About me
My name is Madis Välja and I started this website in 2023 to have all my Camino stories together in one place for everyone to read.
Coming from a country as flat as Estonia I have always been in awe of mountains and gorgeous landscape views. I feel very much at home walking through forests. Although, during wild camping spend rarely more than one night in a row in nature. I prefer day hikes and the comforts of modern living.
Hiking
I have had my wilderness adventures all my life, but only recently I have gotten more serious about this topic:
2012 – I went up Untersberg mountain with an oversized backpack and tent in Salzburg, Austria.
2015 – … I started doing an 820 kilometer hiking trail in Estonia. It was a complete disaster at first with lots of wrong gear choices. I am still progressing on this trail as weekend hikes once or twice a year (sometimes riding my gravel bike).
Since then, I have done a ton of research and started to understand better what works for me and what does not.
2017 – Tour de Mont Blanc, a 200km circular trail in the Alps through France, Italy and Switzerland. Shared this adventure with my good friend Lupo, who organized all the details.
2017 – Camino Frances, my experience as a pilgrim in Spain. I continued to do Camino Finisterre to have closure to the adventure.
2019 – Camino Portugues, my second long Camino starting from Lisbon and passing through Fatima. From Porto I continued to follow the coastline. Once again I went from Santiago further to Finisterre to see a familiar lighthouse.
2021 – Cycling trip around Estonia. 1100 kilometer cycling trip around Estonia. I circled the country including two of the biggest islands.
2022 – Camino Frances, once again in the old familiar trail that I love so much. This time got to see both Finisterre and Muxia on the other side of Spain.
2023 – Camino Norte, following the 830km trail along Spanish coastline over hills and mountains until Oviedo. There will switch to Camino Primitivo (original one) to get to see even more of mountains.
Career
I’m a digital marketing specialist since 2010.
Contact
Camino Pilgrim 