It's Nice Outside

Ten years ago, Blue Wilson moved back to Selby, the North Yorkshire town she'd promised herself she'd never return to. She had left the London art world behind, she was in debt, and she was lonely in a way she couldn't shake. Her way back started with daily six-mile loops around home, then a solo 15-mile walk out of Malham one dismal January. After that came a library guidebook, three long-distance trails, and eventually a plan to walk the entire UK coastline. That means every island and every river walked up to its nearest crossing, with no ferries unless there's no other way across.Six years in, Blue has walked 4,652 miles over more than 270 days. She's done it all on annual leave and weekends while working full-time and caring for her mum through Alzheimer's. In this episode we talk about losing the thing you thought defined you, and finding out you never really stopped being an artist.Content note: this episode touches on depression, loneliness and Alzheimer's.Follow Blue on Facebook: Blue Wilson Walks the UK Coastline. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit itsniceoutside.substack.com

Getting outside can bring people together, but it can also quietly pull us away from the ones closest to home. Sometimes it takes someone we love to point it out. This is Jesse Jackson's story - husband, dad, ex-military and founder of Summit Craft CIC, who has spent years leading groups through the hills, to ask a simple question: what happens when the thing you love starts costing you time with the people you love? This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit itsniceoutside.substack.com

Trails carry us through the easy days and the hard ones. Sometimes they're just a walk. Other times they're how we hold ourselves together and build ourselves back up. This is Cathy Casey's story - mother, owner of two of the UK's best outdoor shops and a lifelong climber, mountaineer and paddler, to ask a simple question: what happens when perimenopause changes your relationship with your own body? This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit itsniceoutside.substack.com