During the lockdowns I watched a lot of films, one that has stuck with me is the ‘The Way’ starring Martin Sheen and written/directed by his son Emilio Estevez. It tells the story of a father completing the Camino de Santiago in memory of his son who was killed doing the walk. I then came across lots of YouTube vlogs covering the various routes you can take on your pilgrimage and the seed of an idea formed.
I’ve done several long distance walks over the past few years, mostly 100km in 3 days type stuff in aid of The Army Benevolent Fund, and I fancied having a go at something like the Camino. I wasn’t that keen on doing it by myself if I didn’t have to but it was the fall back plan.
Long story short, a friend cycled part of the Camino Norte in the summer of 2023 and in conversation mentioned he’d like to walk one of the routes. I’d kind of settled on the Camino Portuguese but time limitations meant doing the +/-300km from Porto to Santiago de Compostela was going to be difficult. We’ve settled on doing Valenca to Santiago de Compostela, a distance of c120km and we’ve allowed ourselves 6 days to do it. We’re aiming for the first week in May so not long to get my fitness up to scratch. More to come.
