Most would agree that 2016 had its ups and downs. From a personal point of view, it will be remembered as the year my friend Harriet died. She was newly married and expecting her first baby when she was diagnosed with advanced bowel cancer. She died just six months later, on 3 March 2016. She was a gorgeous, vivacious girl; what a huge hole she’s left in the lives of all who knew and loved her.

Harriet was spirited, adventurous and never let anything get in her way. When she died, a friend remarked she was someone who lived wide, not long. It’s been amazing to see how many people have been inspired to do all sorts of things in her memory. I found myself turning over the idea of doing some kind of literary walk. Harriet and I met studying English literature at university and a shared love of books was one of the foundations of our friendship.

Before Harriet became ill, we went to a talk on polar explorers at the Frontline Club and laughed afterwards about the way the panellists kept referring patronisingly to ‘lady adventurers’. Afterwards, we exchanged pictures of Gertrude Bell, Freya Stark and other inspirational women. Later, when I read Robert Macfarlane’s beautiful essay, The Gifts of Reading – which is about friendship, giving books (Patrick Leigh Fermor’s A Time of Gifts particularly) and the cathartic power of walking –  a plan crystallised in my mind to go on an adventure Harriet would have loved.

On Monday 1 May 2017, I am embarking on a 600-mile journey across Europe. My route will follow the first leg of Paddy Leigh Fermor’s epic 1933 journey, from the Hook of Holland to Budapest, described in A Time of Gifts.

Paddy was 18 and had no deadline; I’m 34, have a history of back problems and only three weeks in which to do this first leg. However, in that time I’ll be making a literary pilgrimage of my own, on a shoestring of my own, travelling between Rotterdam, Nijmegen, Cologne, Bingen, Vienna and Budapest. Walking most of the way, I’ll be crossing five countries: the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Slovakia and Hungary.

I’ll be doing it to raise awareness for Never Too Young, Bowel Cancer UK’s campaign for those under 50. I’ll also be doing it to spread the message of Harriet’s joie de vivre, and how it’s inspired me to walk into an adventure of my own. I plan to walk a little bit of the rest of the route each year in her memory, eventually ending in Istanbul.