Babs Götte was born in the Netherlands in 1946. This is her story: that of a disabled woman’s solo journey from the Netherlands through Spain, following the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela. Her sole companion was her dog Yuppie. Together they set off in her tiny Canta car – which is more of a zippy lawn mower than a car as it can only achieve a maximum of 45 kilometres an hour.

Her journey took her through the by-ways of the Netherlands, Belgium and France; then over the Pyrenees and into Spain.

After finally reaching Santiago de Compostela, she decided to continue her journey and travelled on through Portugal, Eastern Spain, Southern France, Italy, Slovenia and Croatia.

It was a scenic and adventurous journey of geographic - and also personal discovery and evolution.

By the time she returned to her home in the Netherlands she had been on the road for 14 months. 

Table of contents

Forward

Chapter 1:............ Making Acquaintance

Chapter 2:............ Good moor….ning Holland!!?  

Chapter 3:............ The St. Jacobs Path

Chapter 4:............ The Pieter Path and Belgium

Chapter 5:............ France

Chapter 6:............ Western Spain

Chapter 7:............ Portugal

Chapter 8:............ Eastern Spain

Chapter 9:............ The French Riviera  

Chapter 10:.......... Northern Italy

Chapter 11:.......... Slovenia

Chapter 12:.......... Croatia

Chapter 13:.......... Italy, Umbria and Toscana

Chapter 14:.......... The return trip

Chapter 15:.......... Home

This book is dedicated to you, the reader.

Sometimes life works with, and sometimes against us; and then there is that one time in each life when we feel we cannot go on and there is no future. I found myself in exactly that situation. My husband died, my children had left home, our company was sold - and all in a three year period.   

My extremely comfortable bungalow suddenly seemed much too large, without the presence of a busy family and friends. I was happy living the pigeonhole principle: the more the merrier!   

Once you become a widow, visitations by family and friends slowly grind to a halt - especially in the evenings. Women friends drop by in the afternoons, but without their husbands. They also prefer your visits to take place in the afternoon hours. My two children have their own lives and have little time for their mother. To their minds, at 60 years of age I already had one foot in the grave. I don’t feel like Methuselah, but the time I have left for all the things I have always wanted to do - such as travel, is pressing upon me. It took me three years to get my life back together. During that time my life consisted of vegetating, functioning with a dulled brain, and with a body that felt nothing. In this living death I trudged on to get everything that need doing ... done. I knew things had to change if I was to survive - but how and what was I to do? I decided to start by traveling toward the far horizon.

We, you and me, are going to take a journey full of surprises.