Peregrino (Pilgrim)- The Next Adventure

I posted a bit of a teaser on Facebook last week alluding to my latest adventure saying "details to follow". Well, here are the details: Beginning Friday, April 9th, I will walk the Camino de Santiago (The Way of St. James). The plan is to walk all 800 kilometers (500 miles). I have booked a flight from Quito to Madrid on Sunday, April 4th. On Monday the 5th, I will take a train to Pamplona, Spain and on Tuesday, the 6th I will take a bus to Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, France where I will begin my Camino. The plan is to walk the entirety of the Camino from SJPdP to Santiago de Compostela near the Atlantic coast of northern Spain.

People have been walking the Camino de Santiago for over a thousand years and there are several paths that can be taken, all of them ending at the Cathedral of St. James in Santiago de Compostela. The most commonly traveled route is the Camino Frances, which is the route that I will be taking.

While the Camino de Santiago is traditionally a Catholic pilgrimage, today people from all walks of life embark on the Camino, they are from a variety of faiths, cultures, and customs, but they may also be agnostics or atheists. They walk for a variety of reasons: spiritual and religious faith, life transitions and healing, simplicity and disconnection, physical and personal challenge, community and connection, and sometimes just for the adventure. I am not Catholic, I am not an atheist...so, why am I walking the Way of St. James? All of the above? Some of the above? None of the above? I really don't know. I have toyed with the idea of doing the walk for about twenty years, but I always felt like the time was not right; couldn't get time off work, COVID, etc. Recently I have had this continual, nagging feeling that the time is right. So here I go.

Some people will walk only a section of the Camino at a time and return in the future to walk additional stages with the most popular stage being the final 116 km from Sarria to Santiago de Compostela. To receive your Compostela (Pilgrim's Certificate), you must complete a minimum of 100 km and walk the final stage beginning in Sarria. All pilgrims are issued a passport in which you collect stamps to document your journey and verify the distance you have walked. You must be a registered pilgrim to obtain your Compostela and in most cases to gain entrance into the alburgues (pilgrims hostels) along the way. I will begin my Camino at what is considered by many to be the traditional starting point in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, France. The first day, beginning in the early morning hours of Friday, April 9th, I will leave SJPdP and hike over the Pyrenees mountains and down into Roncesvalles, Spain. Many people try to walk an average of 25 km per day and finish their Camino in about 32 days. I am in no hurry at all and have no planned finish date. I want to savor the walk and enjoy the adventure. I paid extra for a changeable plane ticket. so can take as long as I want. I am thinking 40ish days, maybe longer. While I made the choice to walk the Camino solo, it is common for some days to walk with other pilgrims that you meet along the way, additionally, I have been chatting with my lifelong friend, Larry about the possibility of him joining me for the final few stages near the end.

As I said earlier, I cannot put into words what has moved me to set out on the Camino, I just feel the need to do it. Many pilgrims have said that for them the Camino was a life altering experience or a spiritually seismic event. I am setting out with zero expectations, asking for nothing. Of course, if I have some sort of an epiphany and suddenly discover the meaning of life, that would be incredible; I am not looking for, nor expecting anything like that, but...who knows. If all I take away from this experience is a great vacation and having met some amazing people along the way, my Camino will have been a phenomenal success.

While many people walk the Way of Saint James multiple times, this will likely be my one and only Camino. To ensure that I get the most out this experience, I have created some guiding principles for my walk. They are guidelines, not set in stone, but I will do my best to live by them:

• It is often said that the Camino provides. I will start each day with an open mind and heart and gratefully accept what the Camino offers me.

• I will willingly give what the Camino asks of me.

• I will walk the entire way carrying my backpack. No wheeled or four legged transportation. (barring some sort of unforeseen necessity)

• I will spend at least 80% of my nights in alburges (pilgrims hostels). Alburges are shared dormitory style accommodation that are solely for pilgrims with shared bathrooms and laundry facilities as well as communal meals. They are often first-come-first-accommodated and they typically have a 10 pm curfew. At least once a week I will take a rest day with no walking and will stay in a hotel with private bath to recharge (I'm not a savage)!

• I will be open to making connections with my fellow pilgrims from around the world and learning their stories.

• I will be grateful.

So, that's the next adventure. I will be spending the time between now and April 4th training and getting my head in the proper space. I am not sure how much time I will spend on social media or this blog during the walk (we'll see), but I will find ways of letting people know where I am and that I am safe.

¡Buen Camino!

PS; Thanks to everyone that has been reading this blog and a special thanks to those that have left comments, they mean a lot to me. If you do decide to leave a comment below, please include your name so that I know that you were here. All photos in this post were taken by me (unless they are of me) and you can check out my photography galleries by clicking on the "Albums" link at the top of the page or by clicking here: https://www.global-dispatches.com/client-showcase