John Massey

After two and a half years of writing, my book about my walk across India is now available to buy.

It can be purchased now on Amazon Kindle and in Paperback.

Walking Khush India. The paperback version will hopefully be ready before Christmas – make a great stocking filler!

The Amazon link is below

It’s here on Amazon


I am planning to walk the whole width of India, following the Godavari River, the 2nd largest river in India. I plan to do this walk unguided, unplanned and alone. The walk should be between 1200km and 1500km.  I am planning walking 30kms every day, and hope to complete the walk between 45 and 60 days. There is no recorded history of anyone else attempting this walk; I aim to be the first.

Please note this is the most direct route, but does not follow the exact course of the river which I will be following.

Since I have been here in Mumbai.  The thing that I have struggled the most with is the lack is friendly open space. The space to run, exercise and walk is not easy to find. People that do exercise must hit the streets at 5.00am to avoid the traffic, because pavements simply do not exist.

It has made me think that it is practically impossible to even walk over here. There are a few parks, the best being Ghandi Maiden, but these are few and far between. Free space and land has given way to money and real estate.

In the UK, this is something that I had not really considered. I was lucky enough to live in a place where I could walk down to the local shops and pubs, walk on open fields and parks. I was even lucky enough to be able to walk in a forest and on a beach. By moving to Mumbai, all this was stripped away from me, and I don’t like it. I think every human being should be allowed the natural freedom, of being able to walk, without the risk of being killed by traffic.

So I want people that do have this natural freedom to enjoy it more and cherish and appreciate it more. I feel that running, exercise and walking destresses me and gives me a feeling of inner peace. I do most of my good thinking when I am running or walking.

I want to highlight the importance of walking to everyone that is able to. So what better way to promote walking than to walk right across India?

I have schools in the UK that will be following me on my walk. They are hoping to promote more walking both in the school itself and to and from school.

Hopefully, during my walk I will get to see lots of children at different schools in India, which I will link back to the schools in the UK, promoting healthy play and walking in schools.  I will also be linking back to the slum school that I am currently working in.  This will help me and Playground Playtimes.co.uk grow and will lead to helping more children around the world appreciate play, exercise and the importance of walking.

I am also hoping to raise money for two charities: one in the UK and one here in India:

Brain Tumour Charity, where my friend, Mat Bayfield, has done some valuable work, are keen to support this walk.

The other is Door Step School, Mumbai where I have been volunteering my teaching services, in a slum. This organisation teaches under privileged Indian children, some that do not attend school for a variety of reasons. Any money raised will be given to the school I am working in, either for buying story books or buying a new English phonics scheme. I will directly buy the resources and give them personally to the school.

Please donate to the two charities I have chosen to support me with my adventure, indicating which charity you wish to donate by clicking one of the buttons below.

Donate via Paypal –  If you’d like to help me support Brain Tumour charity, the button is below:

Donate via Paypal  – If you’d like to help me support the Door Step School,Mumbai, the button is below.

If you are not sure what you’d prefer to support but would like me to decide how any donations are shared please let me know.





Thanks for your support and please follow me on www.walkingindia.playgroundplaytimes.co.uk