sandwich, Deal and Dover. Tomorrow she'll be making her way through
00:16 Folkestone, Dimchurch and Dungeness. Well, Lindsay, I'm exhausted from just saying your
00:22 route let alone walking it. How are you? You're back in your Premier Inn hotel now to relax
00:27 and put your feet out. What's today been like? Today has been quite incredible, actually.
00:34 I've been contacted by quite a few people through Explore Kent and I've met so many
00:42 different people. Lots of people keep stopping and chatting and I passed the white cliffs
00:49 of Dover and that was absolutely beautiful. The sun was shining, the waves, I was like
00:56 this is heaven. A perfect setting for International Women's Day. I have to say we're celebrating
01:04 it together on the show this evening. Is that a particular factor in it? Is that why you've
01:10 chosen this time this month to start it or is it more about just women empowerment in
01:15 general throughout the whole walk? It's for everyone really. The great outdoors, the more
01:23 I'm with it, the more it challenges me, pushes me and helps me become the best version of
01:30 myself. So for me, this is about helping as many people discover the wonderful well-being
01:39 benefits of the great outdoors with every step I take, basically. I'm doing it for MIND
01:48 and for National Trails, both two charities that I think the world of and empower many
01:55 people to have freedom amongst nature. Very important at the minute with many conversations
02:02 surrounding mental health for sure. How do you mentally prepare for a challenge like
02:09 this? What's it like? A lot of people say it's a huge challenge, but I suppose everything,
02:19 when you approach it as in a daily, then it's less scary, I suppose, or for me it is. And
02:27 I just think, well, each day I'm getting to do something that I absolutely love, empowers
02:33 me, my mental health, my social, physical well-being. So it's a case of, yeah, taking
02:43 one day at a time, put 306 of those days together and boom, shakalaka, you've got this crazy
02:51 woman walking around the UK. And joining us live on our programme. The signal's a bit
02:57 ropey. It's cutting in and out, but we're keen to keep with you. Tell me about the actual
03:06 journey itself. Are there highs and lows while you're on the walk? What's it been like this
03:10 week? Yeah, I started out with a 20 kilogramme pack with my tent, everything, and I've trained
03:20 with 15, which I'm completely comfortable with. But the 20K was, I thought, can I do
03:27 this for 10 months? So I've thought smart and it's just a case of shifting my tent to
03:35 my next camp, knowing when I'm camping. So that gets delivered there, which now means
03:41 I'm walking with 15K instead, which is perfect. Yeah. And I'm interested in knowing how you've
03:48 managed to find the time to do this. What does day to day life normally look like for
03:53 you and how have you been able to sort of get this in? It's incredible. I have another
04:00 business, fortunately, that it means I can do that on the go. And this has almost, I
04:08 thought, how do I live my life doing something that I love? So I have approached all of the
04:16 eco-friendly, basically the apparel that I wear, Rab, I approached them. Osprey, that
04:24 again, sustainable, I approached them and I've asked for their support. So they've sponsored.
04:30 So financially, there you go. If you want to do something in life, you can make it happen.
04:36 You just sort of think about how do I make this happen? Whose doors do I knock on and
04:42 say hello? That's partly how I've managed to do it. And part of it as well is actually
04:49 bringing up the sort of the idea of hiking and sort of we're talking on Invicta Sport,
04:53 our dedicated sports program, talking about it as it is. It is a sport and a lot of people
04:58 perhaps overlook that. Is that what you've experienced? I think, yeah, it's often hiking
05:05 is, you know, people just bumbling around. And I kind of am bumbling around. I'm just
05:13 doing it huge distances. But for me, it's not really the distance that I'm doing. It's
05:21 the time that I'm spending with nature and that just within eight days, you know, I'm
05:29 connected with you now with many, many others. So many people. Yeah, feeling very grateful.
05:36 And Lindsay, if I was to say to you, right, I'm going to join you for the next 300 days.
05:41 What would your advice be for me to prepare to walk every day for 300 days?
05:47 Good question. Firstly, get your feet prepared. Vaseline is my feet's best friend. Put it
06:00 in between your toes, round the back of your feet and start with a mile a day. I always
06:05 say that's how I started just a mile a day for a month. I committed that a few years
06:10 back and here I am today now walking 26 miles a day. Make sure that your gear, get the right
06:18 kit. You know, I used to shop from charity shops. You can get whatever you need, but
06:25 make sure it's the right gear. Make sure you've got your waterproofs and a great backpack.
06:31 And as long as that's comfortable, you are a warrior.
06:35 We're celebrating. We're celebrating International Women's Day with some fireworks behind you
06:40 there. Great to speak with you, Lindsay. I'm sure you've brought us all up on a Friday
06:46 evening. Happy International Women's Day. Best of luck for the next few hundred days.
06:50 I'm sure we'll catch up with you soon. Thank you. If anyone would like to donate,
06:55 please donate on the website. That would be fantastic. Thank you, Lindsay.
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