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change of course

In 1999, during a sabbatical leave, Arno walked in 100 days from the Netherlands, via Santiago, to Cabo Fisterra. The following year, Huberta walked from Le-Puy-en-Velay to Santiago.

After that, we still had the wish to once walk the Camino together. That moment came faster then foreseen. At the end of 2001 Arno resigned as a manager working for the government. And so, in the spring of 2002, we already walked together from Sevilla to Santiago, along the Vía de la Plata. “Now you have the possibility to reflect well. Maybe you like to do something completely different …” joked Huberta, before we set off. Who could then know what was lying in front of us? Already after two weeks Arno came up with an idea, about a hostel. Keys were: encounters, culture, nature, simplicity and quality, and “enough is enough”. On the way back to Holland we visited several hostels. Two months later we had a meeting with the mayor of Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port. And after another three months we signed the preliminary contract of sale … .

Is was quite a reversal, not only for Arno, but also for Huberta (she worked amongst others as a theatre director, trainer and coach). We had the intention of working alternately six months in the hostel (as volunteers) and six months in Holland. We had to renovate the hostel, to work in “the catering industry”, and to learn to deal with other languages and cultures. In short, an enormous challenge and school.

In the meantime our life has changed significantly. We live more and more a “pilgrim’s life”. The pilgrim’s road has brought us much and is still doing that. We like to share that with other people. We believe in a hostel that, like the Camino itself, can be from “everybody” who wants to take part in it.

During the winter we now are less occupied with earning a living – “enough is enough”- and we more and more undertake activities which fit “the spirit of the way”. In that way, we live a simple and rich life.