Walking with purpose – Eight solo women's pilgrimage hiking and wellbeing experiences on the via Francigena

IF 4.4 3区管理学 Q1 HOSPITALITY, LEISURE, SPORT & TOURISM

Journal of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism-Research Planning and Management Pub Date : 2025-09-09 DOI:10.1016/j.jort.2025.100943

Sarah Grocutt, Colin Wood

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background

There is little research on women who undertake solo pilgrimage walking.

Purpose

This study examined the experiences of women who undertake solo pilgrimage walking, and to consider its impact on their wellbeing.

Methodology/approach

Interviews were conducted with eight solo female walkers who had walked between 200 and 1662 km on the via Francigena pilgrimage route. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was used to explore the data and draw tentative conclusions.

Findings/conclusions

The study finds that the walkers were seeking solitude, seeking adventure, seeking connection to others, and seeking connection to themselves. The study concludes that solo pilgrimage walking improved participants’ sense of wellbeing by building identity and resilience, and that the search for community was an important part of solo pilgrimage walking experience.

Implications

The study highlights that and that solo pilgrimage walking can be seen as a source of wellbeing as it appears to be a means to release tension, process grief and engage in physical movement that creates a meditative and reflective state.

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有目的的行走-在via Francigena上的八个独自女性朝圣徒步旅行和健康体验

关于独自朝圣的女性的研究很少。目的：本研究考察了独自朝圣行走的女性的经历，并考虑其对她们健康的影响。方法/方法对8位独自行走的女性进行了采访，她们在经由Francigena的朝圣路线上行走了200至1662公里。本文采用解释性现象学分析对数据进行分析，并得出初步结论。研究发现，步行者寻求独处，寻求冒险，寻求与他人的联系，以及寻求与自己的联系。该研究的结论是，独自朝圣徒步通过建立身份和适应能力来提高参与者的幸福感，寻找社区是独自朝圣徒步体验的重要组成部分。该研究强调，独自朝圣之旅可以被视为一种健康的来源，因为它似乎是一种释放紧张、处理悲伤的方式，也是一种创造冥想和反思状态的身体运动。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Journal of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism-Research Planning and Management HOSPITALITY, LEISURE, SPORT & TOURISM-

CiteScore

6.70

自引率

5.30%

发文量

期刊介绍： Journal of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism offers a dedicated outlet for research relevant to social sciences and natural resources. The journal publishes peer reviewed original research on all aspects of outdoor recreation planning and management, covering the entire spectrum of settings from wilderness to urban outdoor recreation opportunities. It also focuses on new products and findings in nature based tourism and park management. JORT is an interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary journal, articles may focus on any aspect of theory, method, or concept of outdoor recreation research, planning or management, and interdisciplinary work is especially welcome, and may be of a theoretical and/or a case study nature. Depending on the topic of investigation, articles may be positioned within one academic discipline, or draw from several disciplines in an integrative manner, with overarching relevance to social sciences and natural resources. JORT is international in scope and attracts scholars from all reaches of the world to facilitate the exchange of ideas. As such, the journal enhances understanding of scientific knowledge, empirical results, and practitioners'' needs. Therefore in JORT each article is accompanied by an executive summary, written by the editors or authors, highlighting the planning and management relevant aspects of the article.