He adds: “If somebody had told me I would be crossing the finish line as a seriously happy man with a family, I would have laughed at them. Finding Hildasay: How one man walked the UK’s coastline and found hope and happiness by Christian Lewis I have, a very, very long time ago spent months traveling (mainly hitch hiking in my case) down through Europe and in other countries. I slept out and spent everyday looking for a place to sleep (once waking up in Israel realising I'd slept on a dead cat, it was dark when I'd put my sleeping bag down), wash and find cheap food. So I have a small understanding of what it was like for Christian. But I could stop at any time and I certainly didn't do that much walking. I expect it’ll take another five months to finish. With Kate and I having a baby things are different and we are making slower progress, but we are really enjoying it. We want to bring Magnus up to love and appreciate the outside world and nature.” Caitlin is also proud of me. I wanted to show her that if you put your mind to anything you can do it. It’s been an incredible experience.”

Christian Lewis is sitting in the kitchen of a family home that is not his own, having only met the owners once before, near St Peter Port, Guernsey. He needed a reliable internet connection to do this interview and the family, who have followed his journey on social media, offered him their place. This, says Lewis over Zoom, is “not the first time things like this have happened”. That’s putting it mildly.Mr Lewis said the book would show people “the reality of what this walk was like from the beginning”. SSAFA, the Armed Forces charity whom I currently work for, were kind enough to give me a copy of this book in exchange for a fair review. Having Jet with me brought a new element to the walk, as I had ­somebody to look after again. I couldn’t ask for a better dog, she is so loyal.” Christian Lewis' story is featured in the new series of Ben Fogle: New Lives in the Wild, available on catch up via ITVX. It was also important to me to talk about the mental health side of things and show that you can come out of a dark hole, there is hope for everybody that things will get better,” he says. Christian, now 42, left the 2nd Battalion Parachute Regiment in 2005, after winning custody of his daughter Caitlin.

Join Christian Lewis as he walks the entire coastline of the UK – his dog Jet in tow – and rebuilds his life, step by step. With a foreword from longtime supporter Ben Fogle, Finding HIldasay is his inspiring true story of reconnecting with nature and finding hope along the way.

Christian had mounting bills, debt and the tenancy on his rented flat was coming to an end, and then he hit upon his big idea. Now I was finally out of the force of the wind, my body began to warm - the part where the real pain sets in. I'd felt it plenty of times before on this journey, but this time it was different. As I began to regain feeling in my fingers and toes, it burned so strongly that I just sat in tears of pain.' Finding Hildasay is Christian Lewis’s brutal but beautiful true story of survival, walking the coast of Britain – his dog Jet in tow – and finding a different way to live. With a foreword from longtime supporter Ben Fogle. The book covers the first half of his journey, being an ex Para he has to do things by the rule, he didn't cut any corners of take any easy routes. He acquired a dog, Jet, on his way and the two of them stayed loyal to each other.

Christian left his home in Wales after coming to the end of his tether, it feels to me, he was suffering from depression and found himself in debt without being able to get out of his situation. Christian says doing his walk, ­estimated at more than 12,000 miles, has made him the happiest man. The view of the public reaction and social media coverage is undestandably given from the perspective of the author but I would have liked to know a bit more about the coverage from other perspectives. And it was while riding the waves that he had a flash of inspiration to attempt to walk the entire coastline of the UK, a challenge that so far has taken him nearly six years.With a foreword from long-time supporter Ben Fogle, Finding Hildasayis a brutal and beautiful true story of depression, survival and the meaning of home.

The life-changing epiphany that would take Christian Lewis on a 12,000-mile ­journey on foot from ­despair ­to joy via an uninhabited Scottish island­ ­happened on a surfboard.And the family’s journey is not over yet. While speaking to the Mirror, ­Christian was about to board a ferry to leave the Channel Islands for Weymouth, Dorset. They no longer could stay in tents, so Christian used some of the money from his book deal to buy a vehicle which he converted into a camper van. Magnus is strapped to his parents in a sling while they walk. In his darkest depression, one idea brought Christian Lewis out of the depths - and into a new life. Finding Hildasay, read by the author, is a brutal and beautiful true story of depression, survival, walking, and the meaning of home. The book, written on a notepad while travelling, has his own mental health journey as the driving force behind the story of his adventure. Now I was finally out of the force of the wind, my body began to warm – the part where the real pain sets in. I’d felt it plenty of times before on this journey, but this time it was different. As I began to regain feeling in my fingers and toes, it burned so strongly that I just sat in tears of pain.’