A Journey for Mum, A Journey for Us
Walking through Grief, Towards Something Beautiful
Naomi
I wanted to go on an adventure, a pilgrimage of sorts, in memory of our precious mum. I felt drawn to do something positive and enlightening. A physical challenge but with lots of time to think about mum and celebrate her.
Claire told me about the Cami De Cavalls, a trial in Menorca indicated by knee high wooden posts dotted around the perimeter of the island. Menorca is truly beautiful, the terrain is so diverse, from colourful meadows to rugged cliff edges to lush woodlands and all wrapped in ribbons of crystal clear coves and idyllic beaches.
Menorca was declared a Unesco Biosphere Reserve in 1993 which means the whole island is under protection. Development is controlled and nature, in all its forms, thrives.
Movement is where I feel most at home be it walking, running or dancing. I’ve been a fitness instructor for over 20 years. The island offers a paradise playground for someone like me and for anyone else who loves the outdoors. Whether you are an experienced trial runner, a hill walker or more of a relaxed plodder you can find sections of the Camí you will love. You might enjoy the ‘whole trail’ like us but I won’t pretend it was all beach lounging and San Miguel sipping. Completing the whole perimeter took us 5.5 wonderful days, a combination of running, jogging, scrambling, slipping, skidding and strolling. Would I do it again? “Hell yes!.”
Claire
I’ve been lucky, so far, not to have experienced the kind of grief Naomi has faced. So for me, this wasn’t a healing journey or a pilgrimage in the traditional sense. But I felt her loss. I saw it. I witnessed it every single day.
This journey was a chance to spend a whole week with one of the coolest, most inspiring people I know. I knew I’d love every second of it—because when you get to do something meaningful with someone you admire, it doesn’t get much better than that.
I’ve always had a personal connection to Menorca. I knew about the Cami de Cavalls and had dreamed of doing it one day, though I never imagined when or how that opportunity would come.
Then, one day, we were chatting about “doing a thing”, something bold, something real, and suddenly it was blindingly obvious: the thing had to be the Cami.
It healed Naomi in ways I couldn’t have imagined, and it inspired me in ways I didn’t expect. Grief will always be a part of her story, but this journey gave her strength, clarity, and forward motion, and I feel lucky to have walked beside her for every step of it.
I cannot recommend the Cami De Cavalls enough, because of it I will never look at Menorca the same way again. Every corner of the island is different, every gate we walked though (the famous olive gates) seemed to give you the feeling that you were walking into a new world, a new country in fact, we felt like we had done a Safari, the Yorkshire Dales, China and the Moon!!
