colleen walking along a wooden trail in the rainforest orangutan refuge in Borneo

Walking the Camino Changed my Life

Hello! I’m Colleen! As you’ve found my blog, you’re either interested in Walking the Camino de Santiago or travelling to great places around the world . I do both.

I love travel blogs but a lot are written for younger folks or budget travel or wild adventure travel. These days our adventures are softer and our beds a little more comfortable and so Then We Walked was born.

I’m an English woman living in France for almost 20 years. I fell in love with Spain in 1985 and discovered the Camino de Santiago in 2013. Since then I’ve walked thousands of Camino miles and escorted countless pilgrims along different Camino routes.

Now in retirement, we’re walking our way around the world; exploring and travelling in earnest.

Colleen training for the next camino by walking the hills and forests around our home in rural France

3 Things You Should Know About Me

My day job in France was lead singer in a Motown and Soul band and I worked across France, Spain and the UK and had a residency on a cruise for 7 years. (Aretha is my absolute idol)
No-one thought I could walk the Camino because I’m a bit of a princess who likes things neat and tidy and I’m scared of pretty much everything. Hah! I showed them!
My poor long suffering husband Gerry, hated walking but had to learn to love it as we’d never see each other!

Pilgrims Walking the Camino de Santiago

In 2013 we took a holiday in Northern Spain. I kept seeing hikers which I thought odd; Spain is glorious so why hike beside a road? Gerry called them ‘shellers’ but they were pilgrims.

I watched through the window as we drove. By Leon I was curious and by the Atlantic coast I was committed. I was going to walk the Camino. I sat on a beach not far from Finisterre and my hand rested on a shell. It’s the shell that Gerry presented me with on the steps of the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela after finishing my 800 kilometre hike across Spain. That walk changed my life.

Colleen hiking with her Osprey backpack along the Camino Frances in Spain. I've walked the camino so many times and I never stop loving it!

Walking The Camino Was Just The Beginning

I’ve continued to walk at least one Camino every year. I was named International Woman of the Year twice in France for my walking and given presentations and speeches about those journeys.

I’m trying to write a book about my incredible 1000 kilometre trek from Seville but walking and travel gets in the way. I have a walking club in France, I’m a walking guide, I’ve trained with the British Mountaineering Accredited Leader courses and escorted many many groups along the Camino de Santiago in Spain and Portugal.

Travelling in Retirement : A Travel Blog for the Over 50s

I kept a blog since my first Camino and love the process of writing at the end of a day. I read a lot of fabulous travel blogs and learn as much as I can about our next destination but there aren’t many blogs written by people like us; the over 50’s.

We might not be up for bungee jumping (or maybe we are) but we’re not ready for retirement slippers. So I started my own travel blog and THEN WE WALKED was born.

We’re still walking the Camino de Santiago but were also writing for folks like us, who want to travel independently in their retirement. So far we’ve visited :

My son suggested that I call my new blog called Senior Sight See-ers or even Sight See-ing Seniors; it’s catchy but I decided to continue with Then We Walked, because at it’s heart this is still a collections of my thoughts whilst walking.

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