About the Camino and my journey

The entire time I've been preparing for El Camino de Santiago, I was against setting up a blog. I don't know if this is a result of me not wanting to set up a blog, or rather the upkeep of the blog. It seems like it may be a bit mundane to post about my trip to me. It may seem a bit repetitive; however, I have had a lot of requests to keep a blog for people to live vicariously through me. As a result, here's to starting a blog. I will preface this with saying I don't know how often I will update or what the updates will entailed. For the most part, the blog posts will be pushed through Facebook, but I will add those who asked to subscribe for my previous study abroad blog. If you don't want the updates, please let me know. Now, as I once again set this blog up as I procrastinate packing, some of you may not know that I am doing El Camino de Santiago or perhaps do not know what it is. As a result, I feel like the best way to start this is to explain what the Camino is.

El Camino de Santiago has a variety of names. The literal translation of this Spanish name is The Way of Saint James, or many people know it as "The Way", "St. James Way", and may other names. The Way is more popularly known in the United States since it is the dramatization of El Camino de Santiago featuring Martin Sheen. The video, as of 5/11/2014, is available to stream on Netflix.

- wikipedia.org

El Camino de Santiago is the name of any of the pilgrim routes to the shrine of the apostle St. James the Great (see above). Tradition states that the remains of St. James lay in the cathedral in Santiago de la Compostel which is a city in northwest Spain. This camino has occurred ever since St. James remains were laid to rest in Spain. Legend holds that St. James remains were sent from Jerusalem to Santiago via boat. As I do a bit of research to better lay the groundwork of this pilgrimage, I found a correction to my original thought. I was told that President Washington was the first "American" to complete the trail; however, that is incorrect.

"During the war of American Independence, John Adams was ordered by Congress to go to Paris to obtain funds for the cause. His ship started leaking and he disembarked with his two sons in Finisterre in 1779. From there he proceeded to follow the Way of St. James in the reverse direction of the pilgrims' route, in order to get to Paris overland. He did not stop to visit Santiago and came to regret this during the course of his journey."
        - www.wikipedia.org

As previously mentioned, El Camino de Santiago is any route that takes you to St. James' resting place. For me, that will be El Camino Frances, which is the French Route. Since there are a variety of routes to Santiago, I chose the Camino Frances for two reasons. First and foremost, it is the most popular of the trails. Secondly, I will have the opportunity to walk through various cities that I wished I could see. The Camino Frances is a total of 780km, or 500mi, from Santiago de la Compostela.

I will begin my journey in the small village of St. Jean Pied de Pont which is on the Spanish/French border. From there, I will walk towards Santiago de la Compostela and hope to arrive at the doors of the cathedral in 30 days.  Each day my goal is to walk at least 15 miles a day. That is my average mileage I hope to accomplish every day. While some days may be longer and others shorter, it will take 15 miles a day to arrive in Santiago.

- megaconstrucciones.net

After the initial shock because of the mileage covered has worn off, the first question is who I will keep company with while on the Camino.  I will be completing El Camino by myself. I do not know anyone going on the Camino with me. Many people think I am crazy to attempt this and that may be so. I have friends who are interested and for variuos reasons are unfortunately unable to make this journey with me. However, I still wanted to complete the Camino. This is one of the few times in my life that I will have the opportunity to budget time to complete this pilgrimage. In the last two years, there have been on average 185,000 people who have officially registered and completed the Camino. Therefore, I do not believe that I will be completely alone. Yes, I do not know anyone who is going with me but I imagine I will run into groups along the way.

The second question I receive when people ask about the Camino is my reasoning for completing the Camino. Yes, as a Catholic, there are religious reasons that drive my decision to complete the Camino. As a person who has studied abroad and learned Spanish for, let's see, 8 years now, I want to see northern Spain. Finally, once I heard about the Camino, it just was intriguing. I want to see what it's all about.

As I start to wrap up, I am starting to reflect on the Camino and this post. Most peligrinos, or pilgrims, after they have completed the Camino, they believe that it truly started when they decided to go on the Camino. For me, I guess I'd say my Camino started about two years ago. I truly am blessed and grateful that I get to experience this.

However, it's really hard to put the entire Camino experience into words. I think that there are two quotes that aptly describe my view of the Camino:

What we see depends mainly on what we look for

- John Lubbock

After all the research and work put into trying to figure out the Camino, you pick up a lot of insight. However, it's no different than any other experience. I'm trying to keep an open mind and go with the flow. I don't have any real expectations for it. (Or I try not to think I do) I have a rough itinerary but I plan on listening to my body. My body will be my itinerary.

Caminante no hay camino, se hace camino al andar

- A. Machado

This second quote translates as followed: "Wanderer, there is no road, the road is made by walking". This is similar to what I've previously said. I will walk and that will create the path. Yes, the path is well-marked, but  I will be fine with just walking and creating my path and my journey.

If you have any questions, please just let me know in the comments and I will respond.

Buen Camino