Hiking a Virtual Camino

Did you see those ads on Facebook during Covid? Or was it just me? We were all locked away at home and going stir crazy and I would continuously see these ads for The Conqueror Challenge.

From what I could gather... you'd walk around your neighbourhood (or on your treadmill) and earn these flashy medals once you completed a "challenge". 

I have to admit, it seemed kind of hokey to me. What do you do with all of these medals anyhow?? Hang them on a wall? Parade them around in front of your friends? And how do they account for the vertical elevation? There's more to the Inca Trail than just horizontal distance!

So I let the ads flash by while I scrolled my Facebook feed and rolled my eyes. Nope, not for me.

Ahem... well... now it would appear that they are! I was looking for some Virtual Camino options and came up with a grand total of two.

8 Life Lessons I Learn from Jigsaw Puzzles

My Mom calls me the "mad puzzler". When I get started on a jigsaw puzzle, I go totally into the zone and I'm moving fast. Other people puzzling with me often get frustrated because my hands are flying in front of their faces as I'm grabbing pieces to fit into place. It's always a good idea to split up the areas of the puzzle to minimize that! You work on that section... I'll work on this section... and later we can combine our sections!

The last few years, as the pandemic has kept a lot of us cooped inside, I've done a TONNE of puzzles, hundreds. I usually buy them for cheap in thrift stores and then, if they are complete, I'll sell them for a profit on Marketplace. Some are easy. Some are darn hard! In the process, I continually learn, or am reminded of, key life lessons.

One Hour a Day - 3 Days a Week

So, my first steps on this journey to (eventually) trek the Camino...are to walk an hour a day, 3 days a week. That sounds pretty easy. And with everything else that's going on in my life, the walk finds itself squeezed to either end of the day, either early morning or late afternoon/evening. When it's dark... and wet... and cold. But... onwards!

First Walk

I came out of Starbucks one morning at 8:10 am and decided to do a hike along the parkway trail. It stretches a total of 18 km from one end of the city to the other. One day... one day... I will walk that trail from one end to the other! But... for now... I just timed myself... 30 minutes out and 30 minutes back.

Six Alternatives to the Six Pack Rings of Death

Peanut, a turtle in Missouri, who was rescued
from a 6 pack ring of death in 1993.

In five years time, I hope that young children will never meet a plastic 6-pack ring. I hope that those rings of death will be relegated to the past, never to appear again.

That might be a forlorn hope. There are already millions of 6-pack rings floating around in the oceans and waterways of our beautiful planet. But... new ones are on their way out. Soon enough plastic 6 pack rings will be a thing of the past.

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.

Getting Back into the Habit of BYO

Over three years of Covid-19 has really done a number on my habit of bringing reusable cups, cutlery, containers, etc when I go out in to the world. I was just developing that habit when Covid hit and... well... all of my good habits, just in their infancy, got tossed out with the bathwater.

And now... I'm back to square one and trying to get myself back into the habit of remembering to bring things!

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...