Waypoints: A Journey on Foot by Robert Martineau

A spellbinding travel book, exploring the psychology of walking, solitude and escape.

Join us at Stanfords with Robert Martineau and his incredible debut book Waypoints, an extraordinary account of an adventure, and the inner journey that accompanies it. Robert will share live his experiences walking in West Africa, exploring the ways a walking pilgrimage can change a person.

At the age of twenty-seven, and afraid of falling into a life he doesn't want, Robert Martineau quits his office job, buys a flight to Accra and begins to walk. He walks 1,000 miles through Ghana, Togo and Benin, to Ouidah, an ancient spiritual centre on the West African coast.

Martineau walks alone across desert, through rainforests, over mountains, carrying everything he needs on his back, sleeping in villages or on the side of paths. Along the way he meets shamans, priests, historians, archaeologists and kings. He begins to confront the lines of slavery and exploitation that binds his home to theirs. Through the process of walking each day, and the lessons of those he walks among, Martineau starts to find the freedom he craves, and to build connections with the natural world and the past.

‘Waypoints wonderfully explores how walking animates resilience in times of stress, anxiety and worry, illustrating, through personal experience, how the journey is often our collective human goal.' Shane O’Mara, author of In Praise of Walking.

‘A story of tenacity, told with humility, in a West Africa experienced deeply at the pace of a walk. I loved this book, its thoughtfulness, turn of phrase and lightness of touch as the author escapes one life to rediscover another.’ Sophy Roberts, author of Lost Pianos of Siberia.

‘An epic journey and a book worthy of it. A thrilling and poignant meditation on the elusive reasons for getting out of bed in the morning; a dazzling kaleidoscope of colour, sensation, and time. An important new voice has arrived’ Charles Foster, author of Being a Beast.

About the author:

Rob Martineau – Robert Martineau is co-founder of TRIBE, a nutrition company, and TRIBE Freedom Foundation, a charity fighting human trafficking. Waypoints is his first book. He lives in London.

The evening will start promptly at 6.30 pm.

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Tickets £5 

Includes glass of wine/soft drink

(£4.00 off the published price of Waypoints for ticket holders when purchased on the evening).