Their story, in their words…
Inspired by other hikers on the Mark Evison website, we set ourselves the challenge of
walking 100km through France and Belgium. Though we began with many different ideas,
we decided to do this as we both had never been on an independent hike before, certainly
nothing of this length or internationally. It also greatly improved our resilience and
confidence, having to navigate intimidating and sometimes dangerous situations while
remaining level-headed. And of course, it was fun to explore different cultures, communities
and French patisseries!
We spent many months planning our journey: we took a coach to
Lille, France, and walked from Lille – Kortrijk, Belgium – Russeignies, Belgium – Tournai,
Belgium – Lille. We also needed to plan things like risk assessment, equipment, backup plans
etc to keep us safe and healthy. To give back the funds we spent to Mark Evison, we
organised a bake sale and a boot sale, and we’re very grateful for the support from our local
communities as we managed to raise enough money to cover all our costs for the hike.
Walking so much over 5 days was indeed very strenuous, but it was thrilling to see how far
we could push ourselves. Something we both realised is that doing a hike is both a physical
and mental challenge. We both spent many hours at the gym and doing practice walks over
London in preparation, but we couldn’t prepare for the moments where we would feel
demotivated or hopeless, after walking for hours in the middle of fields – especially as it
rained a lot too! In fact, we did end up cutting short one of our hiking days due to fatigue.
Yet, even though there were minor setbacks such as the coach to France cancelling on us
twice, one of our hiking bags breaking mid-route and all the shops being closed on many
occasions, we can proudly say that we’ve done something few people can achieve. Vanessa’s
favourite part of the hike was undoubtedly the unplanned moments where we would chat with
the locals, whether it was in the hostels that we stayed in or while walking. Everyone was
fascinated by what we were doing and it was a good opportunity to practise our French as
well, and learn some Flemish. Though we unfortunately could not experience cycling through
the beautiful cities in France or Belgium, Jade thoroughly enjoyed learning French and
successfully communicating with the locals. Additionally, the rewarding feeling of
completing each hiking day can not be replicated!
We appreciate all the effort that the Mark
Evison Foundation puts into giving us this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity
