A man walking the entire length of the UK coast is self-isolating on a tiny, uninhabited Scottish island with his dog

• Ex-paratrooper Christian Lewis from south Wales decided to walk the entire UK coast to raise money for charity.
• When the UK introduced a mandatory lockdown on March 23 to slow the spread of the coronavirus, he had to put his mission on hold, two-and-a-half years after first hitting the road.
• Thanks to the kindness of strangers, he is now sheltering in place in a small cabin on a remote and uninhabited Scottish island miles off the west coast of the Shetland mainland.
• Lewis says he is alone with his dog, fishing, and foraging for most of his meals.
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Christian Lewis is taking self-isolation to the next level. He's completely alone on a tiny Scottish island with his dog, Jet.

"I'm kind of really enjoying the time by myself on this little island," Lewis told Insider.

But how he got there is the most interesting part of the story, as it's part of a fundraising mission to walk the entire UK coast.

Until 2005, Lewis, 39, from Swansea in south Wales, was part of the British Army's Parachute Regiment, but says he struggled to return to civilian life and being a single father to his now 19-year-old daughter.

"I've suffered really badly with anxiety and depression for a long, long time, and it really had come to a head with me," he said, describing days of locking himself in the house. "I knew that if I didn't do something drastic to get away from my situation and change with it, it would not end well."

That drastic thing was a "spur of the moment" decision to walk the entire UK coastline, which, depending on how you measure it, is an estimated 10,000 to 12,000 miles long. Lewis said he went for a surf one day, and, while walking home, made the call to leave as soon as he could.

"Two days later I was gone," he said.

This was both two-and-a-half years and around 8,700 miles ago. Lewis estimates that post-lockdown, he has about a year-and-a-half of walking left.

Christian Lewis walks to raise money and awareness for SSAFA, an armed forces veteran's charity that he says has helped him a lot

"When I was really in quite a dark place, they were relentless. They helped me financially," he said, adding that they also made it very personal by checking in on him frequently. "It was a complete no-brainer to be able to do this for them. It's nice to give something back."

To date, he says he's raised over $145,365 (£118,000).

Lewis carries almost nothing with him in order to keep his backpack as light as possible, choosing to traverse the country with nothing but a sleeping bag, tent, some extra clothes, a phone charger, and a few cooking items.

"It's a long way and a big bag to be carrying. So I can't afford any luxuries on this journey," he said. "I left with £10 ($12) and two days' worth of rations.

He also doesn't like carrying too much food, especially on long stretches of coastline between towns, as this adds to the weight of his backpack. Instead, he often fishes and forages for his next meal, a skill that he has taught himself, and is still working on improving. As a result, his diet is heavy on stews, vegetables, and seafood.

However, as his Facebook page, Chris Walks the UK, gains recognition (he has almost 50,000 followers at the time of writing), more and more people reach out to him wanting to help, and many of them donate to local shops they know he'll pass so that he can get food supplies and water there.

"It restored my faith in humanity," he said.

As most of the world began getting inundated by nonstop coronavirus news, he was hearing about it from people he met on the road

"Obviously I didn't have TV, but I just heard about it from people, through social media. And once I knew that the lockdown was coming into play, that really caused a problem for me, because I'm homeless, I don't have a house, my tent is my home."

When a family heard he was on Shetland, they offered him their cabin on Hildasay island to self-isolate. Built as a rustic summer retreat, the home has neither electricity nor gas.

"It's just the shell of the house, but it's four walls and it's not a tent," said Lewis. Opposite Bergen, Norway, the tiny, less than a quarter-of-a-square-mile, uninhabited island is known for its brutal winters.

"I've walked around the island so many times I'm almost getting dizzy," he said.

Even though he's the only human for miles, Lewis said he adheres to social-distancing measures, and that a local fisherman brings him water and supplies. "He walks out of his garden onto his boat, comes over, drops off water and food supplies, and I'll come down say an hour later to pick it all up," Lewis said of the fisherman, who has a pier at his home.

However, the boat ride is about 30 minutes long, and if the weather is bad the island can't be reached by boat at all, leaving Lewis stranded. All trips must, therefore, be timed wisely.

Lewis said this is the longest he's stayed in one place since beginning his journey, and that sheltering in place and self-isolating aren't all too different from what he's used to

"The only way this has really affected me and my walk is the fact that we're just in one spot. Otherwise, this is no different for us," he said. "We're used to being isolated, we're used to being on our own, and we've learned how to do that and keep ourselves occupied."

He adds that he has various routines — and that having those are very important during self-isolation — and spends his days exercising, foraging, and collecting water.

While putting a mission on hold would be a disappointment to many, Lewis takes it in stride. He'll stay on the island until the lockdown in the UK is over, and then he'll get right back to it.

"I think once this is finished I probably won't stop, I think I found my thing," he said.

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