Offaly man's epic hike from Paris to Rome gets underway

By Rebekah O'Reilly

Offaly's Caolan Kelly is today (Wednesday) 70km into his 1,500km hike across central Europe - from the Eiffel Tower in Paris to the Colosseum in Rome - in aid of the mental health charity Jigsaw.

The Lusmagh man set off on his journey five days ago, and is now 70km from Paris in Fontainebleau, France. He said he has been hiking for six hours each day so far.

When asked by the Offaly Independent what his biggest challenge so far has been, Caolan said: "Finding places to camp, and to be honest, my body not being fully adapted to the weight of the bag."

Caolan's journey has been "pretty interesting" he said, sharing that he has stayed in both a monastery, and with a family so far, as well as camping for two nights.

The Offaly man is hoping to reach a target of €5,000 for Jigsaw, with €3,480 raised at the time of writing. To donate to the fundraiser visit: www.idonate.ie/fundraiser/CaolanKelly.

You can keep up with Caolan’s hike on Instagram, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter (@kelly_caolan).