Virtual Pilgrimage

When DW first told me how much this was going to cost us, I balked.

"Thirty dollars a trek! I've never paid that much for an app."

The smartphone program, in question, is The Conqueror Virtual Challenges. The app tracks any distance that you cover—be it walking, running, cycling, swimming, rowing, or whatever. You can sync the app with your Fitbit, Garmin, or Apple watch, or with other fitness apps like Strava, Runkeeper, Map My Run, Fitbit, or you can even enter your distance manually.

The app is free to download. But to use it, to add a challenge—one of more than a dozen world treks—you pay for the route. DW wanted to walk the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage trail, which is more than 770 kilometres and runs from Saint-Paul-Pied-de-Port, in Southern France, crosses over the Pyrenees Mountains, and finishes in Santiago de Compostela, in northwestern Spain.

I wanted to complete the trek that runs the full length of the UK, starting in Lands End, in southwest England, and finishing in John O'Groats, at the top of Scotland. Not that I've ever really wanted to walk this 1,744-kilometre trail, but I have wanted to see more of the UK than I have so far.

We each bought both treks.

"It's still cheaper than signing up for a 10K run," said DW.

We began the Camino de Santiago trek first, measuring our daily distances on our fitness watches. DW would go for a walk around the block and has started jogging again. I have used our spin bike almost every day (I took a day off on Sunday) for most of my journey and have also added the number of steps that I take around the house to my end-of-day total. From last Tuesday until last night (Sunday), I have covered nearly 88 kilometres.

By Saturday evening, I had virtually reached the Spanish city of Pamplona. The app lets you see where you are from a street view, and I had just passed the Plaza de los Torros, the famous arena for the bullfights, and ended that day at the Plaza de Castillo, in the heart of this old city.

On Sunday, I had moved on, covering just under six kilometres and ending up at the small village of Ventosa. All of this day's journey had been achieved by walking a couple of kilometres along a nature trail and by wandering the house as I completed chores.

I was too tired to get on the bike last night.

DW and I have created a community—Bytown Blazers—and a couple of our friends have joined us. Seeing our friends gain on us or overtake us motivates us to keep moving.

(I'm way ahead of the pack, so far!)

In less than a week, I have accomplished more than 10 percent of my trek. As soon as DW and I complete the Camino de Santiago trek, we'll start off at Lands End for the next, much longer journey. I'm hoping to add outdoor cycling and kayaking to my method of covering the distance.

At the end of each journey, the makers of The Conqueror send us a medal that commemorates this journey. The cost of the two journeys and the shipping cost for the two medals is about $70, each. Still cheaper than a single organized race, as DW reminds me. And when we signed up, the creators of this app were offering a 20-percent discount, which made it even more worth it.

When we signed up, I told DW that I wasn't interested in the medal, that I don't need an award. As I see my progress and the street views of this virtual pilgrimage, I'm starting to change my mind about that.

As 2021 is also looking like a real trip isn't likely, I'd like some sort of memento that reminds me that I have virtually walked these famous trails.

If you use this app, look us up, and maybe we'll run into you.

Virtually, that is.