Despite all the articles, guide books, forums and blog posts, when I imagined my Camino, visions of easy, sunny days filled my head.
Snoring, blisters, tired legs, bad hair days, cranky moods and missing one's boyfriend, were what happened to "other people". Me and my new multi-cultural friends would skip down the trail with smiles on our faces all the time, collecting stamps in our pilgrim credentials and capturing photos - in which we always looked good!
Like this, right?
No. Mostly like this, actually...
Hahaha!
Being a pilgrim is not easy. Days start early. You wear the same things all the time and socks and underwear you're not wearing today, is drying on the back of your pack as you walk. You left your dignity somewhere on the Pyrenees, so it's not a problem, honestly. Bathrooms are shared and showers are quick - but they feel wonderful. Privacy is a luxury that you pay extra for, if it's even available. Conversations start with name and country of origin. "How much does your pack weigh?" will generally work it's way in there soon.
I've done nothing more challenging than pick up my pack at Saint Jean, France and spend the next 2 weeks and half million steps, getting to Burgos. Yet, I'm already planning to come back and finish the Camino de Santiago.
There is no place I'd rather have been than on the Camino de Santiago this fall. Meeting the people who made my experience unique, gratifying and oh so fun. Giving my body something to complain about, for real! Becoming stronger, less afraid of the dark and more empathetic toward others. Uncovering my weaknesses, celebrating my strengths. Tweaking my internal energy, my perspective, my tolerances.
Snoring, blisters, tired legs, bad hair days, cranky moods and missing one's boyfriend, were what happened to "other people". Me and my new multi-cultural friends would skip down the trail with smiles on our faces all the time, collecting stamps in our pilgrim credentials and capturing photos - in which we always looked good!
Like this, right?
No. Mostly like this, actually...
Hahaha!
Being a pilgrim is not easy. Days start early. You wear the same things all the time and socks and underwear you're not wearing today, is drying on the back of your pack as you walk. You left your dignity somewhere on the Pyrenees, so it's not a problem, honestly. Bathrooms are shared and showers are quick - but they feel wonderful. Privacy is a luxury that you pay extra for, if it's even available. Conversations start with name and country of origin. "How much does your pack weigh?" will generally work it's way in there soon.
I've done nothing more challenging than pick up my pack at Saint Jean, France and spend the next 2 weeks and half million steps, getting to Burgos. Yet, I'm already planning to come back and finish the Camino de Santiago.
There is no place I'd rather have been than on the Camino de Santiago this fall. Meeting the people who made my experience unique, gratifying and oh so fun. Giving my body something to complain about, for real! Becoming stronger, less afraid of the dark and more empathetic toward others. Uncovering my weaknesses, celebrating my strengths. Tweaking my internal energy, my perspective, my tolerances.
My fear that ending my Camino after just two weeks would curb some mental growth, might be ill-founded. (Big surprise. Most of my other notions were wrong too!) I now consider the possibility that the thinking will go on, long after the walking has stopped
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