Walking from your home town or village and thoughts on a route?

[long trails]

I am sure this has been discussed a million times on this forum but couldn't find any recent threads.

I would love to hear any stories of pilgrims walking from their home or where they were originally from? I am particularly interested in the routes you have taken or would possibly plan to?

I am originally from a town called Ipswich in the east of England. I figure my natural pilgrimage route would be to head the 100 km or so south west towards London and then towards Canterbury. From there I'd walk to one of the ferry ports and sail to Calais in France.

I could head to Paris and do the route south to SJPdP or I could be a little more adventurous and pick up the GR5 route in the Netherlands and head towards Lake Geneva. From there it would be the GR56 to Le Puy and you know the rest.

Not sure how long it would take, but I guess I'd be looking at 4 months minimum.

Maybe one day

 

[mspath]

November 2008 I simply climbed the hill behind our farmhouse in Champagne facing the Marne River and started walking south towards Vezelay and hopefully Santiago! Following small roads and eventual marked paths I generally stayed in chambres d'hotes.

During the cold, foggy 26 km slog to Laroche Migennes I bought a welcome goody at a small boulangerie and ate happily while sitting on a public bench, too lazy to remove my pack. When I continued walking a car of Gendarmes stopped and checked my papers!! Rural France just can't be too careful about old ladies out hiking alone late in November!

These police were rather stunned that I was going to Vezelay; I didn't dare mention I was aiming for Spain and Santiago! Although I intended to continue on to SJPdP my knees did not and hence I stopped at
la colline éternelle.
...This journey to Vezelay is described in my blog AllMyCaminos.

 

[Satírico]

Walking from home and then back again is the ultimate camino. One day, let it be so.

Buen camino.

 

[Bradypus]

I walked the Camino Frances a long time ago. Afterwards I often wished I had walked all the way from home. So a few years ago I started walking from near Swansea in west Wales. Passed through Cardiff, Newport, Bristol, Bath and then south to Portsmouth. Ferry to St Malo. From there I followed river and canal paths to Redon. I then returned home for the winter. The next year I started again from Redon and walked pretty much parallel to the coast through St Nazaire, La Rochelle, Rochefort and Royan. Ferry to Soulac then the Voie Littoral to Bayonne, river towpath and minor roads to St Jean. About 7 weeks in total from Swansea to St Jean. I have since walked the Camino Frances again.

 

[long trails]

I walked the Camino Frances a long time ago. Afterwards I often wished I had walked all the way from home. So a few years ago I started walking from near Swansea in west Wales. Passed through Cardiff, Newport, Bristol, Bath and then south to Portsmouth. Ferry to St Malo. From there I followed river and canal paths to Redon. I then returned home for the winter. The next year I started again from Redon and walked pretty much parallel to the coast through St Nazaire, La Rochelle, Rochefort and Royan. Ferry to Soulac then the Voie Littoral to Bayonne, river towpath and minor roads to St Jean. About 7 weeks in total from Swansea to St Jean. I have since walked the Camino Frances again.

That's awesome, thanks for sharing. I use to live in Bristol, so did you walk the Ridgeway east?

 

[Bradypus]

That's awesome, thanks for sharing. I use to live in Bristol, so did you walk the Ridgeway east?

I have walked the Ridgeway but not on that trip. River Avon walkway through Bath and then the Kennet and Avon Canal towpath to near Pewsey. Then minor back roads south by Amesbury and Romsey to Southampton. Couldn't find a practical back route to Portsmouth but the footpaths alongside the A roads were quite safe if not exactly pleasant.

 

[Satírico]

That sounds fantastic.

 

[Kitsambler]

I would love to hear any stories of pilgrims walking from their home or where they were originally from? I am particularly interested in the routes you have taken or would possibly plan to?

While I was walking the route out of Geneva this summer, I met a British pilgrim, Roger, who had walked from his home in Shewsbury and was headed to Santiago. He blogs daily at https://rogerbreakell.wordpress.com/. Right now he's partway across Spain.

 

[Satírico]

While I was walking the route out of Geneva this summer, I met a British pilgrim, Roger, who had walked from his home in Shewsbury and was headed to Santiago. He blogs daily at https://rogerbreakell.wordpress.com/. Right now he's partway across Spain.

This reminded me, thank you, of a fellow traveller last year, Kurt from Austria. He had started there and been on the road three months, in winter, by the time I met him a day's march out of Lourdes. A cheerful fellow, he'd packed up his life and was on the road ready for a new one. I saw him once more. Wonder where he is now.

Such is the camino.

 

[Rebekah Scott]

I dream of this, too... even though the walk would only be a couple of weeks, I think it's somehow important to leave from home, and probably to walk back to home, too.
I walked home along the Camino de Madrid, which joins the Frances in Sahagun... a mere 9 km from my home. A couple of days ago I left the Madrid in Grajal de Campos, and headed cross-country to Moratinos on farm roads and fallow fields.
It was too hot and dusty, and even the birds were taking their siestas. But wow, it was beautiful!

Anton "Bolitx" Gabarain, author of "The Great Westward Walk," did several caminos before he walked to Santiago from his front door in Zumaia, a Basque town on the Camino del Norte. Somehow, for him, doing it from home added a monumental importance to the enterprise, he contemplates this at length in his book.

 

[Purky]

Your idea of walking from Ipswich to Santiago is, from a practical standpoint, very doable. If you would commit to the 'little more adventurous' plan to add the Netherlands in the mix, the route I took in 2016 might be helpful.
Ipswich to Harwich I'll leave to your own research. It looks to be under 30 kilometer. From there, take the ferry to Hook of Holland (Hoek van Holland) and get on the GR 5 (or LAW 5-1, the Dutch coastal path). This route has a variant to Bergen op Zoom, of about 120 kilometer.
From Bergen op Zoom you can join the Via Brabantica, which will lead you to Geldenaken (Jodoigne) in Belgium. I took the Via Brabantica from Breda, my hometown.
In Geldenaken I switched to the Via Monastica and followed it to Rocroi, just over the Belgian/French border. From Rocroi on I took the Via Campaniensis to Vezelay, right through the Champagne-Ardenne region of France.
In Vezelay you'll start meeting a bit more pilgrims, as I did. The Via Lemovicensis, Vezelay to Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, is one of the four main traditional pilgrim routes in France, and I enjoyed it immensely. Once in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port I choose the Camino Frances, but the Camino del Norte is also a possibility.
According to my distance certificate I walked 2488 kilometer, so you'll be looking at about 2650. It took me 87 days, to give you an idea of the timeframe. Three to four months is a good estimate.
If I can help out, let me know.

 

[domigee]

I am sure this has been discussed a million times on this forum but couldn't find any recent threads.

I would love to hear any stories of pilgrims walking from their home or where they were originally from? I am particularly interested in the routes you have taken or would possibly plan to?

I am originally from a town called Ipswich in the east of England. I figure my natural pilgrimage route would be to head the 100 km or so south west towards London and then towards Canterbury. From there I'd walk to one of the ferry ports and sail to Calais in France.

I could head to Paris and do the route south to SJPdP or I could be a little more adventurous and pick up the GR5 route in the Netherlands and head towards Lake Geneva. From there it would be the GR56 to Le Puy and you know the rest.

Not sure how long it would take, but I guess I'd be looking at 4 months minimum.

Maybe one day

I headed from home ... (In Kent) towards Jerusalem. It sounded crazy at the time.... Still does now... But I did it.
Go... Wherever it takes you!

 

[MTtoCamino]

I dream of this, too... even though the walk would only be a couple of weeks, I think it's somehow important to leave from home, and probably to walk back to home, too.
I walked home along the Camino de Madrid, which joins the Frances in Sahagun... a mere 9 km from my home. A couple of days ago I left the Madrid in Grajal de Campos, and headed cross-country to Moratinos on farm roads and fallow fields.
It was too hot and dusty, and even the birds were taking their siestas. But wow, it was beautiful!

Anton "Bolitx" Gabarain, author of "The Great Westward Walk," did several caminos before he walked to Santiago from his front door in Zumaia, a Basque town on the Camino del Norte. Somehow, for him, doing it from home added a monumental importance to the enterprise, he contemplates this at length in his book.

Yes & without you translating that picture in time of his walk I would not have been blessed to have read it just last week. I truly thank you for the effort!
Keith

 

[Juspassinthru]

I'm humbled reading these posts. As a North American, it's a bit more difficult to begin walking from Texas. I do though appreciate the sentiment and effort. When I finished my CF a couple months ago, after landing in Dallas, I walked to my home about 5 miles/8km away...nothing for a Pilgrim, right. Nothing like what's described here but it did seem to offer me some closure on my first Camino. I also got some interesting looks as well. Buen Camino my fellow Pilgrims, you inspire me.

 

[domigee]

You walked back home from the airport... Yes, I can imagine it got you funny looks! Well done pilgrim, awsome!

 

[Juspassinthru]

I tutor at an Elementary School, before I left in May, I came to the school with all my gear to let the kids dig through it, to ask questions and to learn about the history of the Camino. I told them that the early Pilgrims left from their homes, as many of these Pilgrims did. I was asked how they got home (I was Flying) and I told them that after resting and healing, they walked home. I knew then and told them that I would make my symbolic walk home, and I did. Happy I did!

 

[SYates]

Actually if you have the time, the system is easy:

Look up where the closest camino route is to your home.
Draw a line from where you are to there.
Start walking.

Buen Camino, SY

 

[Paul C]

I walked from my home in Sidmouth in the UK, along a part of the South West coast path, and then inland across Dartmoor to Plymouth, then on the ferry to Santander and along the Norte. I did it in three ten-day stints over a period of three years, and loved every minute.
Buen camino!