Ffyona Campbell

“… the question of motive came up again and again and again. I wished to God I knew the answer because the question was really starting to bug me. ‘Because it’s there’ was Sir Edmund Hillary’s reason for climbing Everest. ‘To pay the bills’ was how Sir Ranulph Fiennes dealt with it. ‘To impress girls at parties’ was the reason Robert Swan gave for walking to the South Pole. The underlying need for men to seek adventure almost lets them off the psycho hook. but for women there must be a darker reason. Since humility was beyond my ken, and humour in the face of self-inflicted pain was a taboo in my mind, and so too the admission of the real reasons, I opted for something rather twisted, but partially true: ‘To gain my father’s respect.’

Ffyona Campbell, The Whole Story

Three books by Ffyona Campbell record her walking exploits. I have them all. They sit alongside the three dozen or so others I have, from various authors, that document in various degrees of readability, the quite amazing exploits of individuals a step away from the ‘norm’.

Many people have raved about Cheryl Strayed’s Wild: a journey from lost to found, how she found and came to terms with herself through her trekking exploits. Personally, I hated the book. I identify far more with the searing honesty and personality of Ffyona Campbell as laid out in these three volumes, even if I cannot approve of her failings, any more than she does herself.

Two pages from the paperback version of Ffyona Campbell’s autobiography The Whole Story. Needless to say in a book that covers her global circumnavigation, her account of her walk from John O’Groats to Lands End at the age of sixteen is a small part of the book, covered in just eight pages including the sketch map

The Whole Story, a walk around the world is her autobiography, an honest account that will upset some of those who read it and inspire others. Yes, you will read of the lie, her explanation of how it came about, how it helped make her the woman she is, and how she returned to face it.

Book from my shelves:

Feet of Clay, her epic walk across Australia, Ffyona Campbell. William Heinemann, 1991. ISBN 0 434 10692 5

On foot through Africa, Ffyona Campbell. Orion, 1994. ISBN 9 781 85797 946 6

The Whole Story, a walk around the world, Ffyona Campbell. Orion, 1996. ISBN 0 75280 109 0