Travel in the 21st century often involves extensive research: the cheapest plane tickets, the most charming bed-and-breakfasts, the must-see sights in each city. But when Nick Hunt set out in 2011 to walk from the Hook of Holland to the Golden Horn of Istanbul, he deliberately avoided research. Aside from booking accommodations through friends (and the occasional couch-surfing website), Hunt confined his inquiries to a set of battered books: Patrick "Paddy" Leigh Fermor's account of his own journey along the same route in 1933.
A longtime admirer of Leigh Fermor, Hunt retraced his predecessor's journey as closely as possible, even when it meant taking a few detours or sleeping rough at the base of a castle's walls. He chronicles his trip in lucid, keen prose, describing the varied climates, terrains, cultures and languages of the eight countries he visited and sharing anecdotes of the kind strangers (many of them fellow Leigh Fermor fans) who opened their homes to him. Along the way, Hunt shares excerpts from Leigh Fermor's memoirs and journals, and reflects on the changes--industrial, political and social--that transformed the landscape between the time of Leigh Fermor's walk and his own. He muses on the particular joys and struggles of walking and solitude, sharing tales of blisters and snowstorms alongside stories of convivial evenings spent in the company of new friends.
A meditation on walking and a loving homage to a fellow wanderer, Walking the Woods and the Water is a treat for armchair travelers, serious walkers and Leigh Fermor fans alike. --Katie Noah Gibson, blogger at Cakes, Tea and Dreams