This is probably the most clean I’ll be for a while. Tomorrow, I’m flying to France and taking a shuttle to St. Jean Pied de Port where I’ll start my trek on Wednesday. Plans have changed slightly, and I’m meeting Alex in Madrid after my first ten days for a long weekend, then rejoining the trail after. I’m really excited about this, aside from the obvious seeing Alex, and gorging myself on tapas, it mentally helps break up the long hike, I only have to think about the first ten days.
Camino Gear
I leave in four weeks from today! Which means I’m starting to have apprehensive feelings, so I’m placating them by hyper organizing my gear and scrutinizing my pack weight-don’t worry I’m not about to cut my toothbrush in half, which theoretically, people do. And admittedly, I’m getting sick of training. I love hiking, but because access is limited I have to hike around the city, which gets old really fast. And I don’t want to burn out hiking-wise before even starting. Luckily, the two weeks prior to departure are about tapering, so I have full muscle recovery before setting out. So only two more weeks of wandering around the city. Continue reading
Evidently, I’ve signed myself up for walking 800km from St. Jean Pied de Port in France, across Spain to Santiago de Compostela, starting April 21st, 2015, ten weeks from now. I’ve been vaguely aware of this famous pilgrimage for several years, it’s extremely popular in Ireland, every outdoors shop has complete packing lists and the staff are all well versed on the necessary equipment. Millions have made this trek, but I didn’t imagine I’d be one of them. When reading about reasons people make this journey, many (especially those doing the full 800km on the most popular route) are religious, in transitional phases in their lives, are having some sort of crisis, or are looking for answers. I am none of those. I’m compelled to walk mostly, out of a sense of adventure and general love for long-distance trekking, though I’ve never done anything of this length before. Continue reading
Colliding With The Earth 