Remy’s 2023 Travel Notebook

“Si, una cerveza para miiii” sings Javi, the Spaniard from Canary Islands who recently joined our group. He is genuinely one of the funniest individuals I have met in my life. We have been walking together and he has made my stomach hurt as much (or more) than my legs have in recent days. It’s good to be in the company of people like him, and the rest of the group who all keep my spirits high while my body endures such a challenge.

The motto of the day is “si se puede”, or “yes we can” in English. Most Europeans I have encountered here really like Obama, and this saying is the translation of his campaign slogan. Everyone in The Group is experiencing some kind of bodily trouble or injury by now. We keep spirits high by jokingly yelling encouraging phrases like this in the best Spanish accent we can muster.

An Italian girl in our group, Michaela, was bitten by a dog and rushed to the hospital today. We frequently encounter dogs, stray or otherwise, that sometimes have vicious, frightening snarls. I always have my walking poles in hand whether I am using them or not. Thankfully, she is okay and will continue her walk with a round of antibiotics and some stitches.

I started off my day with another group I first met in day 2 of my walk and we happened to stay at the same albergue in Santo Domingo. I walked and talked with an osteopath-in-training, Gabriel (Sweden), for the first few hours of the day. We talked about the importance of mind-body connection in healing body aches and soreness, the mysteriousness of acupuncture, modern philosophy, artificial intelligence, and space travel. We were so into our conversation and the rhythm of walking that we went off the Camino for almost a mile before we realized we were in the wrong place. All was okay okay though – we turned around to walk into the beautiful sunrise for that mile back to the trail. “Would you go to space?” He asked, looking at the (almost) full moon in the sky. “It’s not first on my list, but if the opportunity comes, yes.”

Gabriel’s walking partner, Connor (from Ireland), has a golf ball sized blister (not pictured) on his heel. It’s the worst I’ve seen, but I don’t know what he was expecting wearing cotton socks for that many kilometers. My walking partner, Daniel, volunteered a pair of wool socks for Connor. Meanwhile, my disinfection foot bath and careful bandaging yesterday, as well as switching my wool socks halfway through the day, paid off well for my feet.

It was a hot day, but deceiving because strong winds kept us feeling cooler than it really was. We are walking west, with the suns at our backs most of the day. Most people are complaining but this is nothing I haven’t experienced running cross country in the countryside of Dixon in August and September. The backs of my legs are getting red because I haven’t put on enough sunscreen. At least I made a good decision and drank a liter of water before starting the walk, which seemed to set me in a good place for hydration throughout the day.

The distance today was 34km. The albergue we arrived to is picture perfect. Small town, amazing views, tapas bars, and beautiful gardens. a few pictures —

At the table for our final hoorah before going to bed, we were playing dice and admittedly being a bit too loud with our cervezas y vino blancos. An American woman wearing a long skirt with Obama’s face plastered all over it walks past.

Javi and a few others look at her, then look at me as if to ask, “hey, American, is that what I think it is?”

With The Group already holding back laughter, I let out a “siiii se puede!” Hysterical laughter ensues. We all cheer our glasses and enjoy each other’s company before going to bed to repeat it all again tomorrow. my heart may be the fullest it’s ever been.