A Time To Prepare

A little background: 

In May 2020 I had planned to walk the Via Francigena (fran-chi-jen-a) from Canterbury to Rome, a +/-2000km 5 country solo walk to help celebrate a personal milestone. I had thought to walk into Rome on July 25th, my 65th birthday. Of course that plan ended suddenly as much of the world entered a covid pandemic lockdown which changed the world in ways few of us imagined at the time (see April 11/20 post, Strange Times Be These!). Like many others I made what I considered the responsible decision to stay home thinking things would be better in 2021. They weren't.

In the intervening time I've waited patiently (sort of) knowing that the Via Francigena (VF) would be still be there when it was again possible to go. The somewhat dull 'covid routines' of the past two years were nicely brightened by the arrival of our first granddaughter Saoirse who provided our family and others with a ray of sunlight during those uncertain times. She was followed just over a year later when our other daughter Erin delivered Avery who quietly brought further heaps of joy along with him. And now just 7 months onwards Saoirse has a younger sister, Ciara (Kera), who (together with her mother Caitlin) waited patiently for her father Paul to arrive home from Ireland before finally making her debut, though 9 long days past due! I'll be walking this year with these 3 in mind, and of course as always World Peace, something that seems further from reality with the unprovoked Russian invasion of the Ukraine. 

This spring my granddaughter Saoirse and I found a tightly scrolled piece of tree bark on a mid-island beach which I've worn ever since. I'll be wearing it on my walk this year complete with all three grandchildren's names. Perhaps a small legacy that might inspire them to try on something challenging of their own one day!

The Plan: 

So here we are again, just over 3 years since the last distance walk Spring, 2019 across the Camino del Norte in Northern Spain and trekking later that year in Patagonia. Three years older and my body closer to 70 than I might like, the essential desire to walk distance happily remains reasonably undiminished. More importantly the VF continues calling to me to experience its delights and challenges just as strongly as it did some 5 years ago when I first began tinkering with this route. Watching several people close to us fight serious health issues during the past 2-3 years has only served to motivate me to set out on the Via Francigena. The 'Frankie' as my buddy Rob likes to call it. 

This past January the original 2020 plan was pulled out, dusted off and tweaked with a few 'little adjustments'. As Annemarie and I discussed the possibility of my walking this year it soon became clear that she too wanted to join me for a portion of the adventure. This meant more adjustments and tweaking! During the past winter, time was readily available to figure things out, rejig plans and make airline reservations. Given the current mess at some of our airports and others globally amid the increased demand for international travel it looks to have been a very good decision. I guess we'll soon find out! Annemarie just looked up some of the accommodations we reserved 5 months ago and she discovered that prices have skyrocketed and accommodation availability has dropped like a stone. A fellow walker Sally, who is there now confirmed this in a message. Thankfully the £ and € are at almost historic lows verses the CAD$, so this will help to mitigate some of the costs. 

Anyway, while planning the original 2020 walk I'd thought about how nice it would be to spend a little more time walking in England. I figured out and mapped a walking route from London via Rochester to Canterbury, the official start of the VF. I even reached out to the Confraternity of Pilgrims To Rome located in England to see if they had any good ideas. I was referred to the people responsible for making just such a route happen, but was informed that it would take several years to sort this out in all its 'apparent' complexities. In typical British fashion I was briskly wished good luck with planning my walk and left to figure it out on my own. All kidding aside and with my full appreciation, I must say that the folks at The Confraternity do an amazing job ensuring pilgrims receive the help they need while preparing for this somewhat long complex walk. They provide all sorts of information and support including accommodation lists, route information, walking guides, credentials and so much more. I ordered our credentials and my Via Francigena identifier badge from them which I'll carry to Rome with much appreciation.

The outcome from a whole bunch of enjoyable effort is that we depart Canada in just 2 weeks on August 1st, destination London! After spending two nights there we will train SW to Farnham, step off (or is that alight?) and walk directly onto the North Downs Way (NDW) aka the Pilgrims Way, a transportation corridor that has been in use for many thousands of years long before the Romans, Danes and Normans arrived. I'm already beginning to think about the history! 

We will take about 9 walking days to transit approximately 240 kms to Dover/Folkestone plus a 'zero' day in Canterbury to participate in the special pilgrim rituals that proceed stepping onto the famed Via Francigena. The Pilgrims Way passes through two of the UK's officially designated Areas Of National Beauty (AONB) so we are excited to experience these jewels and very much look forward to spending the first 2 weeks in England. Except for the planned rail strikes beginning July 27th, the unprecedented heat waves and the rising Covid B5 variant! As if distance walking isn't tough enough!!

Interestingly, a couple of weeks ago the Confraternity of Pilgrims To Rome finally announced their ‘official’ route London to Canterbury which we will link up with at Otford (just east of Biggin Hill on the above map) some 100 kms to the east of our starting point. Great news! With their preliminary PDF guide in hand, we will follow much of this route into Canterbury with the exception of several deviations including Rochester one of the waypoints I'd identified in 2020. 

While not wanting to preview the entire walk on this post I can share that in 2022 I’m less invested in walking across northern France than I was in 2020. In 2015 we enjoyed cycling from Paris to Brugg, and over the years we have also made various other transits across this area. There have already been a number of visits to the sobering WWI cemeteries and memorials including Canada's Vimy Ridge and honestly I have little desire to do so again on this particular walk. While acknowledging that many people enjoy the long relatively flat stages, earlier research and discussions with several walking friends here and in the EU confirmed that much of the French route has been generally cobbled together. It follows the GR145 with a significant amount of pavement walking and unnecessary meandering. This is not the case in Switzerland and Italy where considerable effort has gone into the planning and ongoing maintenance of the route. So after some reflections I've decided to add more walking in England and reduce the French portion. This seemed to nicely suit Annemarie who will stay with me for about 450 kms before transiting to visit family in Holland and then onwards to Ireland to visit more family and enjoy a 5 day walk there with Paul's mom. Having previously walked distance 3 times in France, I have a pretty good idea of some of the culinary pleasures we'll be giving up, but honestly, who can match the Brits for mushy peas and warm beer?

With just 2 weeks before departing much remains to be done, but finally after a very long wait the time to prepare has arrived. We are clearly pretty excited! I expect to post again just before we depart.