Walking My Mountains to Prepare to Walk the Camino de Santiago
The founder of Taoism, Lao-tzu, is attributed with saying “The longest journey begins with a single step.” My journey began around 2000 when I was first introduced to the Camino de Santiago by Shirley Maclaine’s book, The Camino. I was intrigued by her accounts of a self-discovery pilgrimage.
Maclaine wasn’t the first person to travel that Pilgrimage and I won’t be the last. For the last 1000 years, people such as St. Francis of Assisi, Charlemagne, Ferdinand and Isabella, Dante and even Chaucer have taken the journey.
Most people walk the distance in 28 to 42 days. I will be taking my time and staying at least 40 days.
I’ve asked myself several times, “Why am I so interested in walking 500 miles, alone, in a country 4,000 miles away from home?” My Spanish is nonexistent. Almost 50 years ago, I had one year of Spanish in high school.
I’ve always been fascinated with other cultures and travel. I’ve fed that attraction with many trips to numerous countries. I’ve hosted people from several counties and have been a guest of others in foreign lands.
A vivid memory from my early childhood was my owning a book titled The Wanderlust. I don’t know how I acquired it and I don’t remember the plot. I’ve searched on-line, hoping to find a clue to the allure, but haven’t found anything that resembles that particular book.
Why? Could it be something about Maya Angelou’s passage?“Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends.”
Traditionally, as with most pilgrimages, the Way of Saint James or the Camino de Santiago, begins at home and ends at the final destination site. To me, a pilgrimage is more than just the miles one walks on the actual route. I can attest to the fact that the journey begins at conception by the 8 months I have spent, and the 3 months more that I need, to get ready for this walk; not counting the years that the seed has been germinating in my heart and head. It has already been a journey in and of itself; just the soul-searching alone could be termed a pilgrimage.
I’ve given hours and hours to internet searches and I’ve read several books, including A Pilgrims Guide to The Camino de Santiago by John Brierley, To Walk Far, Carry Less by Jean-Christie Ashmore, Eyewitness Travel ‘s Northern Spain, and one book that was so boring I gave it away and don’t remember the name or author. When The Waycame out, a 2010 American film with Emilio Estevez and his father Martin Sheen, I was beside myself with excitement. It was such a small budget, small release film that I missed it in the theatres, but was so happy to buy it on DVD two years ago.
My tickets to Spain, in early May, are ready and waiting. I have a reservation for a two-night stay at a hotel when I arrive in Pamplona, known here for Hemingway and the Running of the Bulls. I’ll need to get over jetlag and I want some time to see the city before I set out on foot.
I’ve gone against my frugal nature of walking around town, several days a week, and have joined the Carroll Wellness Center. I need upper-body strength to carry a 20-pound backpack and have it less burdensome. I’ve followed all the sales at REI and made three trips to Greensboro, the nearest REI store, to reequip my hiking supplies. My boots are 20 years old and the sole is about to come off. Five-hundred miles with less than wonderful hiking boots-I don’t think so!
The main pilgrimage route to Santiago, since the Middle Ages, follows an earlier Roman trade route. There are more than a dozen routes that converge at Saint James’ tomb in western Spain. Many people walk the Way for religious reasons. Many hikers walk the route for non-religious reasons such as travel, sport, or the challenge. Part of my fascination and determination is to experience a spiritual adventure and to distance myself from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Part of my resolve is to stay as young as possible, both mentally and physically. This segment of my life should provide proof of my mental and physical competences, one way or the other.
The Camino’s accommodations are unique with pilgrim hostels (albergues) which allow pilgrims to sleep in dormitory-style accommodations for as little as €3-10 ($4-14) per night. A good reason to go in May is to avoid the college kids that frequent the trail in the summer months. By all accounts, there are pilgrims of all age groups. Pilgrim menus are served in restaurants and sometimes at the hostels and are reasonably priced to accommodate the cathartic adventure.
To prevent misuse of the 1000-year old spirit of hospitality at the refugios, a stayis limited to those carrying proof of their intentions. One small indication that a person is a perigrino (pilgrim) is the iconic symbol of the scallop shell carried by the traveler. There are many accounts as to why this item is symbolic, but one source suggests the grooves in the shell meet at a single point that represent the various routes traveled, arriving at a single destination: the tomb of James in Santiago de Compostela.
Authentic pilgrims carry a credencial, a pass which gives access to the inexpensive and sometimes free, accommodation. The credencial is stamped at each hostel along the way.
Once you reach the Santiago de Compostela Cathedral, after a ritual visit to Saint James’ tomb, you may present your credencial and petition for a compostela, a certificate of accomplishment, written in Latin, given to pilgrims completing the Way.
How will I feel after spending that many days away from family, away from the familiar? Will I want to take up where I leave off? Will my life ever be the same?
Follow my day-to-day experience as I blog about this journey at www.penelopesart.com. I will also carry a pencil and a beautiful new lightweight leather journal that my good friend gave me for the trip in which I will attempt to record my thoughts for later reflections.
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