Remy’s 2023 Travel Notebook

Today marked the end of my 7th day of walking the Camino Frances. People are starting to drop like flies. Some are getting ill, some have feet 25% covered in blisters, and I saw a pilgrim fall flat on their face and helped call an ambulance today. I have heard that if the Camino’s challenges were to be split up in thirds, the first is physical adaptation, the second is personal discovery and growth, and the final is spiritual discovery and growth. Of course these three can overlap quite a bit as well.

I am not sure what tomorrow will bring, but any pain I have felt in the last two days usually calmed after the first 500-1000 meters. I am hoping for the same tomorrow. If my feet allow I would like to walk 36km. Today I walked 38km and it was a challenge following yesterday’s monster walk. However, I got more time to relax after arriving to Santo Domingo around 2pm, versus 6:30pm in the previous day.

I started off the day at 5:00 am, walking through the dark in a full moon. At 5:30 the moon went under the horizon and I was left to walk in the dark for another hour. I was motivated to get to the next town and try to catch up with The Group who was nearby. I get to the town around 8:00 am and go into a store for breakfast. I pick up some fruit and wanted a croissant but they only came in packages of 10… I went for it, and shortly after found my friends sitting at a cafe. It was hugs and croissants all around.

I was ecstatic to have caught up to them and be in their company again. They asked me to play ukelele the moment we sat down for our next break 10km later. Bringing the ukelele was a great move because the instrument and sound is something pretty novel to a lot of Europeans. pilgrims play air guitar and clap as they walk past our table.

One thought that keeps coming across my mind is how the landscape is versus what I expected it to be. It looks like a slightly more red Napa Valley, and I often feel like I’m walking up and down the Silverado trail in Napa. We are also still surrounded by panoramic mountain views (difficult to capture on photo but you’ll just have to believe me).

I am also getting into a routine. Wake up early, eat something quick or find the first thing along the trail, walk until the person in front chooses a break spot, walk again, break again, arrive at an albergue, check in, shower, laundry, eat, relax, explore the city, go to bed, repeat. The only difference is now I have to dedicate time to foot care. Bandaging, Vaseline, taping…etc. I caught up with others that I met in day 2 and haven’t seen since. Their blister situations are worse than mine, so I am lucky (for now).

Reuniting with friends today made my soul happy. We share so many good laughs and jokes during our walks and meals. At certain points, walking the Camino, the friends, and the sights make me feel like I’m in a movie. Another excerpt from the “beautitudes of a pilgrim”: Blessed are you, pilgrim, if what concerns you most is not getting there, but getting there with others. The sense of community on the Camino is real.

There’s so much I’m leaving off but it’s definitely bedtime. Thank you to all my loyal friends and family for reading and following my journey. One week in, it has already opened my eyes to much more than I could have imagined. Approximately 3 weeks left. Buen Camino!