There will always be people who will tell you that you won’t achieve something. They try to convince you that your dreams are too big, your goals unattainable. For 14 years, I have heard this over and over: “You won’t make it.” They said I wouldn’t be able to walk the 7,000 kilometers from the North Cape to Fisterra in half a year. They bet I would never meet the Pope. And they were sure I would hit my limits on my journey through several countries.
What happened? I made it. Again and again. Despite all doubts, obstacles, and negative voices around me. Every goal I set for myself, I reached. Even though the path wasn’t always easy, even though I sometimes stumbled or doubted myself, I never stopped moving forward.
Especially in 2013 and 2015: I was called the “perverted pilgrim” because I fought for the fundamental right to access clean drinking water. I was accused of perverting the values of the pilgrimage. It’s easy to criticize someone who stands for something bigger than themselves. But I never lost sight of my goal.
Sometimes you find yourself in continuous rain, completely soaked, exhausted, at the edge of your strength. And still, you keep smiling. Because you know why you’re doing it. You know that all the effort, all the pain, sweat, and tears are worth it. In the end, it doesn’t matter what others say about you. What matters is that you know why you are fighting and that you keep moving forward.
And it will be the same at the end of this month, on the Ultracamino. They can keep betting, doubting, criticizing. But I know I will make it again. Every step, every kilometer brings me closer to my goal. No obstacle can stop me.
Because, in the end, it’s your path. Only you can walk it.
The following profile pictures show me in different years and moments.
