CAMINO DE SANTIAGO | PREPARATIONS
Never Too Old For Adventure!
A two-week marathon walk? Sign me up
It isn’t even a few months after I decided I needed to slow down a bit with less adventure and more relaxation travel and now I find myself fantasizing about another significant physical challenge. I am 62 years old if that means anything.
Okay, so you can’t call me an adrenaline junkie. I am definitely not that person. I enjoy adventures, including physical challenges that push me, but don’t need an adrenaline rush to enjoy an experience. I have always exceeded my expectations when I took on challenges in the past. You don’t know what you have inside of you until you try.
Next on the bucket list is the Camino de Santiago, a marathon walk in Europe with the final destination at the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. There are dozens of different routes to get there and I’ve read quite a lot about which route would be a good match for me. One of the most popular is the traditional Camino Frances route, but it’s 500 miles from Saint Jean Pied de Port and I don’t think I’m ready for that level of commitment. So I’ve decided to walk 160 miles from Porto, Portugal along the coastal route.
I first heard about the Camino more than a decade ago. A friend, who I traveled with a bit in Jordan and Israel, told me he was going to do this marathon walk in Europe. It was a Catholic pilgrimage, but he wasn’t doing it for any religious reason. He was at a crossroads in his life and he wanted to spend a few weeks in introspection. I didn’t think too much more about it and certainly didn’t think I would be planning to do it as well.
I haven’t always been an adventure seeker, but I discovered that I need a challenge to push my mind and body. I need the mental focus of the challenge and an excuse to get my body in (better) condition.
I put my body and mind to the test when I trekked to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro at the age of 47. I was violently sick with food poisoning for the first few days of the trek and I didn’t think I’d be able to complete it, but I surprised myself and realized I’m stronger than I thought and really am capable of anything I set my mind to. It was a transformative experience. I wasn’t the same person when I finished the trek as I was before I started.
A few years later, I decided to do a bicycle tour of Vietnam. I rode from Saigon to Hanoi with a group of fellow adventurers from around the world. It was a challenge but it wasn’t too bad because there was a bus that followed us with our backpacks. We were able to hop on the bus if we needed a break from cycling. Stomach issues hit me again during this challenge too. Saigon stomach, Delhi Belly, Travelers Tummy, whatever you call it, affected me during the ride but luckily I could get on the bus to recover so I could continue. Now here I am in my 60s. It’s been 15 years since Kilimanjaro, and I have my sights set on this new challenge.
Today my doctor gave me the green light.
It seems you are never too old for the Camino. My friend Debra Groves Harman, MEd did the full 500-mile Camino Frances when she retired from teaching. She has encouraged me with her stories about the walk, and what it did for her physically and emotionally.
Everyone seems to have their own reasons for joining the Camino. I don’t think I have anything to prove. I don’t need to find myself. Been there. Done that. I was prepared to do the pilgrimage on my own but a good friend said he’d be interested in doing the walk with me. It will be great to have a friend along for the adventure, someone who can hold me accountable, keep me company, and encourage me when I start to slow down.
So now that the decision has been made I can get down to the planning and preparation. Stay tuned for that. I plan to keep you updated before, during, and after my journey.
Thanks for reading. If you have taken the challenge please share your tips and stories with us here on our new publication, Walking Camino. I want to be as prepared as possible.
If you need more inspiration, here’s Debra Groves Harman, MEd introduction to the new publication and her inspiration for Camino.
Thank you for reading.