500 miles, two men and a wheelchair

Every year, thousands of people decide to make the Camino de Santiago journey for many reasons. One duo achieved it in an extraordinary 34 days and with a wheelchair.

El Camino de Santiago, or “The Way of Saint James” in English, is the pilgrimage to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in north-western Spain, declared a World Heritage City by UNESCO. The Camino existed originally, as a spiritual journey for pilgrims of all faiths and backgrounds. For over a thousand years travellers have made the journey to the Cathedral in Santiago where it is believed the remains of the apostle St. James are laid to rest. Nowadays the reasons why thousands of pilgrims of all ages make this journey are varied. Many of them start the journey for religious purposes, but most of them do it for an adventure.

The latter was what inspired Justin when he saw the Camino de Santiago in an American travel TV show. This adventure was something that he needed to do, so who better to be a part of it but his best friend Patrick. Patrick Gray is Justin´s childhood friend. “I’ve known him literally my entire life; we are lifelong friends, born in the same hospital 36 hours apart. So when I told him about my plan, his answer was immediate”. Since he saw the TV programme in 2012 till the beginning of the adventure in 2014, more than a year went by. All this time, Patrick trained in the gym, about 5-6 days per week, to get the needed strength to pull Justin’s wheelchair during the trip. On the other hand, Justin had to wait till his special wheelchair was made in Vancouver - Canada. “It took about 5 months to make the special wheelchair for me”. Once Patrick had trained enough and the wheelchair was delivered, they started training together. At the beginning 5 miles-training and later 12-15 miles, the expected average distance of each day in the Camino de Santiago.

They had a 35-day-trip scheduled from St. Jean Pied de Port in France to the finish line, the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. But they finally achieved their goal of covering those planned 500 miles in an extraordinary 34 days. On their way to Santiago, they met people from all over the globe who helped these two young men in their endeavour. “Some people helped us in a specific moment, like for example getting up a hill, and others offered their support for a whole week or so”. Undoubtedly the effort and humanity that the other travellers showed during the journey was fascinating. “People always offered help to us. Whenever somebody offered help to us, we always allowed them to help us,” explains Justin gratefully.

After the exhausting 34 days crossing the north part of Spain, they finally reached the intended point. As Patrick confessed during the interview, although incredibly happy for reaching the finish line, the feeling was a little bit bitter too: “you get used to a simplistic life of getting up, dressing, eating and just walking. You are not distracted by technology, TV… you are just focused on the way, on talking to other people and meeting people from all over the world. And these make you to want to continue”.

Since Justin faced his disability, he has dedicated his life to helping and inspiring people with limited mobility, along with his friend Patrick. He established The Disabled Traveler company in 2010 and he works instructing people with disabilities how to successfully overcome the many challenges they are faced with in their life and while traveling. “I am teaching people how to plan, prepare and travel pretty much everywhere in the world.” Currently, they are also working on the documentary about Camino de Santiago journey accomplished in 2014. And although he isn’t sharing many details yet, he is also planning a new adventure for 2017.

Good luck to this invincible pair and here’s looking forward to the next adventure!

500 miles, two men and a wheelchair

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