Camino Francés: Day 3 (Zubiri)

I made a friend today (from Amsterdam), and we walked most of the day together. It was a nice changeup from solo, and we had an early, candid conversation about both being ok if either of us wanted to break and get some time alone. Her companionship was comfortable: both the conversations and the walking in silence, matching pace. Occasionally, we’d meet others of our group who stayed at the monastery last night, making it feel more like I was part of a collective pilgrimage.

Today I did a full stage for the first time (having split stage #1 into two days). It seemed manageable enough at around 14+ miles with less than 1,500’ of elevation, and kept me in sync with last night’s group.

However, my right foot which has been bugging me has now completely ballooned, so I’m keeping it elevated every chance I get, even as I write. Less painful today, actually, than the past few, but it looks bad. I suppose it’ll take me a bit to “trail-harden.” I didn't expect it in just two days, but I had hoped for better than this on day #3.

My feet feel like they are taking a beating in my barefoot shoes. Even if it’s all I’ve worn for the past few years, it’s a little different with this much daily mileage and a pack. I’ve noticed that the hard, paved areas are the worst assault, so I dread the parts where I have to walk on the road or an asphalt/concrete trail. In contrast, the footpaths are blissful, despite being rocky in spots. Anything feels better than, quite literally, pounding pavement.

Hoping for better days ahead.

Also, noticing today that forced pauses, though uncomfortable and largely undesirable, can help me to slow down and breathe in the beauty of this place. This experience. That's its own sort of unexpected beauty: bending with the unexpected twists and turns thrown at me.

I might be working hard to stay optimistic, without real conscious thought. (Though it doesn't seem that I have much of a choice as I look at the hundreds of miles ahead.) I don’t know how long it’ll take me, but I'm determined that I’ll find a way to make it through to complete what I set out to do: walk the Camino Francés across the length of Spain to Santiago.

Comments

COVID-19: a business owner's unfiltered experience

It has been a whirlwind. I don’t know where to begin. On the worst days, it felt like people expected the impossible: answers when there were none, energy when we had none, and then when we were at our very lowest, flawless grace in the face of criticism. Things changed so incredibly rapidly that it felt like we were always trying to catch up: there was always more information to communicate, another video update to shoot, another long text to be sent to the team, another Zoom meeting that should happen. We keenly felt our physical, mental, and emotional limitations (and our lack of years of leadership experience). Trying to intentionally pick and choose to focus on certain aspects of the situation meant knowingly dropping other balls that seemed almost equally critical. (The emotional weight of that alone was pretty taxing.) And then there was the aftermath of not having had that conversation, writing that email, looping that person...

Life is found (or lost) in the details

Musings on the “secrets” to living a rich and happy life. The small stuff of life is underrated; the big stuff is sensationalized. What actually makes up the fabric of our lives? The “normal”, the everyday, the routine. Do you want to have an amazing life? Transform your ordinary into extraordinary! We put emphasis on big goals and commitments. But which is truly more difficult, signing up for that marathon, or getting up early every morning to train? Or maybe we make a huge savings goal because we want to be able to buy a house or a car, but we keep up our habits of picking up a daily coffee or breakfast sandwich. In both cases, the former is a one-time commitment, and the latter seems smaller and less significant, but is a commitment that has to be renewed every day (so it appears easy, but is much, much harder because it mandates consistency). It feels natural to overlook the small details. They’re small, so they...

Camino Francés: Day 2 (Roncesvalles)

Roncesvalles, Spain, February 28 I’m scrunched in my lower bunk, #13 of a 24-bed dorm (this is one of the tiny ones here, some of the dorms have well over 100). By scrunched, I mean that I can’t sit upright because there’s not enough headspace. Were these not built for adults? I’m beginning to think that lower bunks are highly overrated. They’re always the first taken, though in this case, I had mine assigned by the stern lady at the desk who got me checked into this historic facility. It is an iconic stop. A town with a resident population of about 30 humans, with this enormous, ancient monastery complex (complete with cloisters, chapel, hostel, museum, and more), which has been a place of hospitality for pilgrims of The Way for about 900 years, dating back to 1127. There’s an ancient feeling about the place, for sure, though I’ve been told there were some recent improvements, like the outlets by each bed and a reading light. For these modernizations, I am truly grateful. Only t...

Meanderings & Musings

Search This Blog