One of the enjoyable aspects of living far from where you grew up is that when you return you often look at places with a fresh perspective.

I was never that interested in Worcestershire in my youth – in fact all I wanted to do was escape to Australia – but every time I return I find myself exploring more and more and enjoying every minute. Worcestershire, for the most part, is beautiful. A hidden gem in England.

Bredon Hill was new to me although I had cycled past it a few times on previous trips without knowing anything about it. Compared to the lofty heights of most Japanese mountains Bredon Hill is tiny. But what it lacks geographically it makes up for historically.

Walks like this reinforce the idea that searching for exotic, far-flung destinations instead of looking closer to home ultimately cheats you out of deeper and more meaningful experiences. Patrick Kavanagh said it best:

To know fully even one field or one land is a lifetime’s experience. In the world of poetic experience it is depth that counts, not width. A gap in a hedge, a smooth rock surfacing a narrow lane, a view of a woody meadow, the stream at the junction of four small fields – these are as much as a man can fully experience.

Patrick Kavanagh 

Aichi. Gifu. Nagano. Mie.

Worcestershire. Warwickshire.

There’s plenty there for a lifetime.