The Salt Path by Raynor Winn
How often do you dream of making it big, that next turn in life will be the one that skyrockets you into the lives of the super-rich and famous? The harsh reality is that we are all far closer to losing it all than never having to worry again. So do any of us really plan for this reality? I bet you the answer is a resounding no. It is strangely one of the few things most of us are optimistic about. So what happens when your life falls apart and you end up all the things you hold close as your security. This Is exactly what happened to Raynor and Moth at the being of The Salt Path.
I'm not sure how I would react if I were to find myself in the same situation. Would I find the strength to do what they did. I would like to think that I could find in myself to throw caution to the wind and do something such as walking the coast path. But maybe that's the point when you have nothing left to lose, you can trough yourself into something with less fear than you usually would. And when your choices have become very narrow maybe it's not a choice at all. I think this book definitely takes a very different look at what it means to become homeless. From my own experience of reading such books, most talk about what it means to sleep rough in a big city. What you start to realize throughout the course of the book is that whilst living outside in the countryside leaves you much more exposed to the elements it might just be a little safer than doing so in the city.
There are elements to this book that seem so beautiful and picturesque. when she describes the amazing places they got to walk through you could be forgiven for letting the true nature of why they were there from sleeping from your mind. Now for me, some of these places are quite familiar having grown up around this area, but I have never really walked any part of the path at length. If you've never been to the area you can still get a good idea as to what it's like to walk on the sandy paths and fill you switch the smell of the sea. But the author never lets you get to lost in some sort of romanticized version of their journey for too long. It's easy to think of this as being some great adventure but when the rain is lashing down and the wind is blowing they couldn't just rush to the nearest Airbnb. Never the less it was very easy to get lost into what happened to them and I was happy to spend the time with them I did.
Overall this was a book that I really enjoyed, it is for all the bad things that befell them a very heartwarming story. You end up with not only this story of what it means to be homeless in Britain today, but it also works as a travel book. You get to the end and want to walk the paths to spend that much time by the sea. You also realize just how much these two love each other, they quite literally do anything to look after each other. There is a lot to love about this book and she writes it like you are friends sat having a conversation which for me is what I look for when it comes to autobiography. I don't like it when it's just someone dictating their life to me. So for me, there is a lot to like here and I hope you can enjoy it as much as i did.
Comments
Post a Comment