The most impressive thing about my pilgrimage to Rome came unexpectedly, at the end of the journey. In the dining room of an old monastery, in the middle of Trastevere, the historic heart of the city, we are welcomed with a ceremonial foot washing. An age-old ritual for everyone who has walked the Via Francigena. 

With my right foot bare, I sit on a chair, flanked by my nine traveling companions, all former students of my old high school. Behind us, a meal is waiting for us on the table. In front of us are two monks. An older man with a jug of water and a younger one dressed in the cloak of the monastic order with a towel in his hands. 

After a long day of walking 

That afternoon we had reached the monastery, after about seven hours of walking. Just like on the previous days we had found shelter in a monastery. There we attended vespers in the chapel, sat down for a hot meal and slept in simple rooms or small dormitories. Everywhere we were welcomed upon presentation of our pilgrim passport, the credenziale. 

Entrepreneurship with a social mission 

A walk to Rome would never have occurred to me. My long-cherished dream was a motorcycle tour, and I did that about ten years ago. Riding from Chile to New York in six months, I visited thirty-two entrepreneurs along the way who successfully linked profitability to a social mission. Inspired by their energy and drive, I wanted that too. 

One of the first things I focused on was a study of Dutch sheep wool, after a sheep farmer friend told me that the value of sheep wool has plummeted so much that she does not get a cent for the wool, and even has to pay to get rid of it. That in the Netherlands, one and a half million kilos of sheep wool are being disposed of every year. 

A bag of sheep wool for walking 

Before leaving, that farmer friend gave me a bag of pure sheep wool, with the words: “You’ll need this.” Because now I was going to walk, not with a motorcycle, but under my own steam.

A long time away from home was also not an option, because by now I had a wife and two young children. However, my wife and I did manage to organise about ten days, and so I was ready to leave not long after registering. 

Even a short walk yields something valuable 

Although I myself did not get blisters and therefore did not have to use the sheep wool in my backpack, the bag came in handy for a few fellow travellers. When I realised that sheep’s wool did indeed work well for them against blisters, I saw my chance to finally do something with wool. So that night, just before reaching Rome, in the monastery in La Storta, I registered https://www.camminarecomodi.it/en and took the first product pictures on the balcony of my room. A project was born. 

Back in the Netherlands, I contacted my sheep farmer friend about purchasing her wool for a fair price, and my teenage neighbours to help fill the first bags of Hikers Wool. 

Within an hour of publishing the website, the first order came in and I took care of the first shipment, simply from home. Since then, orders are coming in from all over the world. By now the bags are being filled and stickered in four languages ​​at a number of social development companies by people with a distance to the labor market. 

The power of walking 

The two monks have now arrived at the first in line. While the younger one says a short prayer, the older one pours some water over her right foot. When the younger one has finished, he pats the foot dry with the towel, after which he bends over and kisses it. The monks repeat the same ritual with each of us. 

Although we are quite hungry after a whole day of walking, we remain seated in silence afterwards, impressed by what has just taken place. The gratitude that the monks express with the ritual, in my opinion, for following in the footsteps of a thousand-year-old tradition moves me. 

It is this way of traveling under your own steam that made my wife and me decide to familiarize our boys (aged three and six) with it as well. So that they too can experience the power of walking step by step, and thus discover their own strength. And perhaps even be inspired to start a new business themselves one day.