Free Adventure: The Island Camino
Walking has to be the most universal adventure of all. Slowing down allows us to breath, to see things close up, sometimes to just stop and admire. It’s easy to meet people, some of them also enjoying the slow motion adventure that is walking. Now, Prince Edward Island has a month-long walk inspired by the Camino de Santiago in Spain. The Island Walk or Island Camino circumnavigates PEI, passing through villages, towns and beautiful countryside.
Read the current Top Story on the Canadian Geographic Travel site to learn more about the awesome new Island Camino. I wrote the story after sampling the route last year. I walked with my camera, grabbing pics for the story as I walked. One day, I walked and talked with the camino’s creator, Bryson Guptill. Find out why he wanted to build this walk on PEI and what walking routes like this give him.
My experience didn’t start out the way I imagined at all. Here’s how the story opens… Anxious and frustrated. It’s not exactly the state of mind I was aiming for as I start out on the Island Walk, Prince Edward Island’s newest tourist attraction. Dale Larkin and I have spent 15 minutes driving around the town of Kensington searching for waypoint 15 of the Island Walk, a 700-kilometre route around the island. The route is divided into 32 segments, each walkable in a single day and all but one logging in between 19 and 27 kilometres. Larkin owns Inn at the Pier in Stanley Bridge, my destination today and my starting point for the next trail segment tomorrow. This is the walk’s first full year and I’m Larkin’s first customer; it’s almost noon and I’ve not yet started my trek back to the inn.
Read the rest of the story here.
