Family's Camino fever 'OUR LIFE-CHANGING ADVENTURE'

On their first time walking the famous route, their dream holiday nearly turned into a disaster!

- Kasia De Vydt-Jillings

Walking the Camino de Santiago with their children was a dream almost two decades in the making for Erika and Seamus Barden, who first walked the epic 780km trail from France through Spain as a newly engaged couple back in 2004.

“We talked so much about our hopes and dreams,” recalls Erika, 51. “One was if we worked out and were lucky enough to have kids, wouldn’t it be amazing to walk it with them, and for them to grow up with that experience and the lessons you learn particularly around resilience and determination.”

However, when the day finally came to start the pilgrimage in 2023, this time as a married couple of 18 years with their three children Malaika, then 15, Tarquin, 13, and Braeden, 11, in tow, Erika found herself wondering what they'd signed up for.

The first day leaving from French town Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port and walking through the Pyrenees mountains is notoriously challenging with an increase in elevation of 1,400m.

“We took our first ‘yay photo’ and were walking down through stunning green and lush scenery, until one of my boys said, ‘Isn’t there supposed to be lots of climbing?’” laughs Erika. “We had gone in the wrong direction within 10 minutes of starting!”

Just hours later, she was frantically searching for her lost daughter Malaika, who had walked ahead when Erika stopped to apply more sunblock.