Living La Vida Loca

On May 13th, Ruth and I will set off on what I am expecting to be a real adventure, and hopefully a wonderful opportunity to truly spend the elusive “quality time” that parents lust after once their kids become adults and begin the process of establishing their own life rhythm, priorities, and path.  We will be walking a portion of the Camino de Santiago (Way of Saint James) from Leon, Spain to Santiago de Compostela – about 312 km start to finish.  This is a very old and well-traveled pilgrimage route with a deep Christian history – but as two Jewish women, we will in fact join the ranks of many thousands of people who have walked this route for other than religious reasons.  This was Ruthie’s idea after we’d both watched the movie The Way that tells the story of a father who walks the Camino after his estranged son dies at the start of his own journey.  Truly, the movie is inspirational, and we both agreed that this would be a once-in-a-lifetime chance for us to be together in such a scenic, unfettered, and contemplative way. 

Ruth will have just completed her sophomore year at college in Charlotte – keeping a schedule that makes me tired just thinking about it…and I will be taking a true break from work I am doing that is fulfilling but demanding of my time and energy. This time together will be filled with each other and with new people we meet along the way – and we will set our own schedule, our own priorities, and travel light and simply.  In earnest, it will be refreshing to not have my computer along for the trip, and I am hoping that both Ruth and I can abandon much of our technology addiction and use our phones and (perhaps) our iPads for navigation, reading, and check ins with family & friends only.  Wish me luck on that one!

Living here in Barcelona, it has amazed me just how many people I have met that have walked some part of the Camino – after all it is basically in our back yard.  I suppose it could be compared to West Coast (US) hikers who do the Pacific Crest Trail – but that is a much more ambitious undertaking from a hiker’s standpoint.  Apparently people of all ages walk the Camino, as it is mostly flat and extremely well-marked. There are accommodations all along the route that cater to ‘pilgrims’ (that will be us), and it is said that even if you start the walk alone you end up with lots of new friends along the way.  We have only booked places to stay at the start and at the end of the 15 days we will be walking – part of the experience is to see what unfolds.

My plan is to keep a journal of the trip – if I get ambitious I may try to blog there on my iPad…but one way or another I will share what I can.

Hasta pronto!