As I am about to journey off on another Camino, I thought it was timely to talk a little about the people who have inspired and encouraged me to get to this point.

While I was researching the Camino de Santiago in 2022 I stumbled across a woman, Carol Alexander-Price, who went on to become one of the most influential people in my journey into a life of retirement and travelling solo as a ‘woman of a certain age’. Carol is the founder of Camino Confidence, https://caminoconfidence.com/ a business created for women and with the aim of empowering women to walk the Camino de Santiago. Carol has walked a number of Caminos herself and wanted other women to have a similar experience. Aware that many forums dedicated to supporting people walking Caminos are not always encouraging of women and particularly ‘women of a certain age’, she started a Facebook group specifically designed to support women. It wasn’t long before she had women metaphorically ‘knocking at her door’, and I was one of them. With her encouragement I soon realised that I could do it too. I could step out of my door and head to Spain with nothing but my backpack and no words of Spanish no matter how hard I tried to learn. The Camino Confidence guided walks are perfect for women who might be unsure if they are ready for this adventure. Carol provides a boutique style service tailored to a woman’s individual needs and without the boutique price tag. The pre Camino zoom meetings, advice on what to pack, what not to pack, what to expect when I arrived and along the way and enough Spanish lessons to ask for a cafe con leche, and how not to ask the butcher for a clean penis, 🤣 I felt ready to conquer the world. I will be forever grateful to Carol for her wisdom and her humor. She has inspired me more than she knows. I look forward to walking with her again in the future.

Through another Camino forum I came across Colleen Sims. I quickly come to love her common sense writing style and found myself following along as she journeyed across the globe. Colleen writes a travel blog https://thenwewalked.com/ documenting the travels she and her husband do. If you are thinking about travels, even if not a Camino, have a look at Colleens page. She shares so much great information it is impossible not to be inspired. Her step by step daily guide to walking the Frances has been an integral part of my Camino planning this time around, and I am appreciative for the information she has shared.

Through my online engagement with both Carol and Colleen, I have connected with a number of other people who have inspired and encouraged me to continue challenging myself and to grab with both hands whatever adventures come my way. I want to acknowledge their insight, their wisdom, and their commitment to supporting women to get out there and have a go at life.

Susan Morris, I have followed along with you since I watched Camino Skies. Your tenacity and courage, your willingness to be vulnerable, and your raw honesty lit a spark in me that has not dimmed one bit. From you, I learnt I just needed to put one foot in front of the other, and I would get there and that it was okay to ask for help when I needed it.https://m.youtube.com/channel/UC37XdAoqs455gPpL5YcSy7g/videos

There are many other Aussies whose Camino travels I have followed and who have become part of my Camino community, because we all know that walking Camino’s becomes addictive. When we are not walking them, we are talking, reading or watching movies about walking them or sharing our memories of walking them with the world wide Camino community. If you know, you know. If not, then you are probably one of those poor humans that the Camino community bore the death with our stories. Bear with us, and one day, you too might become one of this  community.

To my special group of Brisbane Camigas friends, you are all awesome. When Sharon Goulding put out the call looking to connect with other local women and we came together for that first lunch, Mary Atherden, Tracey Sheehan, Marie Griffin, Faith Valencia-Forrester and Naomi Behne, who knew how significant our catch-ups would become to me.

Robyn-Lee Nichols, I am sure we were meant to connect. Our worlds are so far apart, but our thoughts are so often in sync it is a tad scary. Thank you for your thoughtful insights.

A very special acknowledgment is for my family and friends who have supported and encouraged me, even when they are thinking ‘what the hell is she up to this time’ and are just too polite to say it aloud. Without your support, I might never have set foot on the path. You believed in me even when I didn’t especially my siblings and my children, and that is worth gold. Last but never the least, my beautiful granddaughters Nyesha and Chyla, who are trusting me with their lives as I take them well out of their comfort zones on an adventure they can not imagine and that I hope they will never forget. I can’t thank you enough for trusting me with this. 💕💕

Back to now, I am sitting up in bed at 2am in Barcelona, hoping that a few days here will help my body adjust to jet lag. I had a plan for how I was going to manage the long flights from home so that I would be asleep now but clearly that didn’t work so well 😳. Still, I have a few days here for the body clock to adjust before heading out on the trail starting in Saint Jean Pied de Port on 2 April. The younger generation are of course sleeping deeply, lucky them.

I write this to encourage women who are stepping out and having adventures to share their journeys as it might just be the thing that inspires someone else. It doesn’t need to be walking a Pilgrimage across parts of Europe, it can be anything you do that takes you out of the life you have created and lived in for most of your years, to having an extraordinary life.

If you have read to the end, thanks and get ready for the thousands of photos I might bombard my socials with and journey along with us as we venture out on the way.