Jo: Hello Travellers, I’m Jo Frances Penn, and today I’m here with Zoe Langley-Wathen. Welcome, Zoe.

Zoe: Hi Jo, thank you for having me.

Jo: It’s great to have you on the show. Zoe is the author of 630 Miles Braver: Mid-life-ing on the South West Coast Path. She’s also a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, an award-winning teacher, and host of the HeadRightOut podcast.

Where is the South West Coast Path, how long is it, and why did you decide to walk it for a significant birthday?

Zoe: Thank you for having me on.

The clue is in the title, 630 Miles Braver. The path is 630 miles long, or 1,014 kilometres. It starts at Minehead on the south-west tip of England and travels all the way down to the toe of Cornwall, where you’ll find Land’s End. It then continues along the coast of Cornwall, Devon, and Dorset, finishing at Poole Harbour, the second largest natural harbour in the world. For people who need to locate it geographically, Minehead is about 60 miles or an hour and three-quarters south-west of Bristol.

As for why I did it, it was to mark a rite of passage into midlife. Around 2010, I had a moment of what felt like divine intervention in a bookshop in Wells, Somerset. I walked in and there was a book on a shelf, and I swear there was a shaft of light shining on it: the South West Coast Path Handbook.

I had been searching for a path for a long time to mark this rite of passage. I’d considered Kilimanjaro or the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, but none of them resonated. This one just clicked, because I had wanted to do it for about 15 years but never thought myself capable. I thought only gritty, athletic, strong people did the South West Coast Path, not me. I just didn’t think I was enough in any capacity.

Suddenly, it was like a lightbulb had been switched on. I grabbed the book, paid for it, and thought, ‘Right, I’m going to do this. I don’t know how, but I’ll figure it out.’ And I did sort out figure it out along the way.

Jo: You said you were ‘searching for a path for a long time,’ which is a really interesting phrase. You’d considered more iconic places, but felt a sense of calling to this one.  I feel like I had that for the Camino de Santiago for a really long time.

What do you think it is in us as humans that makes us search for a path?

Zoe: That’s an interesting question. I’m not sure it’s necessarily a path that is calling us, but rather a need to make sense of our lives. Turning 40 or 50 is a pivot point in our lives where we might need to re-identify with ourselves.

For a long time, I had been ‘mum’ and ‘teacher,’ completely immersed in work. For me, it was about challenging myself to do something I didn’t think I was capable of something out of the ordinary.

I also wanted to fundraise to make it serve a purpose. But really, whether I was conscious of it or not, I was searching for another side of myself—a stronger version of me.

Jo: It seems at midlife we often want to make a change. With a long walk that takes weeks, you have to plan for a literal pivot in your life, like taking a whole summer off. Is the scale of that commitment part of the appeal? It takes, what a month, to six weeks to walk it? 

Zoe: It took me 48 days to do it.  I knew I was going to be scared ’cause I was scared. I was definitely fearful.

By announcing it at the school where I was working, to friends and family, and even in assemblies, I created accountability. There was no backing out.

I knew it was a challenge that felt out of reach, and I think that’s what I was looking for. Taking a week off work feels less momentous than a challenge that is going to take six or seven weeks, and doing it solo. I discovered I was carrying a lot of fears in my rucksack that I perhaps didn’t realise I had.

These paths have a way of exposing all sorts of hangups and interesting thoughts, but they also help you sort things out.

It can be problems or creative ideas; it was certainly magical for that.

Jo: You can deny your problems and escape yourself for a week, but not for six or seven weeks, and all the challenges along the way.

Let’s circle back to challenge. Let’s start with what were some of the most beautiful and memorable sections, and I guess we should say that as we record this in 2025, the film version of The Salt Path is out, which is set along the same coastal path and the book by Raynor Winn. You can certainly see some of these amazing sections.

What were some of the most beautiful and memorable sections for you?

Zoe: There are so many on the South West Coast Path, it’s really hard to choose. But I lived in Dorset for 30 years, so I have to say the Jurassic Coast, which is about 96 miles from Exmouth to Poole, is absolutely beautiful.

[I walked part of this from Lyme Regis to Seaton.]

The geology, the stunning scenery, the rollercoaster paths… they challenge you to your core, but they are absolutely, exquisitely beautiful. It’s hard to believe that nature has produced something so fabulous.

I also really connected with the ruggedness of North Devon and Cornwall, particularly around Bude in North Cornwall and Zennor, which is down towards Land’s End.

The quaintness of the cottages, the interest of the architecture, the churches… there’s a church on a beach, the Church of St. Winwaloe at Gunwalloe, also known as the Church of the Cove. That absolutely blew me away because it’s so tucked away in the most remote place.  I love architecture, but I love nature as well.

One more place that blew me away