What does a "real pilgrim" look like?

You've heard me lament the joys of the Camino and also the hardships. Sometimes it's hard to imagine that a person (me) willingly gives up some of the finer things in life, to go in search of ... something else.

The finer things being, in this case:

• Gentle face wash and cloth - replaced by bar soap, that doubles as laundry soap and also washes anything else that crosses the (gradually moving) line of "dirty".
• Shampoo - Honestly I had a 2-in-1 with me, but lost attachment to using it when the showers were not hot, not long enough or lacked the ambiance that made them feel in any way luxurious! Eh... I washed my hair every 2-3 days and used a Buff to try and hide this laziness in between.
• Hairbrush. I used one every other day or so and don't remember missing it too much after a while.
• Mirror. If the selfie function on my camera doesn't count, I went for days without seeing myself as others did - but I still had friends! I think the albergue's don't hang mirrors on purpose, to keep the turnover in the bathrooms going smoothly.
• Outfits that didn't consist of the green t-shirt or the black t-shirt.
• It goes without saying there was not a drop of make-up in my pack, right?

So in reality, what does a tired, 42 year old woman look like, when she enthusiastically lets go of attachment to self image? 

Well, one day in the last week (3+ weeks of hiking under my increasingly smaller belt), I came upon an American guy in a small village, taking professional black and white pics of pilgrims. For a small fee he took your picture "as is" in his little studio off the side of a cafe. 

The rules were simple; You walk in and have the portrait shot, without fixing yourself up in the bathroom, taking off your pack, putting down your sticks or pretending to be something you weren't. In return, he emails you a picture of yourself a few days later - long after you are able to remember where you met him, or can reach him with that hiking stick!

All I can say is, I was super glad I was not the dude who hiked without his teeth in, because that was indeed honestly portrayed in his picture!