Man in tent
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00:00So, this is Jordan, who's walking 11,000 miles.
00:03Can you tell us just quickly, Jordan, why you're doing this?
00:06So, I'm doing this to raise money for the RSPCA.
00:09Well, my dogs are raising money for the RSPCA.
00:11We've got Shiloh over here, and then Jackson's chilling on the floor.
00:14And we're...
00:16Well, I can't even speak, but...
00:18They're raising money for the RSPCA,
00:20and then I'm doing a men's mental health charity called Men in Sheds.
00:22More specifically, the crew one.
00:24They're an absolutely fantastic set of people.
00:27What they do is they get men over the age of 45 into little woodworking shops
00:31and teach them new skills.
00:32I believe I've actually got one here in Inverness.
00:35I've not had a chance to check it out,
00:37but I might have to, actually, if I'm here for an extra four days.
00:41So, tell me a wee bit why...
00:43I mean, we're very proud of Inverness.
00:45It's a lovely city and all that,
00:47but you've stayed a little bit longer than you hoped, haven't you?
00:49Why has that happened?
00:51Yeah, so I was originally supposed to stay here for the one night
00:53and then be off again last Saturday morning.
00:56I've had a company called Sick Kit Squad.
00:59They've sent me out a new tent, some new boots,
01:02a new set of waterproofs and all sorts of other bits of kit.
01:06Actually, I was supposed to get here on Friday,
01:08and it didn't get here till Monday,
01:10and I had a nice surprise when I opened the box,
01:12and it was a box full of women's clothing,
01:14which wouldn't have been so bad, but it was a little bit fruity.
01:16It must have been about 4 foot 5,
01:18because it wouldn't have fit my big foot.
01:20Did you have a wee thought about just maybe carrying on with the women's clothing?
01:24I debated it for a second,
01:26but I thought I'd get even more out of this than I already do.
01:30So I'm having to wait now for that parcel to get redirected back to me.
01:35It's taking its toll on time.
01:37Now, you've had an absolutely unbelievable experience already,
01:41and you've still got a lot to come, a lot of fun to come.
01:45Tell us a wee bit about your highs and your lows so far on this trip.
01:52See, the lows you hit when you're out in the middle of nowhere,
01:56you're on your own, and you're running out of food money,
02:01and especially it's harder for the dogs,
02:03because I've got to prioritise food for the dogs,
02:06and sometimes you do get to the point where you run out of them.
02:10I don't know what I'm doing.
02:12Luckily enough, I just managed to get by, and it's hard.
02:19When I have moments like this where I'm sitting still,
02:22it's because I used to be a bit of a couch potato before I set off the dogs.
02:26When I sit still for too long, I get comfortable sitting still,
02:29and it makes it a little bit harder to sit off the dogs.
02:32The more time you spend doing nothing, the harder it is to do something afterwards.
02:36But you've taken it on yourself to complete this challenge,
02:41and you've said it's had a really positive effect on you.
02:45Without going into too much of it, it's really helped both your physical health,
02:48but also your mental health, hasn't it?
02:50Oh yeah, since doing this, because I'm out in nature constantly,
02:53I'm meeting new people, the dogs are thriving,
02:56they're making progress every single day,
02:59so they make me proud as we're getting on.
03:01It's just little moments that all add up,
03:04but it's been the craziest experience of my life.
03:07See, when you're out in the middle of nowhere,
03:10obviously you do get the bad moments,
03:12but when you wake up at five o'clock in the morning,
03:14you see the sunrise just over a cliff in the distance,
03:17all those low moments, you suddenly go away,
03:20and you just enjoy the view for a minute,
03:22sit and cook a bacon bouillon in front of the stove.
03:24It's been absolutely fantastic.
03:27And your trip itself, you've seen the good side of people as well,
03:32that have helped you?
03:33Oh, 100%.
03:34I couldn't be this far if it wasn't for people's hospitality,
03:38and people's generosity.
03:40Even when I set off my first week,
03:44because I'd never been camping before in my life,
03:47so I set off and didn't bring any thermals or any water booze,
03:50because I didn't know what to bring or not what to bring,
03:52and someone actually ended up donating me £700
03:55just so I could go and replace all my gear.
03:59Because there was one night, because I'd packed so much stuff,
04:02my boots were horrible,
04:03but one night it took me ten and a half hours to get £10,
04:08and I was getting to, I'd hit Cuckley,
04:13so on the way to Cuckley, I had a ten-mile stretch for that.
04:17It was absolutely horrendous, walking down country lanes,
04:20I had no signal on my phone,
04:22and it was in the middle of the night,
04:24so I couldn't stop if I wanted to,
04:26torrential downpour,
04:28so even if I'd stop and stand still,
04:30it was silent, and started shivering,
04:32and started whimpering,
04:33so I could not give up at that point.
04:35I just had to keep on going and persevere through it,
04:37just to keep her body heat up,
04:39otherwise I'd have put my tent where I was,
04:42but I just had to keep going,
04:44and I've just had to keep pushing myself for little moments,
04:47it feels like everything is battling against you,
04:51and you need to give up,
04:53this isn't the right thing that you're doing,
04:54even your own brain is telling you,
04:56don't do it, what have you gotten yourself into?
04:58But you just can't give up,
05:01especially now that I'm so deep into it,
05:04if I was to give up now,
05:05with so many people watching,
05:07A, I'd look like a mug,
05:08and at the same time,
05:10I wouldn't be able to look at myself the same again in the mirror,
05:13even when I get people that offer me lifts,
05:17and say I'm on the way to go stay at someone's house,
05:20and I've got like two miles left,
05:21they're like oh we'll just come pick you up,
05:23I can't cheat,
05:25that's two miles of distance I need to cover on foot,
05:29you've just got to keep on pushing yourself through it,
05:32like with anything in life.
05:34Good stuff,
05:35you mentioned torrential rain there,
05:37we had a bit of a downpour in Inverness last night,
05:39but you didn't find it too bad did you?
05:42Yeah, I actually didn't feel it,
05:44it might have been because I was in the loaders,
05:49people kept buying me drinks,
05:51so that might have played a bit of a part on it.
05:54A bit of local hospitality there.
05:56Oh yeah,
05:57everybody's been so lovely to me in Inverness,
06:00even the locals,
06:01but even the tourists as well,
06:02the tourists have been absolutely fantastic,
06:04everybody's wanting to say hello to the dogs,
06:06give them a fuss and a cuddle,
06:08and then as soon as you start chatting to people,
06:10oh you're doing it for charities,
06:12and getting so many more followers and people donating,
06:15this past week of being here,
06:17although it's been a bit of a downpour,
06:20that I've had to sit around and wait for so long,
06:22it's been quite a blessing at the same time,
06:24it's given me a chance to actually integrate with people,
06:26and talk to people,
06:28you don't really get to do that much,
06:31because I'm trying to keep moving as much as I possibly can,
06:34so most of the time I don't,
06:36I don't stay in the same town for longer than a night,
06:38and then I'm off at 10 o'clock in the morning again,
06:41so it gives me a chance to get to know people,
06:45which is nice.
06:46Good stuff,
06:47I'm sure everyone locally will be wishing you well,
06:50you're heading now into the wilds of the Highlands,
06:53maybe in the next few days?
06:55Hopefully I'll be able to set off in the next few days,
06:58when the tank cools,
06:59and that's when the proper adventure begins.