“Following your feet” was something I often thought of during my pilgrimage to Shikoku, Japan, in 2018. I walked for 38 days, and at time it felt like, my feet were walking, and the rest of my body just following.

My name is 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.

I live in Denmark, married wth 3 kids and 2 grandchilden, 60+ and still working. So why did I do it?

To be honest, I dont really know! I’d walked a lot when I was young back in England, I had 7 weeks vacation to burn and it seemed like a great adventure, when I’d first read about it some years ago. Back then the article  said you must speak Japanese, or forget it. Later, I was inspired when the Danish journalist, Mikael Bertelsen, made a Danish TV series about his trip to Shikoku in 2017.

So, starting April 8th 2018, I followed the route of Kõbõ Dashi, accredited with founding the Shikoku pilgrimage. I did not walk the whole 1.200 km, but ca. 700km and I visited all 88 temples. It was a fantastic experience.

Some of my work colleagues encouraged me to write a blog, so they could follow my adventures. So I did. The blog is written on the road, on the day, whilst everything was fresh in my recollection. 

I am happy that I did! Otherwise I would have forgotten many of the fantastic experiences I had during my trip.

The following year, I returned to Japan. Another great experience and another blog. In 2020 it was supposed to be 5 weeks and 700km in Portugal, but instead, as the world closed down, I walked closer to home, following the Danish pilgrim routes, documented mostly with pictures.