Restorative Walking,
experience the healing power of walking, during a Recovery or Recharge Holiday
A recovery holiday is an individual, low-stimulus walking trip, in an environment that offers peace and quiet, in the north of Portugal.
Stress, burnout, illness, overstimulation, these are good reasons to give your body and mind a time-out. To regain physical strength and relax mentally.
If you ask people who have a burnout what helps them get back on their feet, ‘walking’ is invariably one of the answers.
If you ask cancer patients or people around them what helps them to deal with difficult thoughts, feelings of anxiety, etc., ‘walking’ is one of the most common answers.
If you ask people who are recovering after illness how they physically regain their strength, ‘walking’ will certainly be on the list.
If you ask people who are going through a difficult period of illness, grief, loss or trauma how they deal with their feelings and thoughts, ‘walking’ is one of the most frequently heard options.
If you ask people who suffer from overstimulation what helps them to de-stimulate, they will also tell you that ‘walking’ is at the top of the list.
Why a ‘Recovery Holiday’?
In 2019 I moved to Portugal. The decision was the result of a process that I consciously went through after I suffered a burnout a year earlier. I consciously chose to slow down and live my life in a different way. Strangely enough, I was ‘helped’ by the long Corona period. I had the opportunity to discover the North of Portugal in a different way than I originally had in mind, namely by walking.
In 2021 I walked the Portuguese Camino to Santiago for the first time.
In 2022 I was again forced to take rest when I was diagnosed with lymph node cancer. I had to fight a battle that demanded the utmost from my body, both physically and mentally. A battle that I won, but which taught me even more to slow down and not to lose sight of the beautiful little things along the way. Once again I experienced the healing power of walking during my recovery period.
With my experience from the first years in Portugal, I organize ‘recovery holidays’ for everyone who would benefit from them. Strengthen physically and at the same time find mental peace while walking, depending on your capabilities. Find tools that help you deal with stress, anxiety and the mental consequences of illness or a difficult period.
Walking is so much more than just a physical thing. And walking in this beautiful environment is a treat for body and mind.
Our offer of guided walking trips
The packages below have been carefully put together to offer you the opportunity to improve your physical condition and at the same time relax mentally. However, they are just a selection of the possibilities that Northern Portugal has to offer.
Is this not quite what you have in mind or what your body needs? Contact me and tell me what you are looking for, so we can design a customized walking holiday for you (and your loved ones).
Exclusive and individual trip (1 person per period)
7 days / 6 nights
You will receive tools that help you deal with the challenges of every day
All-in (with the exception of the travel to and from Braga)
You will stay in Braga for 7 days (6 nights).
(At least) 4 walking days, with walks that vary in terms of route, environment, view and difficulty (but never really difficult).
Walks are alternated with other activities and with time for yourself.
Meals included.
When?
1 person in the first week of October 2024
1 person in the second half of June 2025
Price: 1,500 euros (excl. VAT)
Did you know that before I moved to Portugal, I was stuck in a negative spiral for years? I tried and fought to get out, but I couldn’t. I kept going in circles, in the mess in my own head.
Nothing changed.
Until I had the courage to admit that I wouldn’t get out of my (un)comfortable zone on my own.
Until I had the courage to set something in motion.
It is only if you take the step to change something that something can actually change.
I’ve been examining myself.
I learned to look in the mirror and learn to be happy with what I saw.
I have learned to convert negative thoughts into positive ones.
I have learned so much.
And practiced. With tools that were given to me. But also with tools that I found in the principles of positive psychology. And in walking.
I have learned to put myself and my values first.
I have learned to listen to my feelings.
Learned to say ‘yes’ to myself.
And ‘no’ to what does not resonate with my personal values.
I have learned to do what I feel I have to do. And to let go of what does not serve me or what I cannot change.
How? By taking that first step. And then another one and another one.
Not just in my head, also literally.
The way has been revealed along the way. Also literally.
I moved abroad to, again literally, distance myself from the rat race in which I was participating. I found the environment I needed to slow down.
Two years of Corona and a year with lymph node cancer also, strangely enough, contributed to my ability to slow down.
I went for a walk. And along the way I discovered the tools I needed to monitor and maintain my positive mindset. I learned to return to those tools again and again each time when I was losing sight of myself again.
I deal with pressure, stress and ‘obligations’ in a different way. I have learned to do so.
Life feels a lot easier since then. The burden on my shoulders is a lot lighter.
Not every day, but most of the time.
The world hasn’t changed, but the way I look at it has.
I want to take two people with me again on my walks in 2024 and 2025. Each separately.
Each for 7 days, here with me in Braga.
The Camino to Santiago is a metaphor for our fight against cancer. Some days are better than the others.
But arriving at the square in front of the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela feels like a victory over everything that came your way before.Do you want to experience this indescribable feeling?
Do you want to walk the most beautiful section of the Portuguese Camino at slow pace, together with a very small group of fellows (max. 6 people)? Well, this is your chance!
This is not an ‘ordinary’ trip, but a gift to yourself!
When?
From 05/04 to 16/04/2025
Price: 1,850 euros per person (based on accommodation in a double room)
Optional: arrive in Braga on 04/04 and receive your pilgrim kit, including a visit to the cathedral ‘Sé de Braga’ and pilgrim blessing. We will then travel together on 05/04 by bus to Vigo, where our Camino really starts.
Camino for (former) cancer patients and their relatives
From Vigo to Santiago de Compostela
Including ‘Variante Espiritual’, the most beautiful part of the Portuguese Camino
11 nights / 9 walking days
Short walking distances per day (average 12 km)
Difficulty of the walks: average
Luggage transfer between the different accommodations
Date: from 05/04 to 16/04/2025
Max. 6 participants!
We will walk together the last 110 km of the Portuguese Camino along the coast, from Vigo to Santiago de Compostela, including the Variante Espiritual!
Why would you register for this walking tour?
- Minimal stress for preparation: everything is arranged and organized for you
- You walk at a slow pace, with sufficient time along the way. You also walk with fellows who, based on their own experience, interact with each other in an understanding and respectful way.
- The walking distance per day is on average 12 km (min. 10 and max. 15 km)
- You walk with a very small group, min. 2 and max. 6 people (3 x double room) + myself 🙂
- I will guide the group myself, my experience as a ‘fellow’ and as a pilgrim who knows the region and the route provides extra peace of mind.
- Focus on being on the road and the things you only see when you take the time
- Time and space for pleasant conversations, but also to seek out the silence and peace on your own, even while walking
- You can register individually (in which case you share a room with someone else) or register with two people
- Tip: possibility to extend your trip with a few days in Braga, the 3rd largest city in Portugal and also an important Camino city. Moreover, the week before Easter ‘Semana Santa’ is the most important event of the year in Braga.