Why am I doing the Camino?

I’ve felt called to take this pilgrimage across northern Spain ever since I saw the documentary about it, which I sought out because I’d read two memoirs by people who had walked it, and then I saw The Way with Martin Sheen.  All of those confirmed this was something I wanted to do, and for a while I asked friends if they’d like to go. Everyone had bad feet or bad knees, and one dear friend said yes and then backed out because she doesn’t like to walk at all and realized she just wanted to spend time with me.

So I’m going alone, two years after my original plan, and only for a couple weeks. I have sought the advice of psychics several times and the messages are always about letting go of planning, buying more socks than I think I need, and being open to ending it sooner if that’s what happens.  Be prepared for pain, but also don’t push.

I’m a transformation junkie and have learned one of the best ways to change is to displace myself regularly. I had a huge shift at 17 while living in Turkey as an exchange student for a summer. I didn’t know the language, my dad had just died, I got homesick, started smoking and was drunk for the first time there. I also never saw the world the same way. Since then I’ve been looking to be transformed through travel, and am usually disappointed because I’ve been a tourist rather than a traveler mostly since then.

So walking across Spain feels like being a traveler, staying in little towns or big cities, resting or pushing on, eating or going hungry, all of this looms ahead of me. I studied Spanish but it’s been years. I am hopeful it will come back.

What is the Camino to me?

It’s a chance to be in quiet, without the usual distractions of facebook, or the radio, or even other people.

It’s a chance to ask for help when I’m lost, for conversation when I’m lonely, and for food when I’m hungry or a bed when tired.

It’s an opportunity to follow the thread of an idea to its conclusion without interruption.

It’s the chance to remember things I’ve forgotten and re-experience blissful memories.

It’s a chance to pray while walking, bring people into my heart, and send love to the world.

It’s a chance to be surprised, expect lovely connections, and look for synchronicity.

It’s a chance to ask and watch the need be fulfilled in the most amazing and timely ways.

It's a chance to really know that things are always working out for me.

It’s a chance to talk to my body, listen to it deeply, give it what it needs and see what she can do.

It’s a chance to appreciate my strength, stamina, and spirit of adventure.

It’s mostly a chance to listen to my intuition, follow my heart’s desires, and do exactly what I want for a couple weeks without taking anyone else into account.