Noel Braun yearns to walk the Camino, the ancient pilgrimage route that leads across France and Spain to Santiago de Compostela. Since the suicide of Maris, his beloved wife of forty-two years, he has struggled to find himself. But is it pure madness? He’s an old bloke. At seventy-seven-years, he should be sensible, act his age and relax in a rocking chair. Can his body and spirit withstand the demands? Can he leave family and friends behind? Noel believes this is a journey he MUST undertake. It’s a compulsion, a spiritual quest of self-discovery, an urgent need to commune with the world around and beyond him.
When Noel begins his journey, he discovers it’s not just the rigorous demands of the physical world he must answer. The territory of the heart and soul has its own challenges, which have him searching for spiritual and emotional insights. His travels are interwoven with accounts of the many engaging characters he meets. In time he realises he himself is one of the Camino’s characters.
The Day Was Made for Walking merges the spiritual with the physical, the ancient with the contemporary. It is a memoir, but also a glimpse into history and a travel guide.
Noel Braun is a remarkable man. The loss of his wife signified a great change in his life and instead of dropping his bundle, he devised ways to negate his feelings of grief and loss.
He is a man I would call a hero. He’s not a great sports star, actor or celebrity, but in my eyes he tackled his problems head on and has written of his journey in a sincere and honest way. Reading about his pilgrimage across France and Spain is a humbling experience.
- John Morrow’s Pick of the Week
Author Noel Braun’s prose is beautiful. In his book he pours out his emotions, his life story and his observations of life without reserve and with honesty.
I want to follow his footsteps - light the candles in stone chapels, share the bread and cheese, be inspired by the uplifting wayside graffiti, drink in the wonder, and rejoice at the tapestry of nature and resilient human spirit.
If any reader is not inspired by this book, by this man’s humble and amazing achievements – you are probably dead already!
- Wendy O’Hanlon, Acres Australia
