Some Day... One Day... Tomorrow... or the Next Day...

A pilgrim on the Camino

Are you a "some day" person? You know... the "some day... one day" litany...

• Some day I'll get around to learning Spanish
• One day I'll take that upgrading course and start my own business
• Some day I'll travel to Antarctica
• One day I'll learn calligraphy
• Some day I'll read War and Peace
• One day we'll need those pavers in the garden
• Some day I'll need that jigsaw that I have, so far, only used once
• One day I'll hike the Camino
  
• I might need this... some day... one day...

Yep. Raising my hand here. I am a "some day" person! As part of the 30 Day Minimalism Game, I came across a LOT of stuff that is "some day" or "one day"  stuff. And they are super hard to let go of. Super hard. Because I might need them... want them... use them... enjoy them... some day.

My Some Day Vision - The Camino

Let's take my dream, vision, desire to hike the Camino. For those not in the know... the Camino is short for The Camino de Santiago de Compostela. Also know as The Way of St. James or Jakobsweg. It's an 800 km long pilgrimage route that goes from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port in France to Santiago de Compostela in Spain.

There are other routes, all through Europe, but this is the most popular one and the one that burns brightest in my brain. The idea is that you pack up everything that you will need in a backpack and hike the Camino over the course of... ooohhhh... let's say 20 km/day... so 40 days. Every night you stay in an albergue (inn/lodge/hostel) set up for pilgrims. You meet people from all over the world and discover things within yourself. It sounds super cool.

The Camino isn't just for Christians either. It's great for anyone who wants to embark on a journey of self-discovery. I have several family members (uncle and cousin) who have done it, as well as a number of friends. Thirteen years ago, a friend and I had the idea that we would do it. We were inspired by a talk given by a former pilgrim who had just completed it. We were into hiking and... it seemed like a good idea!

I bought a guide book, and even ordered the Camino credencial (pilgrim passport - you get stamps in every albergue to "prove" that you've hiked the whole thing) and the sew-on patch for my backpack. And then... nothing. Life moved on. I moved to a different province. Life got busy. And... somehow... it's just never happened. So there they sit on my bookshelf. But... someday... I might hike the Camino! My sister and I were talking about it recently. But are we reaaaallllyyyyy going to do it? Don't know.

When I look at what's involved... part of me is just... meh... too much effort. We'd need to get in better shape for one thing. Ugh.

We'd need to be able to carry a 15-20 lb backpack (no more than 10% of your body weight) for some serious hiking, for 20 km a day... day after day.

We'd need to save up the airfare and other expenses like albergue fees, food, etc. We'd need to break in new hiking boots. Oh, and we should probably learn some Spanish... beyond Buenos Dias and Gracias.

Some day... some day we will do this.

Seeeeee!!! That's what happens. Not now... or as the Spanish would say... mañana (tomorrow). Always tomorrow... or some day.

To be honest, there are so many other things my sister and I want to do as well. We want to go to Germany and visit the aging relatives before they are all gone. We want to go to England. We want to go to Mexico. We want to go Greece. We want to go... bugger... this is how life gets away on us. Something else is always a priority.

Although... you don't have to hike the whole Camino in one go. You could do like... 10 days of it and then come back another time and do more of it. Some people do that. Although it does raise the travel costs dramatically. Or you could do what my uncle did and hike it in 25 days. Ugh!

And so... I have decided to keep the guidebook... for now... even though it's 13 years old. And I'll keep the passport because it has an official stamp and number in it already. I am Pilgrim #6070. So I don't want to give that up... at least not yet. And I'll definitely keep the sew-on path.

Because... you see... this little blog post... and associated discussion with my partner... has motivated me to begin my journey to the Camino... one small step at a time. I was going to start a new blog about it... but then I thought... let's keep life simple!! So I'll be posting my Camino Dream on Sundays, on this blog. One small step at a time!