I guess it is now official. The backpack is purchased, training began in earnest on the weekend , and as of this morning, the flights are booked. Mary Lou and I take off on the 30th of August landing in Paris. We will then head via train and/or bus for St Jean Pied de Port in the south of France. At this point, the plan is to check into a bed and breakfast, orient ourselves, get our Pilgrims Passport and pick up any last minute supplies. Assuming jet lag doesn't take too much of a toll, and that all our travel goes without a hitch, at 7:00 am on Sunday the 1 September 2013 we will take our first step on an 800 km journey through the mountains, valleys, plains and historic towns of Northern Spain along the Camino Frances to Santiago de Compostella. To make this trip in 32 days requires walking 25km each and every day. We have 34 days when you take travel plans out of the picture, so there is not much float.
Many of the people reading this blog will be family and friends, and the purpose will be to keep all up to date on our progress, hardships and successes, info on the Camino with links to more detailed sources, and some of the special places, people and moments encountered during the preparation for, while on the walk, and finally when digesting the experience and reintegrating into the real world.
Mary Lou and I will start and finish the pilgrimage together, but we expect that for much of the walk we will be on our own. Of course we will start many days together , have regular rendevous points and fail safe systems for staying in contact, but the Camino de Santiago is meant to be a personal, an intensely personal, experience. We have different reasons for going, different questions and expectations as to what will come of it, and very different ways of obtaining that which we need to make the journey a success.
Hence, this blog is entitled The Two Caminos.
Many of the people reading this blog will be family and friends, and the purpose will be to keep all up to date on our progress, hardships and successes, info on the Camino with links to more detailed sources, and some of the special places, people and moments encountered during the preparation for, while on the walk, and finally when digesting the experience and reintegrating into the real world.
Mary Lou and I will start and finish the pilgrimage together, but we expect that for much of the walk we will be on our own. Of course we will start many days together , have regular rendevous points and fail safe systems for staying in contact, but the Camino de Santiago is meant to be a personal, an intensely personal, experience. We have different reasons for going, different questions and expectations as to what will come of it, and very different ways of obtaining that which we need to make the journey a success.
Hence, this blog is entitled The Two Caminos.
You two have chosen an interesting adventure. I am very curious about how the end of it all will be. I only know you Mitch, so how coincidental that you see your journeys as separate. I don't know if that's true.....again, it will be very interesting to see the end result.
ReplyDeleteBest of All Blessings to You both..
Thanks Jan. The journeys are the same and different in one. One thing I discovered on my two months through Belize and Mexico is you are more open to experiences and other people when you travel alone. Often we miss alot of what is going on around us when you are focused on those who are around you. This approach allows us to share the journey, but have our own experiences as well. It is funny, our preparation, reason for going, ideas of how we will progress, are very much different. What is the same is we both see it as an opportunity to get in touch with our inner self. I agree, it will be interesting to see the end result.
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