British Author to Publish Memoir of Walk Across Europe.
Mike Pinnock, at the Age of 78, Reaches Midpoint in Vienna on Ambitious Walk Across Europe.
United Kingdom, 14th Aug 2026 — About the Book: Taberno Publications will release ‘Halfway There: An Oldie’s Walk Across Europe’ in September 2026. The forthcoming memoir will offer a detailed personal account of the author’s sustained effort to walk along the E8 long-distance trail over a period of years, on his way to Istanbul, in the endeavour to be the first recorded person to have walked from the Atlantic Ocean in Ireland to the Bosporus in Turkey.
The account begins in southern Spain during March 2023, where storm damage to the author’s property, injury, and financial pressures cause him to doubt the continuation of his trek. It then recounts events from 2013, when he turns a dream of his youth into a scheme and, approaching the age of 68, sets out on a path he might have taken half a century before.
He commenced the undertaking on Dursey Island in southwest Ireland, where he employed a campervan combined with a pushbike to manage daily logistics. He then backpacked on through England, the Netherlands, Germany and Austria, arriving in Vienna at the age of almost 79, having covered 1,942 miles – approximately halfway to Istanbul.
The book traces Pinnock’s route as he meets the challenges of navigation, weather conditions, the rigours of old age including rheumatoid arthritis and Reynaud’s disease, a foot infection and injury, all with resilience and humour, in this extraordinary walk made one hard-earned step at a time. The narrative includes interactions with fellow travellers, and observations of regional history, landscapes and the environment.
Key Highlights:
- The book documents the first half of a planned solo walk across Europe, which the author is continuing as an octogenarian; it follows the route to Vienna, reached in 2023.
- Specific challenges described include a knee twist sustained in an Irish bog, later exasperated when running to catch a train in Austria, a foot infection picked up in England, extreme weather conditions in the Netherlands, and excessive rainfall, causing the flooding of a river on his route through Austria. Along the way, the author is also haunted by strange coincidences and superstition.
- Navigation is problematic for this technophobe, who struggles on several occasions to locate his accommodation and maintain his route along the trail.
- The walk is temporarily curtailed in April 2022 in Germany by an injury, where help is provided by a fellow walker and his wife.
- .Reference is made in the text to guide books and maps used by the author along the E8 trail through five countries, but on several occasions no maps are available, his pre-planning fails, and emergency measures become necessary, including him finding refuge in a monastery.
- Fourteen professionally-produced maps are distributed throughout the book, covering the route, developed from the author’s hand drawn sketches.
- Publication is scheduled for September 2026.
About the Author:
Mike Pinnock is a British author residing in Spain. He formulated the walking project following an examination of European long-distance routes and an evaluation of his personal situation. The first section of the walk took place in 2013.
He took up long-distance walking in 1982 and has completed walks along sixteen long-distance trails in the UK. He holds an interest in European history connected to the trail.
Pinnock wrote the book to share his experience, and also with the aspiration that it might encourage others, particularly older readers, to make similar undertakings.
Availability: Will soon be available in eBook and paperback formats through major retailers, including Amazon.
Media Contact
Organization: Book Publication UK
Contact Person: Mike Pinnock
Website: https://bookpublication.co.uk/
Email: Send Email
Country:United Kingdom
Release id:48083
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