Home to Rome 2025

[JabbaPapa]

I will walk to Rome from Home in the Roman Jubilee Year 2025.

The shortest would be about 800K, though walking via Milan to see my sister and her lovely boyfriend might be quite worthwhile. And I love the Duomo, and also a VERY excellent bookshop there, so let's see.

I would in that case need to plan some sort of not utterly crazy route for this Milan purpose, so who knows ?

There are mountains to consider, else the Coast.

It's clear to me anyway since this afternoon that I am doing it.

 

[KFH]

I will walk to Rome from Home in the Roman Jubilee Year 2025.

The shortest would be about 800K, though walking via Milan to see my sister and her lovely boyfriend might be quite worthwhile. And I love the Duomo, and also a VERY excellent bookshop there, so let's see.

I would in that case need to plan some sort of not utterly crazy route for this Milan purpose, so who knows ?

There are mountains to consider, else the Coast.

It's clear to me anyway since this afternoon that I am doing it.

Ah shucks I didn't know it was a Jubilee Year. Why must you do this to me???? Now I'll be thinking of this for the next several months.

But seriously -- I was thinking about it already for 2025 (tentative Le Puy 24, VF 25) and now that I know this I will have to take it more seriously. I am unable to walk from Home To Rome (the waypoints on oceans move around too much for me) so I will have to look at various starting points. Not sure if I can do Canterbury, time-wise.

Very excited for you. Please keep us updated on your ideas and plans.

 

[JabbaPapa]

Ah shucks I didn't know it was a Jubilee Year.

It's every 25 years -- though 2015 was a Holy Year for the Year of Mercy, and 2033 may be for the traditional bimillennial year of the Passion of the Christ.

 

[VNwalking]

The shortest would be about 800K

80K? Whatever, it's a long way.
Godspeed, @JabbaPapa, and happy planning.

 

[JabbaPapa]

80K? Whatever, it's a long way.
Godspeed, @JabbaPapa, and happy planning.

Roughly, from here to Rome is about the same distance as SJPP to Compostela.

 

[VNwalking]

Roughly, from here to Rome is about the same distance as SJPP to Compostela.

Now I'm chuckling about perception - I had read 800K as 800,000, not 800 Km.
@JabbaPapa, you could probably do 800 Km in your sleep at this point.

 

[JabbaPapa]

I've thought about it, and it's no longer just wishful thinking nor anything alike.

I am doing this -- to my somewhat, though not great surprise.

That I have no idea what I'm getting into, 25 years after my previous Via Romea, is great.

It's my second fastest turnaround yet -- I had not finished my 1993, yet I decided to do my 1994.

Now ? Three months. Slower, but ... truth be told, I had been imagining some possibility, if that I did manage to walk from Lourdes to Home, getting on to Rome from here, well, maybe ?

 

[JabbaPapa]

I have a good wish to make my way to Milan, and visit my lovely sister and her brilliant quasi-husband, and it's far too many years since I saw them last.

But to walk there along the Way, as I would prefer ?

It would mean North from Menton towards Sospel (fine, done that before), but then over some much higher Alps than down here by the sea, and several 100 K extra.

I am walking better since this last 5,000K, but not that well !!

I need it to be a shorter pilgrimage, and that means coastal until La Spezia, then inland from there.

I should better visit them on the way back -- trains from Rome to Milan are frequent, as are trains from Milan to Home.

 

[JabbaPapa]

Otherwise, I am taking a little pause in my reading of Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan & etc. series -- I acquired GRRM's Rise of the Dragon ; so I'll re-read World of Ice and Fire ; then Fire And Blood ; then read Rise of the Dragon ; and then re-watch House of the Dragon, with hopefully less need to refer the appendices of those books to remember who's who.

Calf's liver, pork belly, and eggs for lunch.

All of this is Good Stuff.

 

[JabbaPapa]

This is most definitely happening.

 

[JabbaPapa]

Getting some free Easter money next week, plus the usual chocolates, hopefully an Easter basket of goodies, and anyway a convivial get-together of the more elderly or less-abled locals.

Which I look forward to.

A friend whom I do occasional IT work for from time to time, came close to dying from some sickness -- but we had some fun comparing relative weight loss from on the one hand Camino, the other a near-death experience.

She now looks wonderfully slim !! (and healthy)

 

[JabbaPapa]

Well, financially it's now my first nearly "normal" month since I went and set out on that final ginormous stage of my last Camino de Santiago almost exactly a year ago.

And yet setting aside that sundry, trivial, indeed vulgar detail of personal transient welfare aside -- I've not had a quicker turnaround into a new pilgrimage project, namely my Home to Rome 2025, since realising at the moment of walking up to the Seminario Menor in last day of the 1993 that I needed to walk a 1994.

I am starting anyway the shift from happy reminiscence to hopeful prep. Hooray !!!

I do need the basics again though -- including the very most symbolic basics :

A new staff. My old one has eroded from hiking wear and tear into not long enough.

A new hat. This one is horrorshow !!

A new scrip AKA backpack. Bit more complicated, but regardless, the old one is wrecked.

All in all cases that traditionally designates someone to others as a Pilgrim.

And everything else !!

I'm finally getting a new bus pass for next month, so as to recommence my training hikes along this local section of the Provençal Way between Santiago and Rome. I did need some wait before resuming them, I think mainly from those final weeks of December and January into SJPP and Lourdes having been so complicated ; but I'm sick of excuses !! Although I did have various extra expenses, and also a significant need to just sit about and rest ... He He He

---

I still have the Camino tan on my arms, which I'm pleased about. Only the second time I've not lost it over a post-Camino Winter. Corpse-like white elsewhere of course !! (except the head)

But still -- directed in heart and head and spirit Romeward.

 

[JabbaPapa]

I should be getting back to my training hikes soon -- I am still "in training", even though I'm slower than I was four years ago.

But I'm walking down to the shops/into town and only taking the bus back up (it's ~150m elevation difference) -- and last night, from missing the last bus, I had to walk just the final part of that (about half the elevation) and it wasn't hard for me at all, whereas before last year's ~3,000K final stage of my last Camino it would have been more painful.

Anyway, I got this month's bus pass yesterday, I've had enough post-Camino rest and I'm starting to feel antsy, as is somewhat clear from my previous post.

It's pretty hot now at this end of the Camino, near the French-Italian border, but I should be OK.

It will be interesting to see how far I can get on my first training hike !! Probably starting them again next week. Hopefully, the one section of the historical Via Aurelia route between La Turbie and Menton that had been closed off for many years for large scale construction project has reopened -- the cranes are gone from there anyway. If so, that's some hundreds of meters fewer on the main road ...

 

[JabbaPapa]

Still haven't started training hikes again, one month later, and whilst the weather has in fact been far too hot and humid for it until the past weekend, plus the usual finances nonsense, it's the IT rubbish that has been holding me back.

Computer still not fixed as such, but getting there -- the extra 10TB storage is now installed, and my smallest (and dodgy) 100GB SSD is uninstalled.

The 500GB one has been backed up and formatted and that's a great positive difference already, rig is behaving better from it. Cut'n'paste alone is a LOT smoother !!

Still many TB of data to back up, drives to format, and then database reorganisation to deal with though ... and it'll be slow, because it's deadly dull !!

And then well, I will do my first new training hike tomorrow morning !!

I am an ex- IT professional and ex- Microsoft Beta tester, so that these sorts of computer worries do dwell upon me, even though I'm also the right guy to fix them -- but then again, when "working" for ourselves, we do tend towards a degree of sloppiness because of that exact safety net.

The replacement back panel for my Lumia 950XL Windows Phone works, but it's fragile ; so I've ordered another backup piece. Will probably be the same imitation ersatz Chinese tat, but better two than one.

...

Have to arrange my busted Decathlon backpack into some sort of order for the hike ...

 

[JabbaPapa]

And then well, I will do my first new training hike tomorrow morning !!

Well that was fun !!

I am still more or less "in training" -- though my legs did have a bit more stress in them today than could have been hoped for.

It's a hot dry summer at this end of the Camino, which overall is less uncomfortable hiking-wise than a hot & humid one -- however ; topsoil, ground vegetation, and many trees are very dry from the drought. It's superficial here, but those superficials are worryingly dry. It looks like what could easily go up in flames ...

Looks like potentially a bumper year for fruits though !! VERY many cherry plums, the blackberry thorns are well garnished with juvenile fruits, fig trees ditto, vines look like Autumn will be tasty, and even the kiwi vines are sprouting.

The training hike itself was fine, and some of it was reconnoissance -- A section of the "historic" Via Aurelia/Camino/Via Romea/Provençal/Coastal Francigena that had been closed for 20+ years (including a portion of dirt trail), for reasons of extensive housing construction work, is now open again -- and hooray !!

Waymarked GR route here goes far up the mountain instead, but this is brilliant for my own training hikes on the Camino as such, even though the French hiking Federation and local pilgrims association are unlikely to recognise this route, even though it is THE most traditional and historic.

Walked about half of my previously hoped-for route - though this reopening intrinsically changes it.

And that's GREAT for a first go back at it again. Less heat, I would certainly have walked further.

I want to establish a new training hike route, not just with this restored section, but maybe also around the Cap-Martin on that beautiful coastal path to Carnolès.

At least this time I'll be doing it in the direction of Rome rather than "backwards" away from Santiago !!

 

[JabbaPapa]

I've found my next hiking staff :

https://www.wushuguan.com/fr/classique/baton-kung-fu-341.html

 

[Bradypus]

I've found my next hiking staff :

Very old-school. Just what I would have expected from you!

A friend sent me this link earlier this week - multi-purpose trekking pole which incorporates a knife, a saw, a hammer and a harpoon. And a compass. What odds would you give on my getting it past security in my cabin bag?

Peak Venture Staff

Trekking Bear

trekkingbear.com

 

[JabbaPapa]

A friend sent me this link earlier this week - multi-purpose trekking pole which incorporates a knife, a saw, a hammer and a harpoon. And a compass. What odds would you give on my getting it past security in my cabin bag?

uuuurrgh, Camino blasphemy in a box !!

 

[JabbaPapa]

Into the East :

 

[Tassie Kaz]

... multi-purpose trekking pole which incorporates a knife, a saw, a hammer and a harpoon. And a compass.

What?!...no pump-action shot gun?

What odds would you give on my getting it past security in my cabin bag?

Go on, try it...I dare you!

 

[JabbaPapa]

Well, I have been in horrid pain these past few days, only manageable slightly by some very large number of beers.

Cripes, I wish that weren't necessary but it is.

It does suggest that day-to-day in 2025 will be harder than previous -- oh well, whoever said these silly Camino Ways had to be easy ?

 

[JabbaPapa]

My sister called me for the first time in 23 years.

It went well, which is wonderful !!

She lives in Florence, so along the Way. It would be lovely to see them, and hopefully a LOT better than last time in 2000 !!

 

[Camino Chrissy]

My sister called me for the first time in 23 years.

It went well, which is wonderful !!

She lives in Florence, so along the Way. It would be lovely to see them, and hopefully a LOT better than last time in 2000 !!

That's great, Jabba!
Forgiveness is a wonderful thing, but often is a difficult thing to do. Looks like your conversation went very well. I'm sure you both feel better about the relationship now.

 

[JabbaPapa]

I'm having white puddings and a steak this evening, with tinto.

That's the kind of menu that helps towards reconciliation !!

 

[JabbaPapa]

Heat wave finally dropped !! Phew -- what a scorcher !!!

So I need to get training again. No idea when I will, but it's incoming.

I'm even slower than I was, but so what ? It'll just be an 800K ...

 

[JabbaPapa]

My new hiking staff is inbound -- it's basically the same as the old one ; but over some thousands of Ks on the Ways of Saint James, the old one has worn down to being much too short for me, though it could be great for a shorter pilgrim on a shorter pilgrimage. I'm thinking of leaving it at the pilgrim office in Carnolès for another pilgrim, or even for the use of one of the local volunteers ?

It's a good stick, with some life in it yet -- just way too short for me !!

I don't think I can start training again until that new one comes in -- and it will be too long as is, it's a kung fu combat staff in design -- but I can borrow a saw and cut it down ; just won't make the same mistake as last time, of cutting too much off, as the Chinese ash is unfortunately softer than the European, so that hiking staves using it need to start out taller (and so heavier ) than with a European ash.

 

[JabbaPapa]

I had to cut my new staff down to size with a breadknife instead of a saw (ash is not a hard wood thankfully), but all good.

It's an older piece of wood than my last one was when new, so it's less heavy than the last one was at start, because it has already shed some moisture through ageing.

I've also cut it longer, so hopefully it will last longer.

It's a lovely stick !!

 

[JabbaPapa]

Heavens, but it's so great to no longer walk even just about town with my old, now overly short staff !!

It was still just about long enough when I reached Compostela, barely, then on the first part of my Francès towards France, but it dwindled badly on the meseta I guess.

I was having to bend over to use it, which is bad in all cases ; and now I no longer have to.

 

[JabbaPapa]

This is somewhat relative to my last Camino, but I'll put it here.

The new staff is gorgeous BTW -- it's doing wonders for my posture, i.e. it's getting back to something a bit more normal.

But while I was walking last year I was naturally thinking about pain-mitigation tactics, and trying stuff out -- oh, and in 2021 too.

Good thing about such a lengthy Camino, it actually gives you time and room to do some research !!

It became clear that I needed more Magnesium than I thought I did, for starters. I had already worked out the Vitamin D3-K2 combo.

I hadn't understood that my need to cut most plant fibres was making me K1-deficient, which is very rare in adults.

I replaced my old Glucosamine ++ thingy with a more serious Glucosamine - Chondroitin - vitamin C - Rosehip - Ginger - Turmeric combo. This stuff apparently doesn't work for most people.

But in an attempt to boost the potentially regenerative qualities of it, I added Co-Enzyme Q10 plus vitamin E which are supposed to help the mitochondria.

---

Well first, I get fewer needs for greens and wheats than I did ; although a great big pasta dish still remains necessary from time to time.

Second, in the past 2-3 weeks there has been a significant diminution of pain in the ankles and knees. It's still there, and mechanically they work just as poorly and I'm just as slow, but it's still a huge improvement, if it lasts, and if it persists on the Way to Rome.

 

[JabbaPapa]

I really do miss the old humour sub-forum :

 

[CalgaryLynn]

This is somewhat relative to my last Camino, but I'll put it here.

The new staff is gorgeous BTW -- it's doing wonders for my posture, i.e. it's getting back to something a bit more normal.

But while I was walking last year I was naturally thinking about pain-mitigation tactics, and trying stuff out -- oh, and in 2021 too.

Good thing about such a lengthy Camino, it actually gives you time and room to do some research !!

It became clear that I needed more Magnesium than I thought I did, for starters. I had already worked out the Vitamin D3-K2 combo.

I hadn't understood that my need to cut most plant fibres was making me K1-deficient, which is very rare in adults.

I replaced my old Glucosamine ++ thingy with a more serious Glucosamine - Chondroitin - vitamin C - Rosehip - Ginger - Turmeric combo. This stuff apparently doesn't work for most people.

But in an attempt to boost the potentially regenerative qualities of it, I added Co-Enzyme Q10 plus vitamin E which are supposed to help the mitochondria.

---

Well first, I get fewer needs for greens and wheats than I did ; although a great big pasta dish still remains necessary from time to time.

Second, in the past 2-3 weeks there has been a significant diminution of pain in the ankles and knees. It's still there, and mechanically they work just as poorly and I'm just as slow, but it's still a huge improvement, if it lasts, and if it persists on the Way to Rome.

I don't know about that, I think that combo should work nicely. My elderly mother was on Glucosamine, Chondroitin, Vitamin C and Calcium after her hip replacement in her 70's. She lived to 96. I was going to mention something I have used for years, Krill oil for arthritis. I have always had a creaky neck and after about 2 months of Krill oil, it went away completely. The secret is to allow enough time for it to work. 500 - 1000 mg gel caps. Unless you have fish allergies....

 

[JabbaPapa]

Well -- had my gallbladder removed on Tuesday, it was in a poor state seemingly ; and I think it had been causing problems since at least Autumn on the Camino in 2022. Possibly much longer.

But as far as my knees are concerned since the operation, well !!

I have some kind of idiopathic autoimmune condition (which has not gone away) so that the inflammation etc. of the gallbladder was provoking it, and joint pain has been terrible all year long.

And since it's been out, inflammation to and pain in my joints has drastically diminished !! Hooray !!

I was able to get in to church today instead of feeling too poorly to attend, as I have felt generally over the past 18 months or so (though the Mass in Santiago when I got there was extraordinarily beautiful). More good news !!

My knees are in fact in less pain than they have ever been since the right knee first succumbed to the osteo-arthritis. Hooray !!

I had been throwing up with increasing frequency since 2022 -- and whilst I had been forced to get chocolate off my menu, it seems now that I can eat it again. Another hooray !!

As to dietary advice I've been given, if I followed it I'd likely gain 15-20 kilos -- but then I can hardly blame the doctor for not understanding my existing extreme dietary restrictions.

And I am back to eating my lovely steak and eggs -- Double Hooray !!

I do however quite clearly have a new restriction on top of all the others -- no more crisps ("potato chips") nor any other similar heavily deep-fried foods. Simple animal fat can be metabolised more slowly in the intestines if needed, so I'm not too worried about it.

One huge thing is that I pretty much instantly need FAR less beer than I did for basic pain relief.

It does mean that I'll have to revise my incoming training hike plans, and start out again with flat walks along the coast instead of my habitual walk down the mountain from La Turbie. I just don't know what my new pain thresholds are, so I'll have to take care. Anyway not until I've finished convalescing ...

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Thanks for sharing your health status, Jabba. It sounds like you are making fast progress in just one short week; amazing!

 

[C clearly]

It sounds promising - I hope your improvements continue!

 

[mspath]

May your good news continue throughout the new year.

 

[JabbaPapa]

It's thataway :

 

[henrythedog]

One huge thing is that I pretty much instantly need FAR less beer than I did for basic pain relief.

That’s really good news; and I know this isn’t a site to offer financial advice but with your welcome progress and me doing ‘dry January’, the European brewing industry is set for a series of profit warnings in the first quarter of 2024.

 

[JabbaPapa]

Still not perfect, but here's a better Into the East photo for my Roman project (taken this morning) :

 

[JabbaPapa]

This is going to be a difficult one to prep.

That 2023 year of illness has not helped, and I found this morning that downhill is far tougher than before.

Good news is that walking on the flat is easier than it has been since mid-2022 or so, and it's good that the coastal from here to Rome is predominately flat -- but the consequence of this latest disease is that I am very much no longer "in training".

I will have to focus on getting back into proper walking capability more seriously than usual.

 

[VNwalking]

Hoping for steady improvement, @JabbaPapa - smooth progress with the preparation to you!

 

[JabbaPapa]

I've decided on one of these :

50L Hiking Backpack in Black

420D lattice nylon +420D plain nylon Imported Nylon lining Zipper closure [Be a Ultralight Backpacker Now] [Full-Contact Back Suspension System] [Balanced Weight Distribution on the Back ] [Innov…

homiee.com

It's slightly larger than my current one (broken, though still OK for day hikes), but that's fine, sleeping bag and stuff will fit in more easily that way, and I'll still be carrying less weight as I'll have no need for any winter kit, and won't need to carry so much of the medicine -- which isn't heavy, but it is bulky.

 

[henrythedog]

I've decided on one of these :

50L Hiking Backpack in Black

420D lattice nylon +420D plain nylon Imported Nylon lining Zipper closure [Be a Ultralight Backpacker Now] [Full-Contact Back Suspension System] [Balanced Weight Distribution on the Back ] [Innov…

homiee.com

It's slightly larger than my current one (broken, though still OK for day hikes), but that's fine, sleeping bag and stuff will fit in more easily that way, and I'll still be carrying less weight as I'll have no need for any winter kit, and won't need to carry so much of the medicine -- which isn't heavy, but it is bulky.

That’s a lot of bag for the money. Zips and fabric are good. Have you physically seen one? I’m not sure many manufacturers anticipate the degree of use you’ll put their product to.

 

[JabbaPapa]

That’s a lot of bag for the money. Zips and fabric are good. Have you physically seen one? I’m not sure many manufacturers anticipate the degree of use you’ll put their product to.

Haven't seen one no, but the only place I can go to physically see a backpack is Decathlon and never again !!

I have a couple of extra straps I can add to it, and it looks fine to me.

And last one was the very last time I'll do an ultra-long Camino !!

 

[JabbaPapa]

My 2019 Camino tan has just barely survived into 2024, in that my forearms remained marginally less pale than the upper ones etc., but I also had no intermediary sunburn.

As of now, it's slowly returning to normal.

 

[JabbaPapa]

I seem to have started some prep.

So yeah, I'm doing this.

--- I ordered a "linen" shirt and it's 95% Polyester 5% Spandex.

I really really hate liars.

 

[JabbaPapa]

So I'm doing it.

I will walk from Home to Rome in the Jubilee Year, and that will be great.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

I seem to have started some prep.

So yeah, I'm doing this.

--- I ordered a "linen" shirt and it's 95% Polyester 5% Spandex.

I really really hate liars.

I hear ya. Yesterday I was looking at socks online and one brand stated they were wool socks. When I checked further on the stats they were only 19% wool (which would be my preference anyway), but it was definitely misleading.

You will know "linen" is linen when it wrinkles more quickly than cotton as if you've been wearing it and sleeping in it for two weeks straight.. I love the look and feel of linen, but no.

 

[JabbaPapa]

A friend got me some actual linen shirts some years ago, and they were fantastic -- also inexpensive. Wrecked sadly, years ago, else they would have been in my backpack years ago.

As to socks, my current ones are pure 100% wool. Not merino, the normal thick stuff. I love them !!

 

[JabbaPapa]

At least I have this year's weird Beaujolais Nouveau to help manage my disappointment shirt-wise.

It has a flavour and strength to it that one would not expect before Easter.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

At least I have this year's weird Beaujolais Nouveau to help manage my disappointment shirt-wise.

It has a flavour and strength to it that one would not expect of it before Easter.

I had to google...a nice selection of the wines and attractive T-shirts.

 

[VNwalking]

I ordered a "linen" shirt and it's 95% Polyester 5% Spandex.

I really really hate liars.

Liars.
Too much of that going on in the world right now. I hate 'em too. Well...we don't have to play the games liars do. It's choice.

And you choose to walk. Bravo!

I will walk from Home to Rome in the Jubilee Year, and that will be great.

Hopefully great. May it be so!

 

[JabbaPapa]

But crikey, this Beaujolais is seriously weird.

It doesn't taste like a normal new wine, but instead it tastes like what the old men drink up at the Hautes Côtes above Beaujeu and right next to the forest. From what I remember having hiked on that route.

 

[JabbaPapa]

I am -- I guess inevitably -- contemplating the problematic of a Home to Rome to Home.

Gnothi seauton, as they say, and I cannot imagine a priori any scenario where I would leave back from Rome except on foot. Not this time.

And then I can't help but think -- eh, it's only 1,600K if so. And never far from home in any case. Also super flat both ways. Amazingly brilliant food & drink too. And church services galore.

There's more though. A calm has come upon me since completing that massive Home to Home via Fátima and Compostela (twice) and Lourdes (thrice).

And more -- sometimes just walking about town, I pass by some strangers in the street and hear behind me "Compostelle" ; "Compostelle" ; "Compostelle" ...

People here around me, even complete strangers, know what I have done. Know who and what I am.

A Pilgrim.

And that whole walk whether just one Way or both will be a far more local Pilgrimage for me than any Camino, even despite the familiarity with that beloved Francès.