The Via Francigena is just one in a long list of hikes that have filled my weekends and holidays going back more than two decades though it obviously distinguished itself for the sheer distance. I have been hiking pretty much as long as I can remember, both in California and Italy, though it is only recently that I began to dedicate a slice of holiday time to one long-distance multi-stage walk per year.

In 2005 it was Corsica and the following year the Camino de Santiago.