Camino Post #1- Tomorrow is the day!

July 25, 2023

Camino Post #1- Tomorrow is the day!

Our new hiking backpacks are mostly packed and the kids are squared away with Grandparents as pre-travel gitters begin to set in. Tomorrow is the day we embark on this adventure. I don't know that either of us feel overly prepared. In the whirlwind that the summer has been so far we have had a hard time sneaking in time to train, in fact, just yesterday was the first time we carried our packs on our backs for a significant distance and it wasn't easy! We aren't in this for ease though. We know it will be physically demanding and as a result emotionally and mentally challenging as well. Spiritually though, we are anticipating a renewal of sorts.

There is a curiosity and a confusion that sit around the words that pour out of me as I begin to describe the internal nudging we feel towards hiking the Camino de Santiago in Spain this summer.

It’s in the way the eyes across the table become narrow, the furrow of the brow, the intensity of the gaze, and the questions that follow.

“So let me get this straight, you want to fly across the globe, to a place where you do not speak the language, and walk half a Marathon’s length, day after day, from town to town carrying everything on your back in the summer’s heat?”

Yes, that is precisely it. But, oh, it is so much more than that all at the same time. The pre-camino feelings are difficult to capture in words. It is about adventure, about simplicity, about slowing down and simply walking. It’s about the breath that comes in and that breath that comes out. The flowers along the path, the splendor of the trees, the rolling countryside and the quaint small towns that welcome you with open arms and Spanish wines. It’s about the journey and the other pilgrims making this trek alongside of you for different reasons from your own, reminding you that at the end of the day we are all just humans made in the image of a great God.

I expect it will be a collision of cultures too. A shock to our American bones and a challenge to our bodies in the face of this pilgrimage. It likely won’t come without some pain - sore muscles and blistered feet, but I expect that will be a small price to pay for the things we may learn along the way.

My husband and I are only dipping our toes in the waters of this grand adventure for now though. With our responsibilities at home in this season, we can’t afford the full 5 weeks away it takes to complete a full Camino. We will instead be hiking the last 100K which we expect will take us 6 days time.

The Camino and this gift of Sabbatical is an extension of time, space, and curiosity. A grand adventure of the body, heart, mind, and soul. Or, as our kids tease us, perhaps it is a bit of a midlife crisis as we both turn 40 this winter/spring. Either way, the Camino is calling, ready or not here we come.