The Camino de Santiago is an assault on your mind and on your body. It wearies joints, stretches muscles, rubs away the soles of your feet. It presents challenges, which you overcome and pleasant surprises when you least expect them. It isn’t a holiday – more living life in a different way.

‘I like this,’ David remarked as they walked through the gates of the hostel that Helen had found earlier. The green lawn and colourful hanging baskets seemed almost too vibrant after another day of pounding an unchanging, shingle path.

The map put away, he listened to the sound of voices around him, laughter, children enjoying the trampoline with a boundless energy that he envied. The washing lines were filling up, which reminded him he needed to rinse some things out in the shower. He would remind Helen that it was easiest to wash laundry as you went along, things usually dry by morning.

It took them a few minutes to get the attention of the staff. The barman was curt, the girl taking money and stamping passports, rather frazzled. As they waited, David couldn’t help staring at the legs of cured ham hanging above an industrial-sized meat slicer, wondering how long it would take to eat your way through a whole one.

Walking Alone

Release date: April 2020