Until 2005, Lewis, 39, from Swansea in south Wales, was part of the British Army's Parachute Regiment, but says he struggled to return to civilian life and being a single father to his now 19-year-old daughter.

 

Ex-paratrooper Christian Lewis from south Wales decided to walk the entire UK coast to raise money for charity.

When the UK introduced a mandatory lockdown on March 23 to slow the spread of the coronavirus, he had to put his mission on hold, two-and-a-half years after first hitting the road.

Thanks to the kindness of strangers, he is now sheltering in place in a small cabin on a remote and uninhabited Scottish island miles off the west coast of the Shetland mainland.

 

He is alone with his dog, fishing, and foraging for most of his meals.

 

Lewis carries almost nothing with him in order to keep his backpack as light as possible, choosing to traverse the country with nothing but a sleeping bag, tent, some extra clothes, a phone charger, and a few cooking items.

 

He also doesn't like carrying too much food, especially on long stretches of coastline between towns, as this adds to the weight of his backpack. Instead, he often fishes and forages for his next meal, a skill that he has taught himself, and is still working on improving. As a result, his diet is heavy on stews, vegetables, and seafood.

 

However, as his Facebook page, Chris Walks the UK, gains recognition (he has almost 50,000 followers at the time of writing), more and more people reach out to him wanting to help, and many of them donate to local shops they know he'll pass so that he can get food supplies and water there.

 

"It restored my faith in humanity," he said.

 

As most of the world began getting inundated by nonstop coronavirus news, he was hearing about it from people he met on the road obviously he didn't have even a TV.