In the summer of 2022, I decided to walk the Speyside Way, from Buckie to Newtonmore: around 85 miles in total. I am a post-doctoral research assistant at the University of Glasgow, at the Paul O’Gorman Leukaemia Research Centre, and it was time for us to start our annual fundraising campaign. In our research centre we have an in-house fundraising committee which supports our blood cancer research greatly and we try to raise as much money as we can through hiking, walking, Christmas fairs, gin tasting and all sorts of other challenges and activities. In the previous year, I walked the West Highland Way and raised over £500 for our charity. This year, I thought I could match this target by taking on the 85 miles of the Speyside Way. Knowing how beautiful the Scottish countryside is, it seemed appropriate to try another long route which I knew would live up to these standards.