The Happy Pilgrim

I am writing this latest post from Palas de Rei on Thursday 18 June and I am now, only 68.2kms from Santiago de Compostela. I can hardly believe how quickly this epic journey has gone.  I have been walking for 32 days, with rest days in Pamplona (2 nights), Burgos (2 nights), Leon (3 nights).  I have 3 more days of walking and I will be there. I am so pleased that I made some adjustments to my itinerary; skipping past Caldadilla de le Cueza and walking on to Terrradillos de Temlparious and walking a bit longer in the section leading up to O’Cebreiro. These minor changes allowed me an extra night in Leon and Santiago (3 nights instead of 2). I loved Leon and I know that Santiago will be a rare treat before I head off to the end of my Camino in Finisterre. "The End of the World".

There are a too many magical moments of The Camino to do them justice in my humble amateur blog. I thought it would be useful to start noting them down before they are lost.  My dear Uncle Christopher gave me wise advice before I started and suggested I write something down every day. Thank goodness I followed his advice. He also prayed for me and met me at Sydney airport. A huge effort as he was recovering from knee surgery and his trip to the airport was his first big outing. He prayed for me and Skyped me and was wonderful presence along the way.

Because of this advice, I posted a few short paragraphs each leg (day) on Facebook with some of my favourite photos of that day. This has been very useful as time goes on and I reflect back and attempt to sort my photos. This is my greatest challenge and one I procrastinated for some time!  My blog has been lots of fun and continued after my journey. I did hope to upload more photos but five years on and I am finally reviewing my text, correcting typos and adding in important further reflections. Not for my audience (my fans who followed me) but for me.

The walking in itself is magical and so are the people so I have stories of both, some to share and some I choose to keep to myself. The Camino is life changing and I knew that pretty much before I left Australia. Each day this was reaffirmed.  To give yourself permission to take time out to walk across a country is a very unique experience. It's something people back home may not really appreciate or respect. There are many people who can't understand why anyone would want to embark on this kind of adventure, but the Pilgrims on The Camino actually ‘get it’. Pilgrims who have completed their Camino really do get it.  I have been fortunate to have been provided wise advice from Joan and Rose and also my nephew Andrew before heading off.

Many of the Pilgrims I have met enjoy fitness (including walking) and are committed to building their strength and endurance before they set out and continue to do it while on the Camino each day. They enjoy the benefits of building strength and resilience which are obvious outcomes when embarking on this ancient route. If you absolutely hated exercise you wouldn’t be here because you exercise every day to get from point A to point B.

Many Pilgrims I walked and spoke with appreciate and value the environment. They enjoy the farm land, the pastures and the picturesque mountain ranges. Many of them embrace alternative energy like wind and solar.  When you are walking you notice the wind on the wheat, the sun on the poppies and the length of a road at the end of a very hot day. There is also the World Heritage "ancient" path we follow that Pilgrims before us have trod and that is also very special. You also build an appreciation for the path beneath your feet. Some days the rocks are a challenge and you appreciate the softness of grass on the shoulder of the road. If you are carrying an injury you notice this more and if you shoes or socks are wrong it can really add to your pain.

The religious connection with the journey is subtle for some and more profound (or obvious) for others. Most people don’t want to tell you everything about themselves (which is perfectly fine by me), but it is obvious that I am amongst good people with (what I call) a Christian ethic. They have a goodness inside them, a gentleness and patience that is lovely to be around.  If they aren’t Christian their religion is not obvious to me and is so closely aligned to Christianity I can’t tell. Mostly we surround ourselves back home with good “like-minded” people but there seems to be a concentration of them here and I find it quite addictive and a pleasure and a great joy to be around.

I mentioned in my earlier blog, the day I walked over the Pyrenees everyone I spoke with afterwards noticed the rainbows and really appreciated those small snippets of sun warming us from the otherwise near freezing gail force winds. They all agreed that there was something magic with that very cold day and wouldn’t have had it any other way.  You can’t appreciate the sunny days, unless you experience some rainy ones and this is very true of the The Camino. I have been blessed by great weather with only a few days of rain walking to Roncesvalles, Zubiri and Rabanal.

People who walk The Camino appreciate their feet and while many people aren’t experts on what your feet, socks, shoes and pack weight have in mind for you, they understand what a blister can do to affect your progress. And even if they don’t learn it straight away, they do learn the importance of resting and treating your feet so they can recover and take you on safely to your next destination. Look after yourself (health wise) and it will sustain you to enjoy more of life on The Camino (which is symbolic of your life journey). I am still mindful and remain committed to this.

I will update more of the blog when I get to Santiago and write about the kindness and the humour and the humility I have experienced. I have also been able to experience a quietness which allows me to listen to the birds chirping madly and hear a church bell in the distance or a tractor coming down the laneway out of a little village. I love hearing the roosters, or the cows or a bell on a herd of cattle perched high on a mountain. While I like listening to my iPod while walking back home, I have only popped my earplugs in three brief times (twice along side a very noisy road and the last time during the last 2kms on that really hot day on the Mesesta).  Perhaps I will listen more to my local birds when I get home and take the opportunity to listen more mindfully to what the morning has to offer.

I am going to publish this now and update later on and include some of my latest (favourite photos).

Please note readers, when I get home I will edit and upload photos and tidy them up in a more professional looking slideshow. It’s a bit of a challenge to make it look exactly like I want it to on the iPad and with slower and different internet speeds between towns sometimes it takes me a long time to publish. As mentioned, The Happy Pilgrim is a slow 'work-in-progress'.

A snapshot of my "magical moments" include;

1. Elivera (from  Utah) suggesting I walk with Charlotte from Denmark (while she took care of Eve from Germany). Gosh I'm so pleased that I wrote all this down because when I look back, it is 5 years now,  I can recall the names! I am regularly reminded how important my Camino was (then) and now.

2. Meeting Crystal and Candice (daughter-mother team) at Orrison on 14 May as they walked over the Pyrenees and seeing them three or four times during the last five and a half weeks and hearing stories of their progress from new Pilgrims I walked with (such as Nuala from Ireland). Then, I can hardly believe it, arriving in Santiago the same day and having dinner with them to celebrate that night!

3. Meeting Ad from Holland, by chance in Leon and then again in Villadangos Del Paramo on my birthday and at the same time meeting Rory, Jay and Maureen. Sadly Lizzy was sick in bed recovering from a tummy bug that night.  Then I saw Ad again on arrival at The Cruze de Ferro. I took a photo of him and got his email to send it on then ran into him again at Acebo (6kms along). I left my back pack with him (and my camera), showed him how to find his photo and went off to use the “facilities” and order something to eat.

When I returned he had tears in his eyes and thanked me most sincerely for the photos telling me it was very special. I was obviously pleased, but here's the thing, a few days later in Villafranca de Bierzo an American couple at the same hotel told me a story of that same day. They happened to be sitting at the next table where where Ad and I and another Dutch lady had lunch in Acebo. They told me that they were so moved by his reaction to my photo that they were compelled to tell me what went on when Ad first saw my photo. This was truly beautiful (and moving).

4. Running into the family from Victoria (Carl, Bronwyn and Albert) and sharing dinner with them three times over the course of the Camino. Then, by chance I saw them on Sunday 21 June,  they also arrived in Santiago same day as me, this was also very special. They were great company, practical, funny and great conversationalists.

5. Finally, the joy of meeting Judy when I left Santiago this morning, Wednesday 24 June. She had tears in her eyes and was standing out the front of the Parador in the Cathedral square as I walked by. I recalled her pensivness and we obviously felt something similar because her tears put tears in my eyes. A few short kilometres later she was walking with me and we had a lovely day talking about important things you normally wouldn't speak about to a stranger. That's the beauty of The Camino and I am blessed to be here.

Judy was from California and lived in the mountains. She was into numerology and insightful about certain coincidences. She'd walked all the way with a friend she met on day one and now she was walking alone. We both were on that quiet part of the pilgrimage. She shared with me insights into her relationship with her ex-husband. A very personal account of her life and her only son. We had some things in common then and more so now. She reminded me to be kind to myself and others and that a separated life need not be one filled with anger, sadness or loneliness. I walked for most of the day and it took me until the afternoon to share my story of my dear friend (also called Judy/Jude/Judith) who had passed away from bowel cancer in July 2008. I had been thinking of her when I woke up that morning and really missed her. I wanted to share my adventures, have a cry and a laugh with her like I used to. I was missing her more than usual. Her death left a big hole in my heart. I wanted to call her, but of course I could not.

Until next time – The Happy Pilgrim