Your response to helping Nick meet his funding target has been amazing. It was surpassed on Friday and has reached £1,660. Nick has been out of contact for a few days … No he was not caught up in the so-called London riots, but was in the wilds of Wales. I would like to add my own word of thanks to all of you that responded and supported this exciting and bold venture. You can still donate! (and I see you still are! Another £10 tonight!)

Over to Nick ….

Thanks to the help of many readers of this blog, I have now reached (surpassed!) my funding target on the crowdfunding site We Did This, and am up to an amazing £1,660 to go towards my walk across Europe, following Paddy’s route from the Hook of Holland to Istanbul. Thank you so much, everyone who’s supported me, whether through financial contributions or with thoughts, ideas, encouragement and offers of hospitality. The response had been truly amazing. People have contacted me from all over the world to express their enthusiasm. I’ll be keeping everyone updated on my progress — http://afterthewoodsandthewater.wordpress.com/ — as and when I can on the road, as well as sending back short story postcards, and later preparing hand-stitched books and CDs, to thank individual funders more eloquently. In the end, there will be a book… but first, I have a long way to walk.

It does seem as if this project has struck a chord with a lot of people, and I’ve had requests to explore many aspects of the changes that have taken place in Europe since Paddy walked this way. People want to know about cultural changes, changes to the landscape and environment, changes in attitudes and beliefs, and changes in the experience of walking. One person who funded me, in particular, said something I really like:

‘I love the idea of uncovering ‘wild’ Europe. I had always sensed that in the land, as I’d been travelling, and was thrilled at the idea of someone investigating and documenting that — the magic underneath the surface.’

I’ll be doing my best to scratch at the surface to find the magic Paddy put into words, the magic that I believe still exists in the Europe of today. Thank you so much, once more, everyone who’s helping me do this.