About ten years ago, I came across this film as I sat alone on a cold winter evening.  Seeing the name Martin Sheen and appreciating the show West Wing, I clicked play and, not wanting to sound melodramatic, became inspired.  The next morning, I screened the movie for my wife using only my own descriptions and ended by saying, “We have to do this.”

I hit the internet to see if this pilgrimage is real and discovered that Christians have been walking ‘the way’ for 1000 years.  While it fell into obscurity for a large part of those ten centuries, in the last 80 years, there has been a resurgence of interest by spiritually driven people who seek to separate from their daily routines and spend days or weeks walking on ancient paths, gravel lanes, modern roads and ultimately the steps of the cathedral in Santiago, Spain in search of a connection to God.

Many described the hike using the word ‘pilgrimage’. After reading Phil Cousineau’s definition, I quickly adopted it to describe my daily journey: “Pilgrimage is a powerful metaphor for any journey with the purpose of finding something that matters deeply to the traveler.”  

Dallas Willard added, “We are all invited on a pilgrimage to the heart of God.”

So, we began to dream and eventually made plans. The research was done through YouTube videos of others who had walked the way. These were people walking 12-15 miles a day for 30-plus days. We decided to walk the final 120 kilometers or 75 miles. We bought packs, hydration bladders, and many other things. We began to increase our walking distances and terrain. We signed up with a pastor/tour guide and purchased plane tickets.  

One fateful day in April 2024, the warm spring weather led us to walk along the river for a few miles.  My foot began to ache and then throb.  By the time I got home, I couldn’t get out of the car with grimacing.  The weeks to follow were painful and frustrating as I went to feet and andle specialists.  To save you a long description, I was diagnosed with both plantar fasciitis and Achilles tendonitis.  It became apparent that I would not recover in time to train for the pilgrimage we had envisioned.

We put off the Camino de Santiago for another year and decided to take a Viking River Cruise from Amsterdam to Budapest. We will be on this vessel for 13 days, stopping to see cities in the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, and Hungary.  

This is still our pilgrimage, but it is a journey we didn’t expect to explore. We will still listen to God and seek his direction as we travel. I am looking into the history and purpose of the great European cathedrals.  We will share our journey with you, and I promise that subsequent posts will be shorter.  

-Ron