My Midsummer Morning:...
Alastair Humphreys
A Financial Times Summer Book of 2019
Seasoned adventurer Alastair Humphreys pushes himself to his very limits – busking his way across Spain with a violin he can barely play.
In 1935 a young Englishman named Laurie Lee arrived in Spain. He had never been overseas; had hardly even left the quiet village he grew up in. His idea was to walk through the country, earning money for food by playing his violin in bars and plazas.
Nearly a century later, the book Laurie Lee wrote – As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning – inspired Alastair Humphreys. It made him fall in love with Spain – the landscapes and the spirit – and with Laurie's style of travel. He travelled slow, lived simply, slept on hilltops, relished spontaneity, and loved conversations with the different people he met along the hot and dusty road.
For 15 years, Alastair dreamed of retracing Laurie Lee’s footsteps, but could never get past the hurdle of being distinctly unmusical. This year, he decided to go anyway. The journey was his most terrifying yet, risking failure and humiliation every day, and finding himself truly vulnerable to the rhythms of the road and of his own life. But along the way, he found humility, redemption and triumph. It was a very good adventure.
This biography is not just about a man and his violin, it's about the spirit of adventure that pushes us to explore beyond our comfort zones. Humphreys personal journey, filled with the music of strings and the rhythm of walking, is a testament to the human spirit.
For fans of Anna Mcnuff (Barefoot Britain), Jenny Tough (SOLO), Laurie Lee (Down in the Valley), Jenny Graham (Coffee First, Then the World), and Levison Wood (The Art of Exploration).
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