It was a
year ago that me and my wife decided to walk the Camino de Santiago. Many
people do it for many different reasons. For me it was about getting fit,
facing a challenge and trying to understand what drives so many people
Spaniards in particular to walk the ancient route across the top of Spain to
the supposed resting place of the apostle St James. By doing it I hope to
understand the culture and the people I’ve come into a little bit more. I hope
to understand myself a little bit better too. For my wife, it’s a more
spiritual and personal journey so it is for her, not me, to talk about if and
when she wishes.
This time
next week we should be on our way. It’s been a long time in the planning and
preparation and now we cannot wait to start.
While we
would love to be able to tackle the full 800km plus route from the
Spanish-French border, we simply don’t have the available time or, frankly, the
fitness to do it. But we were determined not to do the minimum 100km to qualify
for the Camino certificate either.
So our
route will take us from our start point in Ponferrada, approximately 180km plus
walking distance from Santiago. And while we will aim to do about 20km a day,
we are wise enough to know not to push it. We will take it easy, take our time
and most importantly enjoy our challenge. It seems patently absurd to me to force
ourselves to complete an inflexible route march every day simply to reach our
destination on a set date.
The whole
concept around the Camino is to meet new people, learn new things not just
about those you meet but about yourself too, to enjoy your surroundings and to
achieve your own personal goals. If it means it takes us longer to do then that
is fine with us. If there is one thing I have learnt since moving to Spain it
is that it’s ok to take your time.
For many
years living and working in the UK I was up against deadlines and under
pressure to perform, to get results. It shaped my world view for too long. In
Spain I’ve learned to relax again. It’s taken a while, but I’m getting there. I
don’t believe for one second that I will come out the other side having
achieved some form of Zen enlightenment. But I do believe it will do me the
world of good and will help me to cement my newly found ability to take things
as quickly or as slowly as I wish, without the shadow of demand, results and
performance looking over my shoulder.
That
doesn’t mean I’ve stopped trying. It doesn’t mean I don’t care anymore. I do,
more than ever in fact. But the goals are mine now, not anybody else’s. The
challenges are what I want, the
achievements are what I choose.
Finally, I’m doing things for me, instead of someone else.
This all
might sound a bit in-the-air, a bit fluffy and a bit false. But that couldn’t
be further from the truth. If I’ve gained anything in preparing for this
challenge, it’s a much clearer sense of what really is important in life and,
in particular, that what really counts is what is important to me and to the
ones I care about the most.
Like I
said, I’m not expecting an epiphany, an awakening or some sort of spiritual re-evaluation.
It is what it is. It’s just a walk at the end of the day. A long walk, a hard
walk, especially for someone who is as unfit as me. But I know that it is
entirely possible, because I’ve pushed myself hard in the past. I’ve never
walked as far in one go, but I have walked long distances with bigger packs than
the one I plan to carry and I’ve been able to push myself that little bit
further even when I thought I had no more energy left to give.
The point
is that the mind is prepared as much as the body is. The body may not be as
able as it was 20 years ago. But there’s a lot you can convince a body to do if
the mind is as able as it ever was.
Whether
I’ll have an opportunity to post a blog during our trip I will only know when
we are there. I will try, even if it’s a short one. But if not, it will be the
first time in 51 consecutive weeks that I won’t have posted anything. However,
even that doesn’t bother me. It would have done in the past.
I hope that
we’ll meet some interesting people on our journey. I hope the people who meet
us will find us interesting. Maybe some lasting friendships will be formed,
maybe they won’t. Hopefully we’ll find space in the albergues and hostels we
find along the way at the end of each day. But as it’s August and the busiest
month of the year, maybe we won’t. If that happens, we’ll be sleeping out in
the open, looking for some sort of basic shelter. And that’s ok. If anything, a
part of me secretly hopes that will be the case on at least one occasion.
But one
thing is for sure, we are as motivated and as determined as we can be to
complete this challenge. It will be hard work, but I am sure we will enjoy
every single minute of it, blisters and all. I hope too that I will learn a lot
and have a lot of stories to tell from it.
Finally, I
hope the weather will be kind to us. It may be August but it’s northern Spain
and the weather there can be as unpredictable as it is in the UK.
As for the summer,
it has finally arrived with a vengeance here in Seville in these past seven
days. Last month the thermometer barely got over 40C. But this week the city
hit 45C during the day and a stuffy 36C at night. If that isn’t a signal to
head north then I don’t know what is.
Hello Camino
and hello me.
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