Home can be in many different places
16 September 2021
In August 2017, ex-paratrooper Christian Martin Lewis set off from Llangennith beach in Gower, near his home in Swansea, on an incredible journey. His aim – to walk around the entire UK coastline.
Christian Lewis has been walking for four years
One man's journey along the UK coastline, finding happiness, companionship and love.
When the documentary crew catches up with Christian, in February of this year, he is situated south of Aberdeen, in the small village of Gourdon, and in the middle of another lockdown in Scotland. But he is no longer on his own. Along his journey, he’s found companionship after adopting a dog, and, even in the most unexpected circumstances, he has also found love.
Finding himself at the right place at the right time, Christian adopted Jet from a family in Irvine, on the west coast of Scotland, who were unable to keep her anymore.
“I’d been walking for around nine months before I got Jet. Knowing that I was going onto the islands, and what was ahead, I knew that I’d appreciate some sort of company. She’s by my side all day so we’ve become so in-tune with each other. Yes, she’s a dog, but she’s so much more to me than that. She’s just a best friend who can’t talk.”
Jet isn’t the only companion he found on his adventure though.
“Something that I just can’t get my head around was that I was a single man for 10 years. Suddenly I stopped washing, living outside in a tent with a dog. And then by a twist of fate, I met Kate,” reveals Christian.
It was also an unexpected situation for Kate to find herself in.
“I never expected for a second that would happen,” she says. “I’d quit my job with this intention of travelling and I had a bigger trip planned. I couldn’t do that because of Covid and so I decided to go up to Scotland. It’s amazing that when you follow something that you love yourself, what can happen and who you can meet. You can find yourself meeting the one person that essentially is your kindred spirit, is your soulmate.”
Come April 2021, they are able to come out of lockdown and with their walk continuing south, Christian reflects on his epic journey so far – “Every country in the UK is absolutely beautiful but it just happened to be here in Scotland where I found myself. I came here a little broken and I’m going to leave here not just unbroken, but with a dog and my girlfriend. What I’ve really learned from this journey is that home can be in many different places and exist in many different forms.”
