Kathy Elkind - 57, walking the 1,400 mile/2,286km Grande Randonnée Cinq (GR5) with her husband of 27 years

2021-09-23

In the spring of 2018, at the age of 57, Kathy Elkind walked the Grande Randonnée Cinq (GR5) with her husband of 27 years. The 2,286K (1,400-mile) journey starts at the North Sea in The Netherlands and goes through Belgium, Luxembourg, and the whole length of France through the Alps to end at the warm Mediterranean in Nice. Kathy always longed for an epic adventure, but the time was never right. Finally, her children had flown the nest, and she had shifted from a fertile body to a not fertile body – What could this new body do?

Kathy always longed for an epic adventure, but the time was never right.

Finally, her children had flown the nest, and she had shifted from a fertile body to a not fertile body – What could this new body do?

It was the perfect time for a quest: to pause, reflect and explore. Could her marriage sustain and thrive on a long walk?

After two months on the GR5, they entered the mighty Alps—five weeks of alpine views, mountain refuges, and exertion. Her walking became more than meditative; she fell into an ethereal pace where she became the air and the landscape. In her own words: “Life was not about me. It was about the beauty of the world. This truth was what I had longed for but did not know.”

At home, she stepped into the last third of her Life, more in love with her husband, accepting the unknown, knowing her power, and brave enough to write a book one step at a time (she has dyslexia and did not learn to read until I was in 7th grade).

Kathy has come to believe it’s necessary for women entering the last third of their life to experience a quest or challenge. It can be anything they love – going to 25 art museums, swimming or dancing 50 days in a row. There is a unique challenge for every woman.

Kathy is an Eating Psychology Coach, a Teacher of Mindful Self-Compassion, and owner of Elkind Nourishment.

Kathy helps women feel their emotions instead of eating their emotions and feel comfortable in their bodies. She is writing a memoir about her adventure.

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