Saturday, April 15th, is fast approaching. That day, I’ll be flying to London, then training to Canterbury. I’ve been able to book the cheapest room in the “annex” of the Canterbury Lodge which is on the Canterbury Cathedral grounds. Woo-hoo!

The long-distance walk that I’ll be undertaking is the Via Francigena. While historically similar to Spain’s Camino de Santiago de Compostela, the Via Francigena is much less walked. The 2022 data for those who gained a “certificate” in Santiago is 438,000; the most educated “guess” for 2021 data concerning those who walked, at least one week on the Via Francigena, is 40,000. Unlike the Camino’s Pilgrim Office in Santiago which keeps precise data, the Vatican can not and does not try to keep such precise data for all the walkers on the multi-country VF.

The Via Francigena is 2228 kilometers or 1384 miles according to Sandy Brown, a retired Seattle United Methodist minister who has edited a recent 3-volume guide. A lot of steps no matter how you measure the VF!

This map shows some of the historic stops. During fall of 2022, I walked from Pontremoli to Rome. This spring, I hope to walk from Canterbury to St. Bernard Pass. The key words are “I hope…..”

More later.