servaasgoddijn
New Member
Dear friends,
In 2011 I celebrated my seventieth birthday by walking from Vézelay to Fistera. Now, five months after my return, it’s time for a summary. I think there will be some answers to questions I’ve seen on the forum lately.
To begin with, this was for me the most impressive event so far. Walking three months in solitude brought me some memorable insights in myself as well as outside myself. It was a long en strenuous way. It was very hot, in those ninety days I had only three days of rain. I know that this was exceptional.
I chose for the Via Lemovicensis as far as Saint Séverin, sought my way from there to Hendaye, and followed the Ruta del Norte. The Spanish part was very hilly. In France I only met about twelve pilgrims; on the Norte maybe a hundred. I met no one from the forum. There is a lot of tarmac to go.
In the year prior to my pilgrimage I did a lot of training with and without my backpack – at least some 500 kilometres – mostly in the dunes. We have no real mountains in Holland. I choose my gear meticulously. All lightweight. My backpack, a 35 litre Osprey, weighed 10 kilogram, including a tent, a stove, and an inflatable mattress. With a full 2 litre camelback and food: 13 kilogram.
I slept mostly in hostelries. When possible I put up my tent in the garden of the hostel. In France I camped sometimes in the wild. In Spain I also shared a room in a B&B a few times with a fellow pilgrim. I didn’t really need a stove, but it was great to make my own coffee when and wherever I liked.
I walked on heavy Meindle shoes. Some fellow pilgrims thought it amusing, but they where great. I bought a pair of cheap walking socks in France (Go-sport) and they too were great. No inner socks. The same for my LEKY walking stick c.q. unipod. I bought a good pocket camera – I’m into photography – but now I doubt the need for it. Taking pictures proved to be very distracting when walking.
I seldom started walking before eight o’clock. I liked to take my time, drinking some nice cups of coffee. And than I walked an average of 21 kilometres a day. There were days I walked about 35 km a day, but those were exceptions. I didn’t mind the heat in the afternoon.
I started with some ailments: asthma, bad circulatory disorder, cardiac arrithmia. After a month walking, only the asthma remained. There even came a moment when my heartbeat became regular. I couldn’t believe it. In the first month I had to rest for a week because of a tendonitis. I didn’t drink enough water, I didn’t know I should have.
Since I’m back in what is called normal life, I have a serious case of camino blues. I miss the simplicity of a pilgrim’s life. I miss the comradeship. If I had the means, I would be on the road again.
I wish everyone a buon camino for 2012,
Servaas
In 2011 I celebrated my seventieth birthday by walking from Vézelay to Fistera. Now, five months after my return, it’s time for a summary. I think there will be some answers to questions I’ve seen on the forum lately.
To begin with, this was for me the most impressive event so far. Walking three months in solitude brought me some memorable insights in myself as well as outside myself. It was a long en strenuous way. It was very hot, in those ninety days I had only three days of rain. I know that this was exceptional.
I chose for the Via Lemovicensis as far as Saint Séverin, sought my way from there to Hendaye, and followed the Ruta del Norte. The Spanish part was very hilly. In France I only met about twelve pilgrims; on the Norte maybe a hundred. I met no one from the forum. There is a lot of tarmac to go.
In the year prior to my pilgrimage I did a lot of training with and without my backpack – at least some 500 kilometres – mostly in the dunes. We have no real mountains in Holland. I choose my gear meticulously. All lightweight. My backpack, a 35 litre Osprey, weighed 10 kilogram, including a tent, a stove, and an inflatable mattress. With a full 2 litre camelback and food: 13 kilogram.
I slept mostly in hostelries. When possible I put up my tent in the garden of the hostel. In France I camped sometimes in the wild. In Spain I also shared a room in a B&B a few times with a fellow pilgrim. I didn’t really need a stove, but it was great to make my own coffee when and wherever I liked.
I walked on heavy Meindle shoes. Some fellow pilgrims thought it amusing, but they where great. I bought a pair of cheap walking socks in France (Go-sport) and they too were great. No inner socks. The same for my LEKY walking stick c.q. unipod. I bought a good pocket camera – I’m into photography – but now I doubt the need for it. Taking pictures proved to be very distracting when walking.
I seldom started walking before eight o’clock. I liked to take my time, drinking some nice cups of coffee. And than I walked an average of 21 kilometres a day. There were days I walked about 35 km a day, but those were exceptions. I didn’t mind the heat in the afternoon.
I started with some ailments: asthma, bad circulatory disorder, cardiac arrithmia. After a month walking, only the asthma remained. There even came a moment when my heartbeat became regular. I couldn’t believe it. In the first month I had to rest for a week because of a tendonitis. I didn’t drink enough water, I didn’t know I should have.
Since I’m back in what is called normal life, I have a serious case of camino blues. I miss the simplicity of a pilgrim’s life. I miss the comradeship. If I had the means, I would be on the road again.
I wish everyone a buon camino for 2012,
Servaas
