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Oh, my gosh. I am going walking with the “Women Who Walk,” on the first ever Newfoundland Camino. Can you believe it?

I know what you are thinking “Whoah Nellie. Back up a bit. The women who walk? Who are they?”

Well, let me tell you. The women who walk are not just some everyday walkers taking a stroll to the corner store to buy a bag of Doritos healthy, wholesome snacks, or a brisk walk around the mall. These women have walked HUNDREDS of miles.

They have walked the CAMINO.

Now the Camino we are talking about is not the fancy muscle car of our youths. The Camino de Santiago de Compostela is a medieval pilgrimage route in Spain, that has recently had a resurgence in popularity. The wikipedia entry for Camino says that

per year, over 100,000 pilgrims on foot, bicycle, donkey, or horseback come from over a 100 countries to claim their certificate called a ‘compostela’, based on their pilgrim passport called a ‘credencial’, filled with stamps from the towns they passed along the route. The credencial proves they have followed the route formally recognized by the “Pilgrim Association of St. James.” It is unknown how many more pilgrims travel the route per year without using a pilgrim’s passport.

Wow.

Sue Kenney has done the Camino 4 times. The first time she walked it alone, in the winter, and covered 780 km.

The third and fourth times, she led groups of women of different ages and backgrounds on the ancient pilgrimage.

And starting Sunday, Oct. 13th, she’s walking 103 km from Renews to St. John’s, with a few of these walking wonders, to arrive at the Atlantic Premiere of her film “LAS PEREGRINAS - THE WOMEN WHO WALK” which is screening at the St. John’s Intl Women’s Film Fest on Wednesday Oct 17th at @ 4:00PM, at the Majestic Theatre.

The film is Sue’s first feature length documentary and explores why women choose to walk the Camino, and how few, if any, ever return from the Camino professing to be the same person they were when they left.

I wonder what the Newfoundland Camino will do to me?

What I do know is that that Sue will kill me when she finds out I still haven’t bought my walking shoes.

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Tags: Sue Kenney, The Camino, Irene Duma, Las Peregrinas, Camino de Santiago de Compostela, pilgrimage, St. John’s Intl Women’s Film Fest

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