Last night we all had dinner for the last time together, unless somehow we all end up on the trail together again. At the same restaurant there was a group of Brazilians we keep running into, they were disappointed to find out all of us were taking breaks of some sort. They tell us “you are too young to take breaks! People walk in more pain than you do!” Yesterday at the hostel Aoife and I were given a hard time because we hadn’t taken a break yet, by a mildly irritated American man who started before us and asked “are you even enjoying the cities you stop in?”  Every single day someone tells Aoife how to treat her terrible blisters on the back of her feet. Everyone on the Camino has an opinion. Mostly, it’s from a good place, people here are genuinely kind and really do want to help, and everyone is quick to give anyway whatever they have if it’ll help someone else. And yet, there are so many opinions on every aspect of this hike in a way I never anticipated. Which to me is funny since there are so many ways people walk this. Staying at a hotel last night we met a whole different group. This morning at the bus station I met the most injured and tired. I’m not sure how people can have opinions on the best way to walk when it’s an intensely personal thing and a lot can impact your hike and health.

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