Paul Scraton

If you like writing and photography about place, travel and the outdoors, then check out The Winding Trail and if it takes your fancy, sign up for our newsletter. We’d love to have you along for the ride: the-winding-trail.com/newsletter/

Just a normal morning run…

What do we want from Tokyo? We’ve been here before, but there is no way any visitor can “know” one of the biggest cities in the world, however many times they visit. So we decided to pick two contrasting neighbourhoods and go for a stroll to see what we could find…

In 80 years you learn a few things. The best meal of my life, somewhere out on the edge of Tokyo…

From the north of Tohoku to Tokyo and… wow, that’s a lot of people… …but even in this city you can find quiet corners, perfect for strolling. So that’s what we did. And it’s good to be back. #adventuresbeyondthefrontdoor #thetrip #japan

To the coast. This next couple of days has been in my mind since we planned this trip. The legacy of 2011 and how it shapes what we see here. The desperate stories of the tsunami and the almost unbelievable stories of resistance and hope that followed. Tonight we’re in Kamaishi. My kinda town…

Autumn colours as we moved through the Aomori interior…

A rainy day in Hirosaki sounds like a good title for a story…

In Aomori. A day by the sea and in the orchard…

Hirosaki strolling, until the sun goes down…

A rainy drive along the narrow (ish) road to the deep north of Tohoku…

The hills were calling once more so we drove up through glorious autumn colours to the Mikaeri-tōge Pass to hike the Mount Hachimantai summit plateau with its marshlands, crater ponds and spectacular views of Mount Iwate and beyond… #adventuresbeyondthefrontdoor #thetrip #japan

It’s not quite the Panke… the Sunday run in the city centre of Morioka comes with bear warnings at every entrance to the riverside path... #adventuresbeyondthefrontdoor #thetrip #japan #gettingthereslowly

Yamadera. Said hello (again) to Bashō. Climbed more than a thousand steps. Worth it.

That was quite a moment or two to live through. And quite a thing to have happened “erroneously”. www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2026/10...

Yamagata. Seems pretty lovely. More exploring tomorrow…

Berliner! Samstag feiern @slowberlin.bsky.social & ich die Premiere von "Berlin. Ein literarischer Stadtführer" im wunderbaren Romanischen Café mit Barbaros Altuğ als Gast. Kommt vorbei und stosst mit uns an! 19.30 Uhr im Romanischen Café im Europa-Center: romanisches-cafe.berlin/event/berlin...

A rainy day in Sendai, until the clouds parted and we saw the moon over the ruined castle… #adventuresbeyondthefrontdoor #thetrip #japan

The first of our newsletters from the trip to Japan and New Zealand went out today… sketches from the road: the-winding-trail.com/2026/10/14/s...

Bashō got here and failed to find the right words for the pine islands. Me too. It is rare that a place can live up to centuries of hype, but Matsushima on a Tuesday morning certainly did…

Sendai, and Irona Yokocho, a covered market that began as a series of stalls in the immediate aftermath of WWII and now is a collection of tiny shops, bars and restaurants that offer kind of time portal and a bit of Shōwa-era nostalgia...

From Nagano to Obuse with the local train. Apples and grapes are growing everywhere. Holiday crowds queue for roasted chestnuts. The leaves are threatening to turn. The mountains surround us, becoming ever clearer as the day goes on until, at dusk, it feels as if we can touch them…

Into the hills… we followed the Olympic Road from Nagano to Hakuba and then caught the gondola for the hike to Happo Pond and its amazing views of the Hakuba Sanzan mountains…

In Nagano. Lovely spot.

At @elsewherejournal.bsky.social we have a new AI policy and I wholeheartedly endorse this message.

Edo-era gardens, a reconstructed castle, shrines to old Lords, pop-up bookshops and bilingual zines, contemporary art dealing with the aftermath of the 2024 earthquake, craft breweries and sashimi. Kanazawa. Day two. #adventuresbeyondthefrontdoor

Strolling Kanazawa. Drinking highballs. It’s a fine old place. #adventuresbeyondthefrontdoor #thetrip #japan

The biggest trip since the one where I ended up living in Berlin had begun and it starts here, on a night flight to Narita, a Shinkansen across the country and dusk on the streets of Kanazawa. Welcome to Japan indeed. #adventuresbeyondthefrontdoor #thetrip #japan

Marathon weekend! We’ll be spectating of course, but in honour of all the runners in town we went for a bimble of our own in the park… #adventuresbeyondthefrontdoor #gettingthereslowly

Nineteen years since our big party above the rooftops of Berlin. Still my best friend. Home is wherever she might be. Love you Boss Lady x

All voted. Never take it for granted.

Our latest Postcard from The Winding Trail is about wanderlust, travel and Anthony Bourdain. It was sent out this morning but you can also read it on the website (where you can subscribe for future editions if it seems like your type of thing): the-winding-trail.com/2026/09/19/p...

Someone could actually write an email with nice things to say about my writing and I would miss it because of the volume of spam landing about reading groups and book clubs and Amazon profiles… have to say though, the LLMs that they use are getting better at telling me what my own book is about…

rnli.org/support-us/g...

The railway bridge in Riga is perhaps best observed at night when it is illuminated against the Baltic skies. But we think this fine city is well worth a stopover, especially if you are travelling on Route 32 in our book… Photo © Genadijsz / Dreamstime

My latest piece for The Winding Trail is a collection of notes from the road, a love letter to Nepal. #NepalCalling the-winding-trail.com/2026/09/07/n...

My friends in Nepal are working hard to support emergency relief and communities to recover and rebuild. If you can help in any way, it would be greatly appreciated. www.justgiving.com/campaign/nep...

This is a wonderful newsletter on place and people. The latest edition, postcard #9, considers the restoration efforts of the Elbe River region and value of Rewilding Britain. Two great things that go hopefully together. Well worth the free subscription. #booksky

Read @paulscraton.bsky.social's full review of David Clay Large's "Berlin" (pub: 2000) here: www.slowtravelberlin.com/book-review-...

A little call-out for anyone who might be interested. The Winding Trail is the place where I publish my long reads and fields notes, focused on place writing, travel and the outdoors. Subscribe in this instance means you get an email when we publish something new: the-winding-trail.com/subscribe/