I'm in España vaciada

I feel as if I’m pioneering a new mode of travel: viewing a country through the lens of “abandonment.”

I’m in Spain, going to half-abandoned villages, fully abandoned villages, places where wildlife is taking over. It’s a story that matters because with rural flight and fertility decline, there will be more and more of these places. And it’s all not a bad thing!

On this subject I’ll be writing a 3,500-word article for Adventure Journal. I’ll put some more videos and photos up here in time, but life is awfully busy at the moment as you’ll see below.

Parque natural de la Montaña Palentina. This dog and his amigo followed me for 24 hours.

Black Poplar trees. These pollarded trees can live for over 200 years. They are pollarded every 15 years, providing a steady harvest of wood for parts of the country that don’t have big forests.

Spain has so many small villages, all of them having a respectable playground for kids. A lot of them were vacant, though.

From Parque natural de la Montaña Palentina

I’m headed to the U.S.

I’m doing a small speaking tour. College events should be free to attend—just give them a Google to find location.

Mon. April 20 U of South Florida

Wed. April 22 U of Tampa

Thur. April 23 Oxbridge Academy (Miami)

Mon April 27 Parish Episcopal (Dallas)

Tue April 28 Florida Atlantic U.

Plus, I’ve scored a 2500-word article with National Parks Magazine—this one about the trails of Big Cypress National Preserve.

Apparently some trails are underwater. Credit: NPS

First-ever “literary bootcamp?”

John Muir working out. Credit: ChatGPT

In late September/early October, I will be developing a 5-day fitness bootcamp for the Wigtown Book Festival—a festival I’ve had some part in for four years. I noticed that there’s a lot of sitting at book festivals, which can be quite draining, so I thought: why not pitch a program that will re-energize visitors? (I’ve been working as a group fitness instructor for the past few months, so it was only natural for me to find a way to bring my fitness and literary worlds together…) I will be developing workouts with natural materials (hazel sticks, maybe big stones), and theming the workouts on famous Scottish literary figures, such as John Muir. The John Buchan 39 Steps interval workout will surely be a HIIT.

***Paid subscribers get to learn more about two upcoming Substack essays, plus what I’m watching and listening to. While on a Spanish hike, I listened to four wonderful podcasts, one of which made me question if it’s possible to talk to dead people.***