Since placing my first steps on the Camino to Santiago de Compostela I had the idea, or should I write ”dream”, to once walk the Camino from my home in the Netherlands to Santiago. It seems like a such a grand adventure, crossing The Netherlands, Belgium, France and Spain on foot. However, it is about 2800 to 3000 kilometers and that will probably take me 120 days or so. That is a good 4 months and then I’m only counting the walking days. At such a distance it would be good to include some resting days as well.

And there is the big dilemma, if I plan well I might be able to afford it to be away for 4 or 5 months. But do I want that? One half of me says “Yes!!”. The more realistic part says “No, I’m not alone in this life, right now is not very practical nor sociable”. So, I pondered on an alternative. First I came up wit some alternative routes, but it did not feel okay. Then suddenly last week I questioned myself: ”why not in stages?”. The Camino route that is the nearest passes in a city only 15 kilometers walking from my home.

And off I went Today, walking from home to the city of Zutphen, a 15,6 km walk. Next stage will be to continue on the Jacobsweg Nieumeghen, one of the Camino routes in the Netherlands.

How many stages it will take me to do the whole distance? Time will tell!