Up next: My 'adda gurrl' adventure
aka: Spain on foot, with my love's book in hand
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Dear NE-One
About 10 years ago – or maybe it was 12 – I met an American woman whose name I don’t remember. We were both attending a yoga retreat in Bali; I was writing about it for Women’s Health and she was taking her ‘adda gurrl’ vacation.
Her what? I’d asked.
‘Adda gurrl,’ she’d drawled and then, in a more clipped accent, she’d added, ‘you know, atta girl? As in, that’s my girl?’
She went on to explain that she’d taken on a new role at work; there had been big challenges, she’d handled them well and had been promoted again. ‘I’m single and I have no children,’ she’d explained. ‘While other women might celebrate anniversaries and birthdays, I like to take stock every now and then and celebrate my achievements. You know,’ she paused to pat the back of her shoulder, ‘adda gurl. No-one else is going to do this for me, so I do it myself.’
It’s something that’s stuck with me for more than a decade and, after working solidly on four book projects that have had me at my computer every single day for the past 11 months, sometimes for 16 hours a day, I’m super-excited to be going on my own interpretation of an adda gurrl vacation later this month: Mark and I will be walking almost 400km through Spain.
It’s been a big 11 months for both of us. I’ve lost track of how many thousands of kilometres we’ve driven, flights we’ve taken, places we’ve stayed in (10 hotels in the past two weeks, for starters) – and through this time I’ve worked on four books and Mark on six. Time away from work commitments and our computers is very, very much needed.
I can’t tell you exactly where we’re going – Mark’s done the research – but what I remember from his patient explanations is this: we’ll walk old pilgrim trails, and will coincide for a few days with one of the popular Camino routes. More than that, I don’t remember. I’m just looking forward to leaving my computer behind, and to moving my body.
Our agreement is that we’re doing this walk for ourselves. We’re going in without any commissions, and without commitments. If we decide we like a village then perhaps we’ll stay a bit longer; if not, we’ll move on. I think Mark’s goal is for us to get to Santiago – but we’ll have to see how things go. We’re already starting the walk much later than planned due to various unexpected deadlines, and we have to keep an eye on our visas, which will expire in mid-July. Maybe we’ll reach Santiago, maybe we won’t. It doesn’t matter – this walk is all about the journey.
I’ve always considered Spain to be Mark’s place, and I can’t wait to explore new trails with him. If you’ve been an NE Where subscriber since its early days you might remember that two years ago Mark walked 1,225km across the country. I wrote snippets about his hike in the No, It’s Not The Camino mini-series (you can read that here) but – way more exciting – Vagabond, Mark’s book about that walk, will be released in early August and is currently available for pre-order (click here to get to the book’s official page, where you’ll find links to pre-order from Waterstones, WH Smith, Amazon, Foyles and other stores).
Vagabond has received brilliant reviews already. National Geographic listed it as one of the top 6 travel books of 2024, and legendary Sir Ranulph Fiennes said it’s ‘classic travel writing at its finest’. Sarah Barrell from National Geographic Traveller described it as ‘frank and funny in parts … a free-roaming love letter to Spain’, while Louise Raddon from The Times and The Sunday Times wrote, ‘like a latter-day Laurie Lee, Mark Eveleigh takes us on a compelling journey from Gibraltar to Spain's most northerly tip … Vagabond is packed full of colourful observations and amusing characters met en route. A highly entertaining read.’
I’ve been so completely tangled up in my own book deadlines that I haven’t read Vagabond yet – not even a snippet . But there is a special copy waiting for me in Spain, and I so look forward to reading it as Mark and I do our own walk across the country.
We’ve promised we’ll go into our walk without any commitments… but maybe, just maybe, I’ll send you a few photos along the way.
Until next time
Awww. Thanks! And I CAN'T WAIT to hit the trails again - and this time with you! - in Spain.