This feels good – a pilgrim’s report
For years I wanted to walk a walk where I could reflect on my life questions.
Who did I want to go with, what tour did I want to walk. The step to really do it was big and took years.
Walk of Wisdom, a pilgrimage of 136 kilometers through hills, forests and rivers around Nijmegen came my way. My husband saw this trip as a great adventure and wanted to join him.
On the site you can find stories of pilgrims who have already walked this journey. But then comes the question what do I want myself, 8 days away from home is too long for me. I’m a real homebody.
To get out of my comfort we chose to walk this tour in parts. The journey started at home the moment we took the step to walk this pilgrimage. When are we going to walk, where are we going to sleep, how many kilometers in a day are we going to walk, all questions that we could determine and record at home.
Then comes the moment when we pack up with a backpack on our way. My husband attached to his backpack with Nordic walking sticks, I could do without them myself. By bus and train we set off to Nijmegen. In the Stevenskerk we were able to register and we were given the map and a pilgrim’s lace on which we can hang bird rings with the names of the 11 municipalities along the route. With full courage we start our journey. A gentleman hanging out of his upper window wishes us good luck. This feels good, we are on our way, each with their own goal in mind.
What we didn’t expect were the hills right away in Nijmegen itself. But the trip is beautiful and we have the time to ourselves. Enjoying all the beauty around me, I look around.
I get quiet inside when I see the old trees around me, a small river running along the path. My husband finds a nice stick that he uses to climb the hills. After a tough hill, he hands the pole to me and uses his Nordic walking poles that are still unused on his backpack. That feels good, the stick gives me just that little bit of support to brave the hill. Only then do you notice that Brabant is really flat and that the hills are not hills.
When we arrive at a bench, the backpack comes off and we take a rest and go through the route. When we sit quietly and look around, a robin comes tripping towards us. She flies up and sits on a pole. We look at the robin together and my husband says softly “there is our Marleen, she is here with us”. Marleen is his sister who passed away 2 months ago. Marleen had red hair. Together we reminisce that comfort us with this loss. We feel loved by the robin that stays with us. It’s as if Marleen’s love comes to us through the robin.
The tour continues, I am so surprised that our Netherlands has so much beautiful nature. I don’t take pictures, luckily my husband does. I take in nature to enjoy it later.
In our pilgrimage we sleep with private individuals, we are warmly welcomed into their home and are pampered with their hospitality. Even when we arrived at the address rained out as a king. It feels so good to trust people and be there for each other.
Soon I will plan my second part of this pilgrimage. I now know what to expect, the hills are my steps I take in life. When you arrive at the top, you see the horizon around you, but also parts of your life’s path. Enjoy this.
Hanny van Rooy (pilgrim 4190)
