AN East Lancashire travel writer has taken on a mammoth challenge intends to walk around the world for charity and his travel books.

Steven Primrose-Smith, from Blackburn, started the ‘Primrose Earth Trek’ at the start of April and intends to walk the equivalent of the Earth’s equator, almost 25,000 miles, visiting countries in every continent, excluding Antarctica.

Steven, 51, expects to finish the challenge in six or seven years aiming to walk around 20 miles a day, with the occasional break to see family and friends along the way.

He said: “I am looking forward to it, it’s going to be fantastic. I have decided to do this now so I can have one big adventure.”

The inspiration to take on the mammoth challenge arose during lockdown, when the travel writer was unable to explore the world.

He said: “I wanted to do something bigger than I have ever done before and a project that I can do as cheaply as possible.

“The idea came mostly because of Covid, as there has been no travel and it has constantly been ruining my trips.

“A lot of my previous books are about the people you meet in these different countries and the stories they have.

“Because of the pandemic, I’ve not been able to speak to anyone in restaurants and bars.”

To enhance his trip, Steven is currently taking audio courses on more than 100 different languages so that he can better communicate with locals in exotic locations.

However, it won’t be easy and Steven has budgeted himself just £7-8 a day for the trip.

Steven will be visiting a vast amount of countries on the journey, including some that he has never visited before.

Starting at the Isle of Man, Steven is currently walking to Devon with plans to visit Bangladesh, Burma, China, Japan, Indonesia, Australia, Africa and beyond in the coming years as he clocks up his miles.

His family and friends have called him “crazy” but Steven is looking forward to the journey.

He said: “My mum has predicted my death on every trip I’ve ever done. Some say ‘this is crazy’ but I don’t think it is.

“I’ve done office jobs where you do the same things five days a week, chugging along, making money but not feeling like you are progressing.

“To me it’s more sane to live as richly as possible and see as much of the world. It’s an interesting way to live for a while.”

As well as providing content for his book and blog, Steven is also talking part in the challenge to raise money for Medecins sans Frontieres, or Doctors Without Borders, charity.

You can keep up with his journey, or donate to Steven’s Patreon by visiting his website: https://primsearthtrek.com/tiny-budget/