A Llanidloes woman returned home this weekend after a three-year trek across Europe.

Ursula Martin, 41, left her home in Llanidloes in September 2018 to hitch to Kiev, Ukraine.

Since then, Ursula has walked over 5,500 miles across Europe, crossing 14 countries, and returning home on 6 June 2021.

She chose to start walking in Eastern Europe after a shock diagnosis of ovarian cancer, in 2011, forced her to return home from an “adventure” in Bulgaria.

In 2014 to 2015 Ursula completed a 3,700-mile walk around Wales and produced a book, One Woman Walks Wales, on her travels. After walking across Europe, her next book will be a “portrait of a continent at a very significant moment in time”.

Ursula said the adventure brought her “total joy”. She said: “I’m good at sensing danger and not getting into difficult situations, and people have been wonderful to me in every country. When wild camping in Eastern Europe, people would bring me coffee and dinner.

“A journey of this size is out of your control, you just have to respond to the challenges and hardships as you go along, learning that you are stronger and more resilient than you ever imagined.

“I walked across Ukraine using paper maps and a compass, making my own route. I’ve worn through seven pairs of boots and had to manage some extreme physical pain and exhaustion.”

When Covid-19 hit, Ursula locked down, alone, in borrowed holiday homes for months at a time.