Video recording of a conversation between Julian Hoffman, author of Lifelines – searching for home in the mountains of Greece, and Annemarie Lopez.
When Julian first arrived in Greece’s remote Prespa region, his Greek was “almost non-existent.” Walking became a form of literacy for him—a way to learn the language of the land by tracing the steps of others, reading stone walls, abandoned houses, plant communities, and animal tracks. “Walking was a way in,” he says, “a way to begin to belong.”
Today, walking remains central to Hoffman’s work as a nature writer documenting Prespa’s changing environment in books like Lifelines. The pace of walking allows him to attune himself to the subtly changing patterns of the landscape.