Anyone who has ever cycled with me knows that I am that cyclist who always miss the signs and get terribly lost if I ever break away from the group.

So you would understand the concern among my friends when I mentioned I was going on a self-guided walking trip to France alone.

“Please don’t get lost,” they pleaded. “We don’t want to see you on the front page being missing tourist in the forests of France!”

Well, the fact that I am now writing to you is prove that I made it out of there alive, but really, the entire experience was so easy.

While I did make some scenic detours, (yeah ok, I did get a little lost but always in the same general direction so got back on track eventually!) I would say with the maps and the written directions provided, along with the standard hiking tags and route signage on the road, it is almost impossible to get lost!

The walking tour was organised with On Foot Holidays to experience one of their new routes through the Dordogne Valley in France. While the official story will eventually appear in The Good Life France magazine, I thought I’d give you a personal account here :)

I have always loved nature and loved being in the wild. I feel most energetic and happy in a forest, with trees that surround me and sway in the wind, bird that call out to me in their melodic chorus accompanied by the sound of my boots gently crushing the moistened earth.

The itinerary took me from Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne, through small villages of Autoire and Loubressac, both part of the ‘Les Plus Beaux Villages de France’ – most beautiful villages of France – collection, to Carennac, onto Meyronne and ending in the impressive cliff hanging town of Rocamadour.

That’s the thing about walking in the Dordogne Valley – it is filled with these charming, historical villages linked by trails that dates back to the 11th Century (some even older).

Unlike the Loire Valley, which is famous for its Chateaux, the Dordogne is much older, and has a handful of fortified castles instead, one of which, called the Château des Anglais near the village of Autoire – which has nothing to do with the English, despite its name – is perched high up on the cliff face and can be visited on foot only, and you wouldn’t have visited if you had simply just driven through.

I am not a stranger to travelling alone, but hiking alone is a first for me. Many people have asked whether I got lonely on the way, when I mentioned that parts of the hiking trail are so remote that I see on average 3 people a day once I hit the tracks away from the town centres. However, this is the thing that might surprise you: when you are hiking in places like the Dordogne Valley, you are never really alone.

I was walking on average around 17-20km a day. Besides the fellow walkers and the occasional mountain biker that might cross my path, the entire time was spent with my own company. However that doesn’t mean I was alone – I listened, as birds sang, butterflies fluttered and frogs croaked around me. From corners of my eyes I catch deer and foxes trot away from my attention, and insects buzz about enjoying their very short lives in the spring sun.

And I still have mobile signal. Definitely not alone.

The walk has re-energised me once again. The last time I felt this exuberant was when I hiked the Isle of Skye last year with Jen of Travel Bug Within, but this time, I have had to navigate my own way and I would totally do it again.