The first questions everyone asks me are ‘where are you going? and ‘Where will your trip finish?’. Of course I have thought of the possible future routes for my trip, but I’m not going to reveal them, because they aren’t set and I don’t want to be tied to a route.

Most expeditions seem to have a goal – to summit, traverse, circumnavigate. No doubt these expeditions are great adventures too. However, they certainly prioritise achievement over adventure. While pushing physical boundaries isn’t the focus of my trip, just paddling requires a level of physical exertion for which I must be motivated.

Goal setting is such a powerful tool for motivation. It would be difficult to just paddle all day with no goal in mind. I therefore create micro-goals like going a certain distance or reaching a town on a given day.

It is difficult to get a balance between living in the moment and focusing on the future (the end goal). The goal is needed for motivation, but I find if I plan ahead, life just becomes a tick list, where as soon as I complete one thing I’d planned, my mind just checks a box and moves on to the next item on the list.

I had a fairly uncomfortable night, lying on a deflated sleeping mat that must have holes in it. Crawling out of my tent, I could see my breath in the air for the first time this trip. It’s getting colder.

After a couple of locks, I started a glorious 53km section without locks. At Ventenec I met a Yorkshire man who had been sailing around the world for 40 years. He claimed he happened across Tom McClean when he arrived in Portugal after crossing the Atlantic in a record-breakingly short sailing boat (7’9”). It was a funny story and I believed him.

I cooked up some spaghetti and watched some friends racing in the kayak marathon world champs in Romania. Amazing racing everyone, I wanted to watch all day! I submerged my roll mat in the canal and looked for bubbles. Let’s hope my repairs hold.

A few kms later, I jumped on the wash of a big motorboat. Onboard were 6 Danish guys having a lads holiday. They were definitely breaking the speed limits, getting dirty looks as they powered through villages and past other boats, kicking up a massive wake, music booming and beers clanking. I was ready for erratic driving after a guy wearing aviators leaned over and offered me a joint. I surfed the wave for about 30km until we both reached Capestang.