There I was. Having burgers and chat in the beauty of a July night in Rio Dell last summer.
There’s truly something magical about leaving the 100 plus degree heat of the valley of home to do car show things (even with a still smashed Camaro) with old friends in the backyard of their childhood home on the fiercely steep banks of the Eel River.
The friend is Big A. His uncle was there and with very little fanfare, he mentioned he’d taken some walk in France and Spain called “The Way.”
Now, it bears mentioning that it’s not been my forever life that I have to try and do new things. But certainly in the last decade, it’s been a mission of mine. Our time on this rock is too short to not try things. Some of these past things have been marathons, hiking Mt. Shasta, PADDLE triathalons (I swim like a rock), 100 mile bike races, body building competitions, etc. Each one of my little experiments has been really great. But at some point, ye olde body isn’t going to tolerate learning new aggressive activities. So, a walk in a place I’ve never been caught my ear.
“Uncle Mike” took a long walk on his trip. Turns out, there’s a lot of “ways” that are The Way. They all lead to Santiago de Compostela in northwest Spain and go by the general name of The Camino. This cathedral was built in 1211 and is allegedly the final resting place of St. James the Great. Of course, I knew none of this 8 months ago, but it sounded like a cool thing to do.
So yadda yadda yadda, next week we go to Spain and will be walking 72 miles to see an old church. Uncle Mike, and many MANY other “pilgrims” walk much farther than that. Many people take as much as six weeks to walk hundreds of miles. We’re going a shorter but albeit still official pilgrimage distance from Sarria to Santiago. Our chosen route is walked by around 200,000 people each year. Which I predict means it will feel a little bit like walking through Costco for about 6 hours a day.
If you know anything about me, my routines are rigid to say the least. I’ve never been to Europe. I’ve never stayed in a hostel, I’ve never planned on being gone that long and certainly never not known where I’ll stay. I mean, I’m the person who will google a restaurant in town before going so I can look at the menu and plan my meal.
The Camino is intended to be the exact opposite of that. Going with the flow, relying on the kindness of others, and experiencing life on it’s terms instead of on the terms that give the illusion of control are the objectives. Essentially, everything I’m not.
Only time will tell how this will go, but even prep for it has been a series of unexpected gifts.
For example, I didn’t know what rucking is, but because of prep for this adventure it’s now my new identity.
This trip will require that we carry everything we need for 2 weeks on us. Between my food and clothes, I carry more to work on a gym day than I’m planning to carry on this trip. Even though I’m planning for a light pack, I don’t want to be the person who slows Brian and I down by being unaccustomed to backpacking. This led me to walking with my pack on with weight in it (rucking). Since 2/16 I have walked 190 miles with 25 pounds on my back. To use the professional terminology, rucking is “the shit.” It was very hard at first, then with practice became meditative and (if you can believe this) replaced 3 days of gym going/week for me. Just walking around has me feeling stronger than I could have guessed possible. Who knew? I mean aside from the militaries who’ve used it for training for centuries. And I guess outdoorsmen and whatnot. I know I looked like an absolute psychopath wandering around my hood, parking structures, downtown, neighborhoods near the grocery story, County Administration (!) and the like with a pack on, but feeling ready was worth it.
As for some of the other unanticipated side benefits, I’ll save those for later. It’s time to get in one of the last couple rucks before the adventure.
Thanks for reading!
Bifocals and Barbells 