A beautiful island, many hop over to enjoy sandy beaches, stunning views and an array of water sports to keep the whole family entertained. But rather than taking the car (supposedly taking a ferry across the Solent is one of the most expensive crossings per mile in the world!), if you opt for your bike it’s considerably cheaper and offers a great opportunity to explore the island in a different way to most visitors.

At this time of year, as everyone starts talking about Christmas decorations going up in November, “did you see the latest Christmas advert?!” and the need to get something sorted for New Years Eve, I find myself wanting to escape.

As it turns out, when you try to cycle the length of a river, you don’t actually get to see a whole lot of the river.

At it’s source it trickles along back streets and through the edges of vast fields far away from any cycle path or road. And as it reaches an urban area you might be lucky enough for a stretch or two of towpath as the river’s historic use for transport enables far better navigation by bicycle.

While adventure is often thrilling, immensely fun and can push a new limit, it can also be a way to unwind, relax and simply enjoy some down time. And what better way to recuperate on a microadventure than having it end with a session in the Spa.

The plan is to traverse the Cam from it’s source in Ashwell along it’s 70 mile route to where it meets the North Norfolk sea at Kings Lynn. But just doing it once would be too easy, so, of course, I’m doing it 3 times; once by bicycle, once by foot and once by stand up paddle board (SUP) (here is where the ‘of sorts’ comes in, I don’t fancy swimming it!). This trio of methods makes it 210 miles in all. By far the furthest distance I’ll have traveled thus far on an adventure.

My second takeaway is very much that I was lucky enough to share my journey. The people in your life are what make it and they sure make an adventure worth doing.

Walking home is a romantic idea and up until recently I’d never though anyone would actually do it. It’s just one of those things where you’d automatically say - “why?!” - particularly when it’s cold outside. But I’m starting to find that those things which on the face of them seem like silly ideas that no one in their right mind usually considers, are the best.