Some readers know us - but for those who don't:
Meet Pat Gould:
Now retired, Pat worked as Public Health Nurse in BC. Her first assignment with MSF was in 2005 as an outreach nurse in Liberia, West Africa. After retiring as a public health nurse in 2009, she worked in three more MSF projects in Bangladesh and Nigeria. Her interest in long-distance walking began in 2007 when she crossed Spain on the Camino de Santiago. Since then, Pat has walked other historic routes in Spain, Portugal, part of the Via Francigena in 2015 and the Via Egnatia in 2016.
Meet Kim Letson:
With a military father, I spent my childhood living in various parts of Canada and Europe. My husband, Mike, and I also served careers in the Canadian Forces. After retirement we settled in the Comox Valley to raise our two sons. We were professional ski patrollers and for a time owned a kayak guiding company. Since Mike’s death in 2007, I've shared my time between adventure travelling, tending my unconventional garden, authoring books, and taking long walks with Pat.
Our Partnership:
Pat and I met in 1996 while ski patrolling on Mount Washington and have since shared West Coast paddling adventures then a trek in Nepal. In 2016, after Pat convinced me that long, long walks are fun, we embarked on a challenging 1000 km walk along the Via Egnatia across the Balkans from Albania to Turkey. During that adventure we walked in support of an MSF fundraising challenge, an experience that has inspired this current endeavour. We've continued walking together on the Portuguese Camino, the Pilgrims’ Way and the Cornish Coastal path. Our two goals for the upcoming endeavour: to walk from Canterbury to Rome in three months, and to raise interest, awareness and one million dollars for MSF’s humanitarian projects.
The Journey:
We will walk a network of ancient roads and paths that have been in use for millennia. When Sigeric, Archbishop of Canterbury, travelled to Rome for an audience with the pope in 990 CE, he kept a journal of his return journey. The route he took is the foundation of what we now consider to be the Via Francigena and this is the route we'll follow.
Beginning our journey at Canterbury Cathedral, we'll walk to Dover then take the ferry to Calais. We expect to make good time across the plains of northern France. Anticipating arrival at the French/Swiss border by the end of September, we plan on spending the night of 7 October - Pat's birthday - at the Auberge in the 2469 metre St Bernard Pass before descending into Italy.
Under the Schengen agreement, Canadian tourists are permitted to stay in the EU for up to ninety days. With those time constraints, we will need to walk an average of twenty-two kilometres a day, every day. Due to accommodation locations, some days will be longer but there are a few short fifteen-kilometre days too.
I've calculated that we'll each take close to three million steps to walk the 2000 km Via Francigena.
“That kind of effort – six million combined steps – that’s worth a million dollars, don’t you think?”
If you'd like to donate to this initiative and help us reach our goal of $1,000,000.00 for Doctors Without Borders / Médecins Sans Frontières please click on this link https://www.canadahelps.org/en/pages/two-women-walking
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