‘This journey has made me the happiest man on the planet’
It is with absolute delight I can tell you if all goes well we shall be crossing the UK Coastline with a little mini epic adventurer. Yes folks we are pregnant Christian Lewis
A MAN who set out four years ago walking the UK coastline and met the love of his life has just announced they are expecting a baby.
The former Swansea resident left his home to embark on a journey of self discovery, walking the entire UK coastline to raise money and awareness for SSAFA, the Armed Forces Charity.
Now years later into the adventure, Christian Lewis has adopted a dog, found the love of his life and recently announced a baby is on the way.
Christian Lewis set out from Llangennith Beach in Gower, near his home in Swansea, years ago on a journey of self-discovery after he was left “lost” and “not knowing where to turn”.
The ex-paratrooper wanted to give back to those that had helped him through difficult times and set himself a challenge of walking the entire UK coastline to raise money for charity.
On his adventures Chris has spent lockdown on an uninhabited island, left stranded with no electricity or heating, and even reunited a message in a bottle to its owner 20 years later.
Despite all these challenges Chris has said “this walk has made me the happiest man in the world”.
On his travels, the 38-year-old has gone from travelling solo to now establishing a small family all from his journey.
During his time spent in Northern Ireland, Chris adopted a dog named Jet from a family who were struggling to keep her and thought he could use the company as he navigated the islands off the Scottish coast.
“I had been going for nine months on the road solo and knew I was in a much better place with my depression than when I had started and I knew I would appreciate some company.”
The Sighthound breed dog has been at Chris’ side since and was not the only companion to join the coastal venture.
Upon travelling into Scotland Chris said he “never expected to find love in the most unusual of places”.
The father, who had been a single man for 10 years, met a fellow traveller whom he would end up striking a close bond and relationship with.
Kate Barron initially intended to travel the world but had her plans thwarted by the pandemic and ended up in Scotland where she met and fell in love with Chris.
“I had just finished Shetland in the first lockdown and was in North East Scotland setting up my tent when Kate and a friend turned up to ask about my journey.
“She was doing a wild camping circuit herself and came back a couple of minutes later with fish and chips and asked if she could camp alongside me.
“It was quite a wild date, we just hit it off, we stayed up until three in the morning just talking as friends and we rejoined each other’s company weeks later.”
Deciding to accompany Chris and Jet on their journey of walking the UK coastline, the pair have now announced they are adding to the “UK coast walking family”.
Having known they would spend the rest of their lives together, the pair wanted to add to their growing family even further.
“We knew this was going to be forever, it was that simple. We said to ourselves if we were going to start a family, we had better do it now when we’re in the UK and we had been trying for some time,” Chris said.
The pair say they “couldn’t be happier” to discover they are now pregnant and expecting a new member of the family. With the initial scan recently taking place, Chris says its “early days” for picking out a name or finding out the gender of the baby.
Making the announcement on “Chris Walks the UK” Facebook page, it read: “So a journey that started with one! Unreal!
“It is with absolute delight I can tell you if all goes well we shall be crossing the UK coastline with a little mini epic adventurer “Yes folks we are pregnant. “13.5 weeks and our first scan.” With the post showcasing a recent baby scan alongside photos of the happy couple with their canine companion, the pair commented they have been touched by all the loving support.
With an “incredible” £250,000plus raised for SSAFA, Chris says the plan is not to stop there and preparations are already under way for the next journey.
Now an expected “nine months” away from the finish line of returning home to Swansea, Chris says they “won’t be hanging around for long” and will return to raising money as quickly as possible.
“The support of people has been amazing, we have messages from home in Swansea of people asking when we expect to finish. It’s amazing and I hope everyone comes and sees us over the line.
“This journey has made me the happiest man on the planet and I’m not stopping here.”
■ You can follow Chris Walks the UK on Facebook at https:// www.facebook.com/ chriswalksuk and donate to his fundraiser at https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/ chriswalks