One step at a time
Hi, I'm Steven Bloom. I started this blog when I was about to embark on the journey of a lifetime, visiting 88 temples on the island of Shikoku in Japan. It was fantastic, so in 2019 I went back and followed several of the beautiful Kumano Kodo routes on the Kii Peninsula.
During the Corona years I walked 1200km through Denmark following the Danish Pilgrimage.
Mid 2022, I stopped working and my wife meant that I needed a project. After some thought, I decided to walk from Sagres on the Algarve in Portugal, to Rome in Italy. Therefore, I have walked various, often not so popular, but always fabulous paths in Portugal, Spain, France, Italy and Switzerland.
After reaching Rome in September 2025, I'm now walking north, from Rome to my home in Copenhagen.
This blog is written for me to enjoy in later life, but feel free. I hope you enjoy it, and that it perhaps can motivate somebody to walk, or walk a less trodden path.
Visit the blogSagres to Rome to Home
Latest posts
Day 187: Ilanz to Chur 
May 11, 2026 I had a good nights sleep at the monastery, and went down to a good, but very quiet breakfast. There were more people at breakfast than at dinner last night, but nobody said a word. I hadn't finally decided whether I would split today into two parts, walking ca. 25km and doing the rest tomorrow,… Read more >
Day 186: Disentis to Ilanz May 10, 2026 Day 21 and the penultimate day of the 9th leg of my Sagres to Rome and Home walk. Today was very much a walk in two halves. The morning mostly along roads passing through small villages, and an afternoon along a path close to the Rein Anteriur river, with little to see, not even the… Read more >
Day 185: Acquacalda to Disentis May 9, 2026 Wow, what a stage. This is certainly one of the most memorable stages I have walked, from the harsh terrain at the top of Lucomagno to the green rolling hills of the lower Alps. And throw in two suspension bridges and crossing a snow covered path with a drop on one side, this really was… Read more >
Day 184: Acquarossa to Acquacalda May 8, 2026 Day 19, and I walked from red water (Acquarossa) to hot water (Acquacalda). Today was the day I was looking most forward to and the day I was most worried about. Today is the first day of two, where I will walk over the Alps, more precisely the Lucomagno pass (or Lukmanier in German). Today's… Read more >
Day 183: Sementina to Acquarossa May 7, 2026 The sun was shining this morning, which was a nice way to start a day where I will, depending on my legs, walk 42kms. As I get closer to the Alps, there is a gradual elevation from 230 to 570m. If my legs aren't up to it, I can catch a bus and make up… Read more >
Day 182: Rivera to Sementina May 6, 2026 Sementina is a kilometer or so off the trail, just outside Bellinzona, but I chose it to overnight after a short stage (18km) as there is a Tibetan suspension bridge close by (3km and 300m climb away) which I wanted to walk over. My worst fears for the day were confirmed when I woke up… Read more >Walking trails
Explore
Temples and Shrines
Vajra and Ema, Tori gates and Shitenno, Jizo and Omikuji. There's a lot to learn about Japanese Temples and Shrines. Read some of the things I've learnt when in Japan, many that I'd wished I'd known the first time I visited.
Japan is just different
Plastic food, white gloves, love of trains, pachinoko, toilets, manholes, social distance and futons. Japan is just different in so many different ways. Read about some of the differences I've experienced in Japan during my visits.
About me
That I was just following my feet, was something I often thought about during my pilgrimage to Shikoku, Japan, in 2018. I walked for 38 days, and at times it felt like my feet were walking, and the rest of my body just following.