https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/solo-holidays/telegraph-readers-solo-travel-walk-england-italy-holiday/

Two Telegraph readers have recounted their life-changing solo travel
experiences – from trekking across Europe, to exploring the wonders of
India’s Golden Triangle – and revealed why the decision to go it alone
was transformative.

Helen Mitchell undertook a 1,700km pilgrimage through Europe as she
approached her 60th birthday. She said the kindness of the people she
encountered – including the Pope – gave her a fresh outlook on life.

After losing her husband of two decades, Brenda Collins mustered the
courage to take a solo trip to Croatia. It helped her break free of her
comfort zone and continue to explore new places – and retrace old
journeys, too.

Helen Mitchell: ‘I wanted to do something hard on my own, to contemplate
and to think about the next step’
For three months last summer, Helen Mitchell walked the Via Francigena,
an ancient pilgrimage route that runs through France, Switzerland and Italy.

Nearing her 60th birthday, Helen felt called to put on hold her peaceful
retirement in Ceriana, Italy, and walk 1,700km through four countries,
beginning at Canterbury Cathedral.

“I wanted to do something hard on my own, to contemplate and to think
about the next step. Just having that time was a real luxury, I have to say.

“I am a practising Catholic, but I’d say it was more of a life reason –
it was more a chance to give thanks for my life,” she said.

A nun holds Helen Mitchell's Via Francigena pilgrim passport
Helen's pilgrim passport was stamped along her route CREDIT: Helen Mitchell
Helen walked 25km a day on average during “the hottest summer of all
time”, when temperatures reached 43C. Accommodation was hard to find ad
hoc, as was food and water in northern France.

“You have a backpack full of water, but it’s really hot by the time you
drink it – pretty ghastly,” she said.

She was glad for her “invaluable” rain poncho, plenty of socks, and
blister plasters, which were “absolutely essential”, but admitted to
taking far too many clothes. So many in fact, that her partner, Les
Allan, met her in France to relieve her of some of the heavy load.

In hindsight, Helen wished she had packed water purification tablets:
“At one point, I was violently ill because I took a risk on some water.
Then I was dehydrated,” she explained.

Desperately running low on liquids one scorching day in the Apennine
Mountains, and 5km from the nearest town, she stumbled across a grave of
a pilgrim that had died on the track.

“It happened at the worst possible moment – especially as I was dying of
thirst. But it was amusing with hindsight.”

‘I had a real epiphany moment’
Helen stayed in beautiful monasteries and convents along the way, paying
10 to 15 euros per night to rest her head. And met many people – fellow
pilgrims, locals, monks and nuns – that showed her incredible kindness.

During an overnight stay in a Pietrasanta monastery, she got talking to
a family taking refuge following a gas explosion in their home.

Helen said: “You realise how insignificant your life is, you see new
people every day, and you’ll never see them again. You just pop into
their life, experience the thing and then you’re off.”

In particular, Helen bonded with Tiffany, a 19-year-old French nun who
was considering taking her orders and joining a convent in Corsica that
takes care of orphaned children.

“She was extraordinary. There I am walking the Italian mountains having
this really deep, philosophical discussion with this French nun. I
haven’t had children, and it was fascinating talking to her about
motherhood and all the issues of motherhood, our own mothers.”

19-year-old Tiffany smiling at the camera and posing with arms spread.
Wearing walking gear. Stood on a road.
Helen bonded with Tiffany, pictured here CREDIT: Helen Mitchell
Helen had a difficult relationship with her adoptive mother, who she
described as “cruel”. Undertaking the pilgrimage gave her time to
process and reflect.

She explained: “I find that if you keep banging on about your childhood
all the time you end up not living. It’s gone, and actually for me, it
was really forgiving my mum, but also saying sorry to her. I did that on
a mountain. I said sorry to her for not understanding that she was a
person in trouble and that is why she was doing what she did.

“I had a real epiphany moment. And I think it came from having the time
to really think because you are on your own with no distractions for a
long time. I think you can sort of process things.”

Helen Mitchell stands on a road with a walking stick to the backdrop of
mountains
'You are on your own with no distractions for a long time. I think you
can sort of process things,' says Helen CREDIT: Michael Raffaele
‘I didn’t get a knight on a white horse, I got a knight in a white Fiat
Panda’
Helen hugely enjoyed “eating her way through Europe”. Although, perhaps
surprisingly, her favourite meal came in the form of a tin of tuna: “I
couldn’t find any food, but I had a tin of tuna with me and I made it
last three days.”

Another memorable meal came from an unlikely source – an Italian man
belonging to the Knights Templar who gave her two freshly made ham
sandwiches and a bottle of water.

The man drove past Helen in a Fiat Panda and realised she was a pilgrim.
“He said to me, ‘I can now sleep tight tonight because I’ve done my duty
as a knight.’ It’s so funny because I didn’t get a knight on a white
horse, I got a knight in a white Panda,” Helen said.

‘I went up and got Communion, via the Pope. It was absolutely amazing’
Helen completed the route, arriving in St Peter’s Square, Rome, on
September 3. Tears were shed and champagne popped as she and her partner
Les reunited.

“It was a delight to meet my very supportive partner in St. Peter’s
Square, and it has given us a deeper appreciation of each other. I read
the last day of my blog back now, and I can’t believe how emotional I
was. It was extraordinary, after so long it was incredible,” Helen said.

In a fortuitous turn of events, St. Peter’s Basilica was closed the day
Helen arrived in Rome as they were preparing for a Mass to make a saint
of Pope John Paul I. So Helen went the next day, and saw Pope Francis
giving Mass in the Square.

“I went up and got Communion, via the Pope. It was absolutely amazing.”

Reflecting on her trip, Helen, who lost 15kg in three months, said:
“I’ve never felt more amazing in my life in terms of energy. For me, it
really wasn’t about losing weight. It was about being the fittest person
I can be to start my next decade.”

The long walk was an opportunity for Helen to reconsider her outlook on
life. After which she felt she “dealt with demons” and “found a
different kind of peace and enthusiasm for the world.”

“It gave me enthusiasm, a zest for life, I just felt so thankful – I
could not recommend it more. I am missing it dreadfully!”

My comment:
My wife and I had dinner with Helen last night in the little Italian
village where we met many years ago, and no mention of this upcoming
article - modest as ever.
We followed Helen's daily blog of the walk with trepidation, admiration
and immense respect for what she was doing. She's a wonderful woman and
we're honoured to call her a friend - Lester too.