We are trying to make it as concrete as possible. The exercise programme for Pádraig as well as his first major journey in 2017. Of course, ideally we would walk the last 100km to Santiago to get the ‘Compostela’, but we have decided to do it in two stages. We’ll walk the ‘first’ 50km this April and the second and last 50km some time later, maybe next year. – We’ll finish the walk we started many years ago in the South of Spain as a family, walking a few days every year.

You should have seen Pádraig’s face when we told him that we had bought the tickets, leaving on 22 April, returning 29 April. Maybe he’d thought that this was just another ‘talk and no action’ scheme. He was smiling all over and in real good humour all day.

As we have no idea what the route looks like and whether it’ll be suitable for Pádraig, I’ll go out in March to check it out – won’t walk it but cycle, just over two days, to get an idea of the viability of our plan.

We’ll be trying to get different wheels for Pádraig’s wheelchair and see if we can pre-book accommodation. We’ve been trying to find out about other wheelchair users who did this already but the reports are not very detailed. So that could be another part of the trip – documenting the walk for others to follow.

Here is a link to a German TV site who posted a 7 minute clip about a wheelchair user who was taken by her physio (!) who looked at the whole adventure (also) as an excellent example of really successful therapy – she reports how the Camino helped her ‘patient’ to gain tons of confidence to overcome daily hurdles that prior to the trip would have stopped her in her tracks. Not anymore.

I liked the music in the background – a song call Barfuß, barefoot, by German singer Clueso.

Barfuß (Clueso)

Hier und da komm ich auf die Idee
Ein andern Weg zu gehen
Mal verspielt und mal gefasst
Manchmal macht mir der Nase nach
Einfach das unbeholfne Spaß
Beweg mich gerne mal im Kreis
Doch jeder noch so kleine Teich,
sollte verbunden sein zum Meer
Immer wenn ich was neues ausprobier
Lauf ich wie Barfuß über Glas

Doch ich fühl mich federleicht
Weil es sich fast immer lohnt
Und so erscheint das nichts so bleibt, wie es ist
Fast schon, wie gewohnt

Wenn mich das Neue dann berührt
Tanz ich zuerst für mich allein
Dann mach ich all die ander’n wach
Doch immer wenn was neu beginnt
Sagt auch etwas in mir das wars

Doch ich fühl mich federleicht
Weil es sich fast immer lohnt
Und so erscheint das nichts so bleibt wies ist
fast schon wie gewohnt

Barfuß / Barefoot (by Clueso – translation by myself)

Every so often I have the idea
To walk a different way
Sometimes playful and sometimes composed
Sometimes I just follow my nose
to have fun – gauchely
Move gladly around in a circle
Though every little pond
Should be connected to the sea
Whenever I try something new
I run as if barefoot over glass

But I feel as light as a feather
Because it’s almost always worth it
That nothing remains as it is
Almost appears to become the norm

When the new touches me
I dance just for myself at first
Then I wake up all the others
Though when something new begins
Someting inside of me says this was it

But I feel as light as a feather
Because it’s almost always worth it
That nothing remains as it is
Almost appears to become the norm

We won’t walk the Camino barefoot – but we’ll feel light as a feather doing it in the knowledge that something new begins that makes it definitely worth doing this. We’ll be part of the change that is happening. In fact, we are it!

Barefoot – light as a feather!