Sappy, but true.
I’ve been asked dozens of times why I am doing the VF. I have several reasons, but the answer I usually give first is, “My daughter will be doing a gap summer program in Italy this summer. She will finish on July 31. I will meet her in Rome to bring her home. I tell her that I will always be willing to cross a continent to meet her and bring her home, even if I must walk. Because dads love their little girls that much. So. I walk to meet her next month.”
Yeah, sappy. But it gets worse.
My wife and I tried to arrange a surprise meet up with Helyx. We had to give it up because it was just too far and too hard and even if I could, the one week costs would be equal to the other 11 weeks that I’m out here. So, we gave up.
But, I didn’t.
I hatched a plan. I doubled up my distances and walked nearly 7 days distance in just 3 days. I’d figure out the money later.
Manarola => Sarzana 22.6 miles
We got a late start today because I surprised my wife by meeting her in Manarola…
Posted by Bill Belew on Saturday 29 June 2024
Then we caught a break. Someone following me here, who asked to be nameless offered to put us up … for free! We could use her home as a base.
Each day we walked, then trained back to her place. The next day we took the train to where we stopped the day before and picked up where we left off. We did this for 4 days making progress down the coast.
The trails were monstrous and the distances above our average. But if we tried hard enough, maybe, just maybe. Even I must swim!
I reached out to my daughter on the sly. She and my wife, Samantha, were traveling completely independently of me for abt a week before Helyx begins her summer program.
I got a hold of their itinerary, plotted it out and checked the local train schedule against their bus schedule, the tour schedule and our walking schedule. There was a possibility to meet for about 45 min IF everything went well.
Helyx and I tracked each other using WhatsApp’s location finder.
And it worked!! We got our 45 min in Manarola.
The last piece, after they left, was a very long haul back up and over the mountains to our next stop, with a late start in the also climbing temps. We did it, arriving after 8 pm.
So, why?
Because dads not only love their little girls enough to walk across continents, husbands also love their wives …. even if they must make the seemingly impossible … possible.
Sappy?
I don’t mind if I am.
