I Have a Dream...

Well, that's not true. I actually have many dreams. But there's this one dream that I've had for... over 10 years now... probably more like 15!

I want to hike the Camino de Santiago de Compostella. What a mouthful. The Camino for short. The Way of St. James. Jakobsweg in German. It is a 1000 year old pilgrimage route that leads to the city of Santiago in northern Spain. There are dozens of other pilgrimage routes all across Europe, all leading towards Santiago.

Me... hiking the Camino one day!

While it used to be a religious pilgrimage, primarily for Catholics, the modern Camino attracts pilgrims or peregrinos (Spanish) from across the world, and across all religions. The most common route, the Camino Frances starts in St. Jean, France. From there, it is about 800 kilometers to Santiago across different terrain. The Pyrenees are first... then plateaus and pavement, fields and forests, mountains and streams. Most people hike about 20 km per day and complete the Camino in around 40 days. Some do it faster, some do it slower. Some even do it in stages - one section last year, another section this year. Some have done it multiple times. Some quit and never come back.

It is not a journey for the faint of heart. In addition to the physical demands of hiking that far, day after day, carrying a pack that shouldn't weigh more than 10% of your body weight... but often does... there are the mental and spiritual demands. The C amino is a true pilgrimage. Whether you believe in a higher being or not... your journey will still take you deep within yourself.

It sound amazing!!! Just from the hiking perspective itself. But the spiritual/emotional/mental experience sounds like a real cleansing or purification. I am up for that!

A Dream Derailed

Thirteen years ago, a friend and I had big dreams of hiking the Camino. I bought a guidebook and even got the official Camino sew-on patch and the official Camino passport from the Canadian Office of Pilgrims. That's the other thing... as you hike the Camino, you stop at hostels (albergues) every night where you pay a minimal fee to sleep in dormitory style rooms with a host of other snoring pilgrims. A meal is often included with the nightly rate. And in the morning, as you leave, you get the albergue host to stamp your Camino passport... and at the end, in the City of Santiago, you show you passport to the officials and you get an official certificate of completion.

Soooo... what happened? Well, I moved to another city. The friend eventually had a health crisis which now prevents her from ever hiking the Camino. And here I sit. Every year, I think... maybe next year. But next year comes and so does the "next year" comment.

A Dream Reborn?

And now my sister has said she would be interested in going... but it's the same with her... maybe "next year". And "next year" never comes. Or rather... it comes... but the Camino keeps getting pushed out.

Last week, I was talking with my partner about this dream and she said...

"Rather than treating it as a goal, treat it as a vision. What are the emotions you want to feel while hiking the Camino? And then move towards that... in your life right now!"

 Errr... what does that look like though? I'm more of a Goal and Potatoes type of gal rather than an Airy Vision type of girl. What does that even look like? Well... first... what emotions do I want to feel? Joy, discovery, exploration, curiosity, reflection, peace, satisfaction, completion, inspiration. I'm not sure that all of those are actual emotions, but you get the idea. So in my vision, I see myself hiking the Camino, day after day, meeting new people, putting one foot in front of the other and marveling at the vistas around me. Sooo... how can I move towards that, right now? How can I live the Camino, right now?

Well... I could make sure that walking everyday is part of my daily routine. Over the fall and winter here, my daily steps total has sometimes been as low as 3000 steps. I live a very sedentary life. And I am easily deterred by darkness, cold and rain! But a peregrino (pilgrim) can't let that deter them. I also don't want to start out hard and heavy and then peter off. This needs to be sustainable.

So I did a bit of reading on how to prepare for the Camino... and one site suggested a 3 month training plan that would start with an hour long walk, three times a week. That is soooo doable. And as the winter wanes and spring comes forth... the days grow longer and I'll be able to start earlier and go for longer distances.

I also want to borrow a Camino memoir from the library... our library has several and after a bit of perusing, I chose one that had relatively good reviews.

The other thing I want to do is to journal/document this training and these posts and this blog fulfill that. Onwards!!