Sometimes a few days is all it takes to really find each other again

We're Maarten and Stefanie. In 2023, Maarten walked part of the Camino with our son Joes, just the two of them. What happened out there, we could never have made happen at home. Once the rush of daily life drops away, there's suddenly room for talking, for laughing, for actually paying attention to each other.

Hiking has been part of our lives for years. Maarten grew up walking in the Belgian Ardennes. Stefanie caught the bug on the Pieterpad, when she found out how good it feels to be on the road for days on end. We brought the children into it early, more or less from the time they were babies.

When Maarten and Joes got back from the Camino, Joes was carrying his backpack like it was nothing. Something had shifted between them that we'd never seen before. Not that every walk goes smoothly. There's always someone who'd rather stay on the couch, and a swimming pool still beats a footpath some days. But once we're actually out there, it nearly always sorts itself out. Almost every time.

We learned something else out there too: kids aren't just passengers. They can usually handle a lot more than we grown-ups assume, if you give them the room. They carry their own pack, think along, fix small problems and feel genuinely proud when they reach the goal.

That's exactly why we don't run family holidays. We run hikes for one parent and one child, because that kind of time on your own together is rare, and that's where the whole thing comes to life. You walk together, put up the tent together, cook together, live the same days. The adventure is the means. The connection is the goal.

The Fishermen's Trail is a lovely place for it. We've walked the route ourselves and worked out the details. Before you leave you get a clear packing list and some practical tips, and out on the trail there are experienced guides with you and first aid never far off. So you don't have to think about the logistics. You just have to be there. For your child, and for yourself.

You'll probably come home with sand in your shoes, tired legs and a bag full of dirty laundry. And hopefully something that sticks around a lot longer: the feeling that you found each other again.