The Way, My Way had its US premiere at the Palm Springs International Film Festival yesterday.
Jennifer and I couldn’t be there, so I asked ChatGPT what the reaction was, and this is what it came back with:
The film “The Way, My Way” received positive reviews at the Palm Springs International Film Festival. Critics and audience members appreciated its authentic storytelling and uplifting spirit. The movie is a charming true story about an Australian man walking the Camino de Santiago, which resonated with viewers through its mix of humor and emotional depth.
Key Highlights:
Praised for its authentic representation of the Camino pilgrimage
Enjoyed the unique blend of actors and real pilgrims in the film
Appreciated the film’s exploration of personal transformation
Noted for its stunning landscapes and genuine character development.
One reviewer noted the film’s success in capturing the human connections and personal journey of the Camino, describing it as “thoroughly entertaining” and inspiring. The movie’s approach of mixing documentary-style filmmaking with narrative storytelling was particularly well-received.
Just to clarify from yesterday’s post announcing the release of The Way, My Way in the US and Canada –
There was some confusion with my Australian date format – in our country, 3rd of February 2025 is 3/2/2025. So I’ve re-posted the schedule below and put date and month: 3 Feb 2025.
Also, this schedule is for the Q&A tour only. The film will be released from March 7th in every town and city where there’s an active chapter of the American Pilgrims on the Camino.
Unfortunately we physically can’t visit every town and city on our Q&A tour, much as we’d love to! As it is, Jennifer and I will be spending nearly 8 weeks on the road, rarely spending more than one night in each place we visit.
It’s a punishing schedule we’ve set ourselves – but we really want to personally visit as many screenings as possible and meet as many pilgrims as possible – and from New York on, we’ll be joined by Johnnie Walker, who has been such a strong supporter of this work from script stage on.
Yes, Johnnie read early drafts of the screenplay and provided us with valuable feedback. I also showed him early Work-in-Progress cuts of the movie and again he gave helpful notes.
Anyway, below is the schedule – same as posted yesterday but with the date format different – and the US poster. March 7th it will be coming to a cinema near you!
And by the way, this movie won’t be coming to Netflix anytime soon.
In Australia, there’s been an 8 month window between theatrical release and Netflix. In the US and Canada it might well be longer. It’s very much a cinematic big-screen experience.
I can finally announce that my Camino movie, The Way, My Way, is coming to cinemas in the US and Canada.
It opens wide on March 7th.
The film will be distributed in the US by Outsider Pictures, and in Canada by A-Z Films. The film will play in every city or town that has a chapter of the American Pilgrims on the Camino.
Jennifer and I will be doing 7 weeks solid of special Q&A screenings throughout the US and Canada, starting in Phoenix / Scottsdale on January 31st. We’ll be joined halfway through this Q&A tour by Camino legend Johnnie Walker.
The film will have its official premiere in Los Angeles on March 7th. Johnnie Walker, Jennifer and I will do a Q&A after the screening.
The Way, My Way was released theatrically in May in Australia and New Zealand, and was described by many film pundits as “the surprise hit of the year.” It took nearly $2.5m at the Australian and New Zealand Box Office, making it the 4th highest grossing Australian film of the year, behind Mad Max Furiosa, Force of Nature (The Dry 2) and Runt.
The film ran in some cinemas for 20 weeks.
It took us some time to find exactly the right distributors for the US and Canada, but we believe that Paul Hudson, head of Outsider Pictures and Antoine Zeind at A-Z, will nurture the film and handle it with the kind of handcrafted boutique approach that Marc Wooldridge, head of Maslow Entertainment, used so successfully in Australia and New Zealand.
Marc, as an Executive Producer of the film, will be actively overseeing the release.
Please find below the itinerary for the Q&A tour. This represents a minimum of 47 screenings in 50 cities in 53 days. It’s a brutal schedule, to be sure – but Jennifer and I are up for it! We’re so looking forward to meeting our longstanding social media friends in the flesh! And making new friends amongst the North American audiences.
We’ll be joined by Johnnie Walker in late February, and he’ll accompany us doing Q&A screenings in New York, Canada, Washington state, Oregon, and California.
When you go through this itinerary below you might be disappointed that we won’t be coming to your neck of the woods – but we simply can’t go everywhere – and be assured that the film will most probably be released in a cinema near you regardless.
Oh, and just to say – when tickets go on sale for these Q&A screenings, don’t dawdle. If you want to see the movie, get your tickets fast. Because if the response is anything like it was in Australia, sessions will sell out quickly. This isn’t some hokey marketing ploy, I’m serious. We literally had people fighting and yelling and screaming in the foyer of the cinema at a few screenings demanding tickets to shows that had sold-out weeks in advance. It was bizarre!
So here’s the itinerary. Like I say, it’s full on! It might change closer to the time, but this is what we’re working to right now.
According to Chat GTP, it takes on average 66 days to break an old habit, or form a new one. That’s a bit over two months.
In my November Challenge, I broke two bad habits and I formed a new one: I took salt and processed sugar out of my eating plans, and I established a routine of going for a walk each day. If I couldn’t walk for whatever reason, I did 45 minutes hard on my indoor bike.
You know when a habit forms when you feel guilty that you’re not doing it. Simple as that.
And you know when you’ve finally kicked a bad habit to the curb when its desire holds no further allure for you.
I knew when I’d broken my addiction to chocolate this past week when I didn’t buy my favourite Toblerone when it was on special. If I’d bought it, I would’ve eaten it.
I didn’t buy it.
I probably need a second month to really cement all this in place, and so I’m continuing my November Challenge into December. And I’m adding one more thing – 45 minutes of weights/yoga/meditation before I go out for my walk.
In the best selling book, Atomic Habits, by James Clear – (I highly recommend it if you haven’t already read it) – the author lays out the four main steps to Behaviour Change:
The Four Laws of Behavior Change:
• Make It Obvious: Identify the cues and ensure they’re visible.
• Make It Attractive: Pair habits with something enjoyable or align them with your identity.
• Make It Easy: Reduce friction; simplify actions to make starting easier.
• Make It Satisfying: Use positive reinforcement to encourage consistency.
3. The Power of Small Changes:
• Focus on improving by just 1% every day. Over time, these small gains compound into significant results.
• Similarly, small errors or negative habits compound in the opposite direction.
4. Identity-Based Habits:
• Rather than focusing solely on outcomes (e.g., losing weight), focus on the kind of person you want to become (e.g., “I am a healthy eater”).
• This shift makes habits align with your self-image, increasing their likelihood of sticking.
5. Habit Stacking:
• Attach a new habit to an existing one to create a chain of actions (e.g., “After I brush my teeth, I will meditate for one minute”).
6. The Role of Environment:
• Shape your surroundings to support your habits. Make good habits easier and bad habits harder by adjusting your environment.
7. The Plateau of Latent Potential:
• Change often appears invisible at first. Progress requires persistence, as results come after crossing a “breakthrough point.”
8. The Goldilocks Rule:
• Habits are most effective when they are in the sweet spot of difficulty—not too hard, not too easy.
For me, the two important factors that make habit changing doable are:
Habit stacking
Making it easy.
Habit stacking means that I can’t go out for my walk if I don”t do my 45 mins of exercise/yoga/meditation first. The exercise/yoga/meditation is stacked onto the walk. I can’t do one without the other. So if I really want to do my walk, then I have to do the exercise/yoga/meditation first.
Making it easy means that 45 mins of exercise/yoga/meditation is broken down into 10 mins intense weights, 20 mins of yoga, 15 mins of meditation.
Now, ten minutes of weights, or pushups or sit-ups or other vigorous exercise, is nothing. Nor is 20 mins of yoga. Once I get into my yoga I find 30 mins slips by without my even noticing. Similarly 15 mins of meditation – usually it strings out to 25-30 mins.
But I have to make this achievable each day – so there’s no point setting goals that aren’t practical for my daily life. 45 mins is something I can do – it’s no big deal.
As I age, I realise how important this is. It’s so easy as you get older to find yourself “rusting up.” You can’t bend like you used to. You can’t swivel to look behind you or check your blind spot while driving like you used to.
Yoga fixes that. It’s the greatest lubricant for rusty bodies that I know.
Next year is going to be huge for Jennifer and me. We’ve got a massive Q&A road tour throughout the US and Canada, and then onto Germany, Austria and Switzerland starting early Feb through to end of May. Then in September we begin production on another film.
We’ll need to be in peak physical condition. This December Challenge will go some way to achieving that – and more importantly, establishing a routine which we can then take with us on the road.
On this, the last day of the November Challenge, I went for a walk in the rain.
It was glorious. I felt great!
I got soaking wet, but it didn’t matter. I felt energised, I felt fit, I felt 10 years younger than my biological age. (Which is 71, by the way.)
What’s my November Challenge? Towards the end of October, I set myself a challenge for November. That I would:
–Take a walk of no less than 45 mins each day. – Put no added salt on my food. – Eat no processed sugar – chocolate, sweets, ice cream etc.
I set myself this challenge because I had, for a long long time, added salt to whatever meal was put in front of me regardless of how the food tasted. It had become a habit I couldn’t break. Similarly, chocolate after dinner at nights. It was not uncommon for Jennifer and me (mainly me!) to demolish a whole block of Whittaker’s whilst watching telly of an evening.
Not good. Good, but not good! Things had to change. Hence, my November Challenge.
Well, the good news is that I’ve broken the salt and sugar / chocolate addictions.
During the month I’ve had no chocolate, no sweets, no ice cream or gelato. None of it. And I’ve not put salt on any of my food, And coming into December, I’ll hold fast to these mandates.
I was in the supermarket yesterday and I noticed that the particular type of Toblerone chocolate that I used to crave – honey and nougat – was half price. I had no desire to buy it. Normally if it’s half price I’d have bought two.
Not yesterday. Nup. No way. And not tomorrow either.
As for my exercise – you’d think a minimum of 45mins walking a day for 30 days straight would be no trouble for a Camino walker such as myself, however because I’m now 6 ½ years into Parkinson’s, walking for any stretch has become difficult. But other than time off whilst I was travelling this month, I managed to keep to my schedule.
Lately I’ve been doing 4.5km walks at an average of just under 5km/hr – which for me with this PD, that’s good going. I used to be able to do 6.25-6.5km/hr before I took on this condition, but hey, I’m also getting older. There’s that too.
Some days during this November challenge I mixed up my walks with sessions on my indoor bike, and that was useful because on the bike I could push more into my cardio zones. There’s no doubt that at the end of this month, I feel way fitter and way healthier than at the start of the month.
I haven’t lost that much weight (see chart below), but that’s okay – this wasn’t about weight loss. This was about taking back control of my mind. Which I’ve done.
So I’m going to continue my November Challenge into December – which will be harder because of Christmas and the holiday period – but I’ve decided I’m going to add one more thing to my list: 45 mins of exercise and meditation before my walk. Ten minutes of weights, twenty minutes of yoga, and mediation for fifteen minutes. Twenty minutes of yoga isn’t much, nor is 15 mins of meditation, but it’s a start.
I’ve found the trick to these challenges is to keep the bar low – make the goals achievable. You can always outperform if you have the time and/or the inclination. Set the goals too large, then it becomes an impediment each day to even try.
They say it takes roughly 66 days to establish a habit. That’s a bit over two months. So if I can continue this through December, come the start of 2025 I’ll be in a good place.
All up, this November challenge has been very worthwhile!
I’m two weeks into my November Challenge, and this is my Report Card. I’d give myself a B+.
The challenge I set myself for the month of November was: –A walk each day of no less than 45 mins. – No added salt on my food. – No processed sugar.
Pretty simple you might think, huh? Well, actually, no. It was damn hard. Salt and sugar have been my two major addictions. I’d put salt on everything. Chocolate was my real weakness.
I needed a circuit breaker. Hence, the November Challenge.
The stats are in the spreadsheet below, but basically last week Jennifer and I drove up to Avoca to attend the Coastal Surge International Film Festival, organised by Glenn Fraser and Amelia Foxton – which was great fun. Then onto Brisbane to see my mum, who’s 97 yrs old. A round trip of 2,200km in five days.
On four of those days I wasn’t able to exercise. What with the long days driving (sometimes 700km+ in a day, with very early starts and socialising at the festival and family get togethers and what-have-you, it simply wasn’t possible.
The good news is though that I’ve gone the full two weeks without adding salt to any of my meals. And I’ve not had any chocolate, no sweets, no ice-cream… except ~
I fell off the wagon twice. Both were social occasions. Once at a family dinner when my sister put out some dessert and it would have been rude of me to refuse!
The other was a dinner hosted by a Camino friend. She’d just come back from walking the Frances and she and her husband put on fabulous spread that included nougat (I’m a sucker for nougat!) and home-made ice-cream.
Did I say I fell off the wagon? I did a high dive off a 25m platform!
Two times I had sugar. And I have to say each day after I felt nauseous. My body couldn’t handle the major sugar hit. It was very interesting.
With the walks, sometimes it wasn’t possible to walk so I did 45mins on the indoor bike. I’ve got a gym quality bike set up in our tv room so I’d watch a Liverpool Premier League game or the next episode of Disclaimer and cycle 45mins.
The bike’s good because I can push myself harder than if I was walking (because of my bung knee) – but there’s nothing better than getting out early on a crisp spring Mudgee morning and starting your day with a brisk walk.
Walking also strengthens tendons and muscles and ligaments that are activated by walking on uneven ground, or up and down hills. I’ve found that the walking has also strengthened my back muscles considerably. I have two metal plates screwed into my spine and I get fairly regular back pain. The walking has helped alleviate the pain.
Overall, the biggest benefit of the two weeks is that I’ve broken the addiction urges. I’ve discovered that having salt, eating sugar, is a choice.
Before this, it wasn’t a choice. I’d sit down to a meal, I’d immediately put salt on my food. Choice never entered into it. That’s just what I did.
Similarly, at night after dinner I’d sit down to watch telly with Jennifer and I’d break out a block of chocolate. Rarely did we finish the night’s viewing with any of that chocolate left.
We devoured it. I devoured it.
That hasn’t happened this past fortnight. I’ve kicked that habit.
I’m only halfway through so we’ll see how I go the next two weeks, but so far it’s been a very worthwhile exercise.
But really, it’s a bit sad I need to go to these extreme lengths, don’t you think?
A birthday party for my granddaughter, two years old. There was a birthday cake. Do I make an exception for a slice of cake at my granddaughter’s 2nd year birthday party?
I’m into my third day of my November Challenge. A 45 minute (minimum) walk each day, and no added salt or sugar for the month.
Back to the birthday cake. It was my granddaughter’s 2nd birthday, after all. And look at that cake… Everyone else at the party – grandparents both side, my son, his wife, even the birthday girl herself – they were all eating cake.
Not me. I can’t break my November Challenge. There’ll always be a good reason to make an exception. Addiction is sly. Temptation is a slippery slope. You either make a commitment and stick to it, or you don’t. I abstained.
I had to do my walk early, before driving 4hrs to Sydney for the birthday party. 51mins / 4.1km / my weight stable at 82.5kg.
Tomorrow is going to be even more difficult. Very early start, meetings back to back, then a 4hr drive back to Mudgee, then dinner at the local pub for the Mudgee Camino group.
Where will there be time to do my walk? I’m discovering that every day presents a different challenge.
Did I say I love chocolate? Did I say I was addicted to chocolate? Did I say that not having chocolate for a month would be my biggest challenge?
Last night, Day#1 of my November Challenge, I faced my first real test. I always make Jennifer a cup of tea after dinner, and we usually sit down to watch telly – with a bar (or two) of chocolate with the cup of tea.
Last night I had to hand over a bar (or two) of chocolate to Jennifer with her cup of tea – and not have any myself.
We usually have Whittaker’s chocolate, made in New Zealand – and it’s delicious. Last night’s chocolate was Pear with Manuka Honey. Can you really think of anything more yummy than that?
I can’t. It was difficult. But I met the test. I abstained.
This morning I did my walk again. I did 4.14km in 51mins. A bit faster than yesterday. My knee twinged worryingly for the first km or so, then it settled down.
Interestingly, I dropped 0.7kg over the 24hr period. I’m not altering my eating – going on a diet as such – other than abstaining from added salt and sugar. We’ll see if this is a continual thing.
Tomorrow is a travel day. I’m either going to have to get up early and do my walk before we leave, or do it at the end of the day.
Already though I’m noticing benefits. I feel my back getting stronger, and so too my core muscles. Given that I have two metal plates bolted into the lumbar region of my spine, holding two fractured vertebrae in place, back pain is an ongoing issue for me.
It has been since 1976 when I was a passenger in a film vehicle that crashed into a telegraph pole, putting me in the Spinal Unit of Royal North Shore Hospital for nearly three months. It was touch and go whether I’d be a quadraplegic.
That’s a whole other story.
For now, I’m Day#2 of my November Challenge, and enjoying it!
Today, being the 1st of November here in Australia, I started my November Challenge.
My November Challenge is walking a minimum of 45 minutes every day of the month, and abstaining from salt and sugar for the entire month.
It’s going to be hard.
I have travel coming up this month – fortunately only internal domestic travel – but even so that makes exercise difficult. And I notice that some of you have suggested that I take the occasional rest day.
Nup.
One of the difficulties I will face is my knee. Those of you who have read my Camino memoir, The Way, My Way, or seen the movie, know that I have a bung knee. Basically, my knee joint lacks cartilage. Or to use the vernacular, it’s bone-on-bone.
I refuse to get a knee replacement. And so my knee continues to be an issue. I’ve developed a way of walking that minimises the pain, and yet it’s still bothersome. And sometimes it’s downright agony. So I’ll see how that plays out over the month.
But this morning, first day of the Challenge, I felt great. It was a beautiful fresh Spring morning and I walked for 54 minutes – 4kms – so it wasn’t too demanding. In Mudgee people I meet on my walk want to chat, so I stop and chat, and that messes with my stats somewhat – but this isn’t about pushing myself. This is about consistency.
November is going to be a challenging month for a lot of us, I believe.
The US elections and its aftermath are going to dominate world attention for a period, and yes I’m sure the outcome, whichever way it goes, will be challenging for some.
My November challenge is something else.
It’s been 6 ½ years since I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, and next year I have one of the most physically demanding periods of my life coming up.
There’s a chance that I might be shooting my Indian thriller, Those that Love, Those that Kill, in January and part of Feb in northern India. It will be a tough shoot.
Even if that doesn’t happen, come mid February Jennifer and I embark on a gruelling Q&A tour of the US, doing 30 screenings of The Way, My Way right across the US in 35 days.
That’s a punishing schedule even for a young ‘un. And I’m no longer a young ‘un! Hence, my November challenge.
I need to get fit for the year coming up. Already I’ve been ramping up my exercise routine, but I need to do more. Plus, I have two addictions that I have to tame: Salt & Sugar.
I put excessive salt on everything. Crazy, right? But that’s the nature of addiction. Plus I am addicted to chocolate of an evening.
Both have to stop. I need to break the craving, and the only way I can do that is to take the nuclear option.
So here is my November Challenge:
I’ll walk at least 45 minutes a day, every day. If I can’t walk for whatever reason, I’ll do 45 minutes on an indoor bike. But every day for the month of November I’ll walk or bike a minimum of 45mins.
I’ll cut salt from my diet completely. By that, I mean I won’t add salt to a meal.
I’ll cut sugar from my diet completely. No chocolate, no desserts, no cakes or sweets. No lemon and chocolate gelato ice creams, which I love.
There’s no doubt that #3, cutting sugar, will be the hardest.
And you might think that walking 45 minutes a day for a Camino walker is no big deal. But you have to understand that my Parkinson’s disease has severely limited my ability to walk long distances. It’s taken me quite some time to even do 45 minutes at a reasonable clip.
So to do it every day for a month is going to be challenging. But I’ll be using my Nordic walking poles, and that helps enormously.
I’ll do a weekly audit on this blog. I’ll detail what I’ve done the previous week. If I falter, I’ll tell you.
This is going to be tough. But tomorrow it starts!
Why don’t you do your own version of a November Challenge too, and we’ll do it together?
PGS - The Way 
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