A Spring Walk!
After such a long wonderful walk in 2023 I hadn't planned or expected to be back on the trail this spring. I was actually thinking that I might begin again in September to celebrate the 10 year anniversary of our first distance walking experience that took us along the Camino de Santiago where we met so many wonderful people, many of whom have become valued friends. Annemarie had already indicated in late 2022 that she had no plans to walk in 2023, and a serious health event that began in early November ended any chance of her revisiting this decision. As Annemarie recovered her health through the winter we eventually began to discuss our travel options (walking or otherwise). I eventually raised the subject of my possibly walking in the fall, and after a series of discussions Annemarie suggested that I should instead plan to walk this spring. Her reasoning being that she would be fully recovered by September and in a position to travel somewhere offshore. As always we discussed what my walk might look like. In the end Annemarie very generously gifted me with about a month to walk!
As I began to look into various routes it turned out that a few factors would impact my decision. The amount of time available; I'd require 6 weeks to walk the Via Francigena Sud from Rome to the tip of Italy as I'd originally hoped to do this year, so that was off the table. Annemarie's walking wish list; for example, I looked at walking most of the Vézelay Chemin that runs from just south of Paris to St John Pied de Port at the Spanish border as it's not too taxing and would permit a satisfying experience. However, as I looked a little closer Annemarie spoke up and said that she would enjoy walking this route as well. Ok, fair enough and noted. This also meant that a return to walk in Japan wasn't happening either. Clearly I'd have to find a route that wouldn't interest Annemarie! Weather possibilities; I decided that based on prior experience I would have to look for a route that would have a high probability of lots of sunshine. This generally meant south of the Pyrenees and Alps as historically it can be wet and muddy to the north in the spring, though not the case last year. I looked seriously at a camino through Spain that I'd thought to solo in fall 2021, but after closely looking at it I decided to give it a pass for now because it's one of the more remote Spanish routes, and frankly it just wasn't going to give me what I wanted or needed this year.
I looked at a series of other walking routes and during this process I added to my 'bookmark' library of potential future walks. This research thankfully helped me to get past a series of drab wintery weeks. During this time I found myself continuing to return to a route that hadn't previously called to me very loudly, The Way of St. Francis in east central Italy (new route map above). I'd read about it off and on for about 6 years and everything I'd seen suggested that it was a demanding mountain route running some 550+ kms through the Apennine Mountains of Umbria. People wrote that many stages were tougher than the Napoleon Route from St Jean Pied de Port and the Primativo in northwest Spain. During early winter as I was conducting this literature review my body was still recovering from my Via Francigena experience which had been further delayed by the many stresses from Annemarie's health situation. So a physically challenging route wasn't really calling to me. However as Annemarie thankfully began to recover I too healed and by February I was pretty much back to normal.
Fully recovered I again felt ready to tackle a new challenge, and in fact I needed one. I returned to look seriously at the Way of St. Francis and discovered that it met all my usual self-established criteria: it's located in a nice sunny, warm area of the EU; it's in Italy, meaning I can again practice speaking Italian with local folks which I've grown to enjoy; timing is perfect as my sources state that it could be walked end to end in 28 stages (I've since reduced this to 22 stages which I hope won't be too aggressive); it follows a historical, quiet route passing through an interesting, less touristed part of Italy that I've wanted to explore since about 2004; the landscapes, spring flowers and photography should be excellent, and most importantly; Annemarie has zero interest in walking this route!
Having visited Rome many times, and again just last October at the end of the Frankie, I expect to skip Rome entirely and fly directly to Geneva to continue walking for a few days before heading for home June 16th from Zurich. This time I have purchased all my flights ahead due to expected travel volumes this year to/from the EU. I don't usually book my homeward journey until about a week before departing just in case a walk is interrupted by injury. Fingers crossed!
In just under two months I will arrive in Florence late on May 15th, and after a day to get some pre-walk chores completed and wander the city I'll set off eastward along the Arno River on May 17th. Am I getting excited? You bet!!
