Author: famoco9c7ad736a6

I’m ready to start my walk. I bought my final piece of equipment today…a pair of walking poles. Tomorrow’s walk has been positioned as one of the most challenging walks on the Camino. It’s 16 miles, mostly climbing over the Pyrenees. There’s a chance of rain in the afternoon up near the peaks…so I plan to strike out a little after 7am to hopefully beat the rain. I’ve got my bed and dinner booked in my first alberque. It holds 183 beds…this first night will be very interesting!! I’ve got my ear plugs. Pictures posted are of St. Jean.

Here I go….

March 30th.

It’s two days before I start my adventure. I’ll be leaving on April 1st from Boston for Paris, with a connection to a train to Bayonne in Southern France. From there, another train to the village of St. Jean Pied de Port, where on April 5th, I will begin my 800Km (500mile) walk on the Camino de Santiago, in Spain.

There’s a couple of firsts for me for this trip. It’s the first time that I’ve ever attempted this sort of long-term, physical and mental challenge. I’m planning on the trip taking between 33-35 days, walking between 12-20 miles a day. I’ll be sleeping along the way in hostels, called alburques (some that have been hosting pilgrims for over 1,000 years). I’ll be traveling alone, although I’ve been told that I’ll be meeting and walking with new friends, who share the bond of the camino with me. It’s also the first time that I’ve created and maintained a blog. So….apologies in advance for any fat-fingering or grammatical errors that you end up reading.

I have a couple of shout-outs that I need to make. First, to Cindy, Zach and Matt for encouraging and supporting me to go on this adventure. Second, to fellow pilgrim JW, who walked the camino last year and has been my camino coach, and advisor with all of the tips and tricks that he learned from his own walk last year….including the tutorial and all of the supplies needed to treat and walk with blisters on your feet. As Bruce Jenner’s t-shirt said in the 1976 Olympics….”Feet don’t fail me now”.

I don’t imagine that I’ll be posting everyday. I’m going to try real hard not to make this a vanity-blog, boring you with me-centric posts. I’ve been asked to share this adventure with people, so this seems like the best way to do it. We’ll see. If it doesn’t work….I’ll abandon this format and try something else. I’m guessing that my first blog update will be the evening of April 5th…when I check into my first alburque, the Albergue de Roncesvalles, after my first full day of walking. Of course, should anything of note happen between now and then, I’ll be sure to post an update.

So that’s it. I’m starting this trek a day after my 66th birthday. Seems like a worthwhile thing to take on as I start another trip around the sun.