4 000 km walk. Warsaw – Santiago de Compostela
During winter and spring 2013, after being back from a 2-year trip around Asia, I realized that I could not return to my previous life. By coincidence, during my way back to the country, I came across the information about the Way of St. James. My plan of walking 800 km across Spain suddenly turned into the idea of long walk across half of Europe. With a 11-kg backpack, without a tent, having one pair of worn shoes and only 400 euros in my pocket, I left my hometown and walked along footsteps of medieval pilgrims. It was April 2013.
The walk across Europe was unique experience. My trail hasn’t been difficult in terms of terrain conditions. Instead, I struggled with my own weaknesses, with the weather, lack of funds and loneliness among people. On the other hand – those people, whom I met on the road, helped me greatly to keep going. My pilgrimage, scheduled for 3 months and winding across 5 countries (Poland, Czech Republic, Germany, France and Spain) finally took 111 days, after which I reached Santiago de Compostela and Cape Finisterre. I’ve walked 4 000 km on this journey.
Perhaps to expercience fully some particular place or region, one should thru-walk it. Crossing Europe on feet showed me our Old Continent not only through the major cities and popular places. It showed me the European “countryside” and places never mentioned in guidebooks. Despite language and history, which may devide our nations, the Way of St. James showed me, how close in Europe we are each other.
