Readying for the Camino de Santiago

Looking at the distances on the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage is daunting.  Who do I think I am, at 69 years old taking on the task of walking 11-18 miles day after day with a 20lb pack.? The miles are just as incredulous as the milky way from where I sit on my comfortable couch looking at the stats of the Camino.  The internet is a wealth of information.  Stories of people in their eighties who have taken on the whole Camino inspires me and ease my doubts. 

Preparing for the Camino at least the outward part, I go through the list of material things to take, weighing my backpack over and over again assessing the physical burden.  Walking every day on my hilly island in the middle of Puget Sound to prepare.  Swimming, and bicycling too and somehow, I don’t think it’s enough. I don’t think it represents the physical demands of walking day after day. And what about the inner struggles which some may call the spiritual purpose of the pilgrimage.

Even though I think the physical preparation isn’t enough, it’s the inner part that I toil over the most. That makes me question if I can make it.  I totally grasp how important the psychic is in any journey.  As a cyclist who has cycled all over the world, I’ve learned the benefit of a “One Day at A Time,” philosophy. It’s this cycling that has given me a glimpse of into what my inner struggles will be.  I know from my past there will be days I will not only question if I can do it, but this doubt will overflow into questioning if I’m good enough in my life in general not just good enough to walk the Camino.

The inner turmoil even now whether I can do this or not, already tells me I’ve started the inner preparation.  This preparation covers my questioning self-esteem wondering how this connects with the spiritual part of my journey. Changing on the inside comes more slowly than the muscle strengthening of the external.  At times the inner changes don’t show up until months after the journey when you take a different path to an idea or project and realize how you’ve changed.   Spiritual seeking prompted the Camino pilgrimage in the beginning and still does for many today but not me.  On second thought maybe I should start or end the day with Buddhist meditation. I’m sure not going to convert to Catholicism.

What I look forward to is getting away from commercialism, immersing myself into the simplicity of day to day living, writing a lot and meeting people. We all have journeys not just physical ones; these journeys change who we are.  As for the 69 years that I have lived, there are times I see this as an advantage, and the walk an opportunity.   Today I’m writing my memoir the stage is already set to take inventory of the self to review my life and how I got where I am today.  There I’ve laid out the quest.

Revisiting some of the history of areas along the walk sounds enlightening and there is so much history there. This history sets the stage to see me in the a bigger story, a story that has influenced the world for centuries putting me and my world into perspective.  I can only do my part, to make the world a better place.  Some days all I will be able to do is put one foot in front of the other.  These days maybe plentiful on the Camino preparing for those kinds of days is not as easy as it sounds.  Other days so much comes back in return and I may feel like I’ve touched other lives in way that improves them.

In all my travels what stays with me are the people I meet.  These interactions of kindness with strangers mine and the people I meet are precious.  The Camino is an opportunity to renew my faith in humanity in these times of turmoil.  Yes I can’t totally look away from politics, but walking the Camino is about the people I meet and the reflections that come to me about my life.