{"id":2,"date":"2011-04-04T20:22:37","date_gmt":"2011-04-04T20:22:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/martinblack.com\/?page_id=2"},"modified":"2017-05-31T15:48:41","modified_gmt":"2017-05-31T15:48:41","slug":"about","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/about\/","title":{"rendered":"About"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-5857\" src=\"http:\/\/martinblack.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/Girl-in-the-Karpathias-p67.png\" alt=\"Qoute from ' Girl in the Karpathians'\" width=\"597\" height=\"301\" srcset=\"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/Girl-in-the-Karpathias-p67.png 597w, https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/Girl-in-the-Karpathias-p67-300x151.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 597px) 100vw, 597px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>(from &#8216;A Girl in the Karpathians&#8217; by\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/M%C3%A9nie_Muriel_Dowie\">M\u00e9nie Muriel Dowie<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p><!--\n\n\n<h2>Adventures are everywhere!<\/h2>\n\n\n<img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-3329\" src=\"http:\/\/martinblack.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/martin-black.jpg\" alt=\"Martin Black\" width=\"164\" height=\"175\" \/>\n\nHi, I\u2019m Martin, thanks for visiting my site, I hope you find it useful and (hopefully) entertaining.\n\nHere\u2019s a little bit about me:\n\nI\u2019m a wild camper, microadventurer, hiker and writer with an insatiable\u00a0curiosity and love of exploration.\n\n<img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright wp-image-3600\" src=\"http:\/\/martinblack.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/London-A-to-Z.png\" alt=\"London A to Z cover\" width=\"139\" height=\"189\" srcset=\"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/London-A-to-Z.png 230w, https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/London-A-to-Z-220x300.png 220w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 139px) 100vw, 139px\" \/>Ever since I was a child I've explored my environment. \u00a0At an early age I was out and about exploring the nooks and crannies of my neighbourhood, venturing further afield\u00a0each time with my trusty 'A-Z of London Street Atlas' in hand.\n\nFrom the age of 12 I began to explore London, criss-crossing the city\u00a0from north to south, east to west by bus. \u00a0I'd spend evenings pouring over a map of the London bus routes, seeing which bus went the furthest out of the\u00a0city. Then the next day I'd buy a 'Red Bus Rover' that gave me unlimited bus travel for a day and head off with sandwhiches, crisps and a coke on my adventures.\n\nI went on\u00a0my first solo-hike at the age of 13.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_3333\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"272\"]<a href=\"http:\/\/martinblack.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/Microadventures-book.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\" wp-image-3333\" src=\"http:\/\/martinblack.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/Microadventures-book.png\" alt=\"Alastair Humphreys' Microadventures book\" width=\"272\" height=\"249\" srcset=\"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/Microadventures-book.png 310w, https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/Microadventures-book-300x275.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 272px) 100vw, 272px\" \/><\/a> Martin as featured \u00a0in Alastair Humphreys' 'Microadventures' book[\/caption]\n\nI started <a title=\"Wild camping\" href=\"http:\/\/martinblack.com\/in-praise-of-wild-camping\/\">wild camping<\/a>\u00a0a few years ago and was featured\u00a0in\u00a0Alastair Humphreys' ground-breaking <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/Microadventures-Local-Discoveries-Great-Escapes-ebook\/dp\/B00H6WQJPU\/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1425674726&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=microadventures\">Microadventures book<\/a> (see excerpt on the right).\n\nThe purpose of <strong>Adventures Close to Home<\/strong>\u00a0is to be a source of inspiration and change for those who refuse to settle for the mundane.\n\nI firmly believe that adventure is all around us, you don't need lots of money and equipment, you don't need to fly out to the\u00a0Himalayas to enjoy the exhilaration, joy and deep satisfaction of exploration and adventure.\n\nAdventure is right on your doorstep, close to home, if you know how to look for it.\n\n\n<h2>Why not sign up for my\u00a0newsletter?<\/h2>\n\n\nExistential detective at large\n\nExpeditions 2012-16\n\nThe Grand Norfolk Hike\u00a0- a tour around the edge of Norfolk\nThe Great Ouse Odyssey\u00a0- from mouth to source\nThe Ouse Cut-off Channel Expedition\u00a0- here be dragons!\nKing's Cross to Birmingham\u00a0\u00a0along the Grand Union Canal\nHit the North! - From Ely to 'The North' in stages\nThe Wild Wash Wander - Into England's 'Empty Quarter'\nIcknield Way Path - \u00a0from Knettishall Heath in Norfolk to Ivinghoe Beacon in Buckinghamshire\n\n--><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(from &#8216;A Girl in the Karpathians&#8217; by\u00a0M\u00e9nie Muriel Dowie)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6509,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2"}],"version-history":[{"count":43,"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5915,"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2\/revisions\/5915"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6509"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/martinblack.com\/oldsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}