ABOUT THE BOOK

What happens when two empty nesters decide to take a “gap year” and trek 1,400 miles on Europe’s GR5? Some serious challenges, incredible experiences, and the adventure of a lifetime.

Kathy Elkind has always lived a life on the move, having grown up hiking, camping, and canoeing with her family. In fact, her passion for the outdoors is one she shares with her husband Jim, with the duo having taken one-week backpacking trips in Montana and Wyoming. As Kathy entered what she has lovingly dubbed “the last third of her life,” she realized that she wasn’t ready to slow down. In fact, what she needed was her greatest achievement yet.

In 2018, Kathy and Jim launched themselves into the adventure of a lifetime, taking an “adult gap year” and walking the GR5 in Europe – a 1,400-mile trek that took them village to village throughout The Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and France. While the journey presented practical challenges – from needing medical care while on the road to navigating language barriers to traversing the snowy Alps – the walk offered Kathy the opportunity to connect with her husband of nearly 30 years and to consider how far she’s come in her life. With stunning honesty and vulnerability, Kathy recalls her struggles growing up with dyslexia and not learning to read until the 7th grade; she shares the joy and frustration she feels with Jim during their journey, knowing this trip could either draw them closer together or push them apart; she examines her eating habits and the role shame has played in the ways she has shown up in her life. 

Throughout To Walk It Is To See It, Kathy’s long-desired adventure transforms into a meditative, restorative journey. And she realizes that her relationship with her body and her husband are much like her walk on the GR5: there are challenges and mishaps, and hitting the finish line takes determination and discipline. But the beauty discovered along the way is priceless.   

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kathy Elkind is a writer, long-distance walker, and speaker who shares her love of walking adventures. Along with her husband, Elkind has walked the GR5, the Andalusian Coast-to-Coast Walk in Southern Spain, and parts of the Cammino Materano in Italy. She lives with her husband and walking partner in the Mad River Valley of Vermont. To Walk It Is To See It is her first memoir.

TALKING POINTS

• Why a woman in the last third of her life decided to walk the length of Europe with her husband of 27 years.
• How a 1,400-mile walk through Europe helped Elkind fall in love with her belly.
• Most people have heard about the Camino de Santiago but what you should know about its neighbor, GR5.
• Happy trails:  Elkind on why a long, healthy marriage is as exhausting and exuberating as walking  Europe’s GR5.
• Why every older adult should consider taking a “gap year.”
• Looking for a new spiritual experience? Try a long walk in nature.
• Top 5 tips for packing for a long trip.
• Tips for eating well while on vacation.
• In a world moving at a break-neck pace, Elkind reveals the beauty we can find by slowing down.