Karen Penny had better have packed a decent pair of boots and a reserve of blister-protection bandages, because she is on a four-year, 20,000-mile trek around the coastline of the UK and Ireland.
The 53-year-old is traveling pretty light, with just a small tent and a 37-pound backpack containing the bare essentials. Penny, who walked from John o’ Groats in northern Scotland to Land’s End in southern England last year, believes she will be the first woman to complete the continuous coastline walk. And she’s doing it all to raise money for Alzheimer’s Research UK.