May has been, for a few years, my month dedicated to new experiences, the one in which I leave everything and set off alone to discover different realities. I like the idea of ​​taking time to explore myself, to travel with curious and receptive eyes and to let myself go to discover that more carefree part of my being.

Usually, this is possible because I have always chosen to have experiences where I was sure I would meet people with a similar thought to mine and, at a certain point in the journey, in fact, you feel in a large protective bubble, where there is no need for many explanations and, above all, where external pollution does not enter into our special moments. After meeting Tommaso and sharing so much with him, I wanted him to be able to perceive these magical experiences together with me, so I decided that the time had come to include him in my journey.

For him it would have been the first of many months of May out of the ordinary, far from Milanese life and work. The choice of location was spontaneous, but also quite studied by both of us. The organization of the trip and the travel problems of the last two years forced us to change the month dedicated to new experiences. We moved the departure date from the beginning of May to the beginning of June 2021, taking a direct flight to Lisbon.

From there, our walking adventure would begin: 250km in 11 days, along the coast of Portugal.

Having both been born in two small mountain villages, we didn't feel very comfortable with the maritime environment but, after almost two years without travelling, it seemed to us that it could be a good challenge to start again.

Once we got to Lisbon, we took a very slow bus that took us to the starting point of the trekking route: a small town called Sines. Once we got out on the road, we started walking with our backpacks still organized for the flight: we were too excited to stop and organize everything.

The next day began at dawn with the sound of the alarm clock and the tent zip opening, and with Tommaso's exclamation: “My whole body hurts!”, followed by “good morning”.

The online guides we consulted before leaving suggested 13 days of walking, but we, confident that we could cover the route in less time, intended to take 8/9 days. At the end of the third day, after walking about 70 km on the sand, we realized that perhaps we had underestimated a set of factors that we were not used to, including the heat, the backpacks, with everything needed to sleep outdoors, and the shoes that sank into the sand.

The other side of the coin was the amazing landscapes and the spectacle of nature, which we enjoyed 24 hours a day. After all, choosing to travel a stretch on foot, rather than by any means, you are sure to be able to immerse yourself in every little detail of the place where you are and feel part of it. In Portugal we experienced this feeling in an extreme way. In fact, managing to get to some beaches, parking the van on the side of the road and looking for the paths on the map, would have been really complicated!

We spent the next 66 km walking along the cliffs overlooking the sea and along the inland stretches, where our only concerns were admiring the landscape and not taking the wrong path.

After another 60km or so, we arrived in Sagres, the southernmost point of Portugal. From that day on, for the remaining stretches, we no longer saw the sun greet us while we admired the sea, in fact it had moved behind us, ready to warm our shoulders before setting up the tent for the night.

At that point, we only had the last two stages left, which would take us from Sagres to Lagos, where the adventure would end.
I don't think our minds were alert during our entire stay in Portugal, because we continually found ourselves in different places.

For this reason, we started playing “where are we today?”, needless to say that the answers were varied: from the Cuban forest to the humid and foggy cliffs of Ireland; from the immense and grassy expanses, which brought us to America, to the tropical jungles; from the red stones, which reminded us of those of the Texan desert, to the endless coasts, which I have always admired only in my dreams.

You quickly get used to a backpack that contains your whole life, you abandon certainties that, perhaps, weren't so certain.

Words and photos by Rachele Daminelli
Video by Tommaso Tagliaferri

Portugal Trekkers, a coastal walking experience