Among the winners of the Photo Contest “Share your route” 2023, the Instagram account @ottoscarponi (eight boots) won the first prize for their beautiful pictures along the Camino de Santiago. We’ve reached this Italian family of four, to discover their story! 

1. Who is behind the @ottoscarponi account?

Behind the Otto Scarponi (eight boots) account there is actually me, Valentina! I take care of everything, photos, videos, editing. I share my walks with my family, my partner Fernando (45 years old), my daughter Gaia (9 and a half years old), and my son Diego (almost 7 years old!). 

2. How did your passion for walking come about?

Let’s say that it all started from our great passion for trekking in the mountains and from our love for nature and being outdoors… walking puts you back in touch with yourself and with Mother Earth, it makes you enjoy what you have around you. When we can, we walk, whether it’s climbing a mountain, taking a walk or doing urban trekking. When the children were born we didn’t stop, on the contrary! We are deeply convinced that travel, walking, contact with nature, and new experiences make children more aware of people and, one day, better adults. 

3. What stages have you traveled and what has the journey given you?

We walked the French Camino de Santiago. Unfortunately, due to lack of time, we were only able to do the last stretch, Sarria-Santiago, about 115km. We did it in 7 days instead of 5, thinking it would be better for the children (who instead went like the trains and immediately said they wanted to do it again. In full though!). 

What it gave us…the Camino de Santiago changes you. 

It has left us with a profound “nostalgia” for everything we have experienced: altruism, the simple life without too many expectations, the irrelevance attributed to material goods. 

The Camino de Santiago teaches you to be satisfied with what you have: everything you need is contained in your backpack, what we think could be fundamental is actually just an unnecessary weight. Here, the path of Santiago has given us change. Change of perspective, change of life, change of priorities. 

Read the original interview in Italian here