Jon is coming in two months to visit again for two weeks. Originally we had planned on traveling around Europe, perhaps to Greece or Germany, and also around Northern Spain a little. But after talking to a Spanish friend of mine, a different idea began to sink into my head.
First, a little background:
El Camino de Santiago (which translates to The Way of St. James) is a pilgrimage route to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, which is on the northwest coast of Spain. Tradition has it that the remains of the apostle Saint James are buried there, and for this reason many pilgrims throughout history have made the trek. There is more than one "way" or route to the Cathedral. In fact, there are at least five main routes. The most popular is the Camino Frances which starts in Southern France and ends in Santiago at the Cathedral. Another route gaining in popularity is the Camino del Norte, or the Northern Way, which follows Spain's northern coastline. Both take about 4 to 5 weeks to completely finish. There are also routes that go through Portugal, and another that goes all the way from Sevilla in the south to Santiago in the north. The Camino is originally intended to be walked, although some people also do it by bike or horse. It is normally considered to be a religious or spiritual experience, and many people do it alone.I first learned about the Camino de Santiago from my intercambio Ramon while I was studying abroad in Sevilla. He told me a bit about how it works and we even saw a movie about it (called "The Way" with Martin Sheen). Ever since then, I have had an interest. But I never seriously considered doing it--I always thought it was supposed to be a supreme religious experience, and let's just say I'm not really into that sort of thing. But then I started to learn more about it.
Right before I came to Spain last fall, my Grandma showed me an article in her local newspaper about a father and son who completed it together. Upon mentioning this to my friend Jesse from my TEFL course, he informed me that he also completed part of it. And now just the other day I was talking about it with my Spanish friend Miquel who is thinking of doing it this summer.
I asked both Jesse and Miquel more about it. I told them that I would be interested, but that I'm not religious and don't really think I could do it alone, nor do I have a month to spend walking across the country. Jesse told me that he actually did it in a group, as part of a mission trip with his church. He said it can be more fun that way, and furthermore that you don't have to complete the entire thing. In fact many people do small parts at a time. Miquel told me that actually lots of people do it for non-religous reasons--They do it as a way to travel and see the country, for sport, to spend time in the great outdoors, to meet people, etc.
And so as soon as I took it out of a religious context, and considered it as a smaller hiking excursion, it suddenly seemed like quite an accessible adventure. And the more I thought about it, the more it became clear that it would be right up Jon's alley. To be sure, we both really wanted to travel Northern Spain, and what better way to do it than to walk right through it? And Jon loves hiking and the great outdoors, so he would obviously love to do something like this. Moreover, he has experience doing this sort of trip (and the equipment for it), so he would be a great travel companion.
Now, I do enjoy the outdoors. However I do not necessarily consider myself to be an outdoors-y person. But I think that is almost entirely due to my lack of experience and knowledge. I never learned how to build a fire or camp in a tent in Girl Scouts (what's up with that, by the way? Why do Boy Scouts learn survival stuff and Girl Scouts learn how to sell cookies?!), and so the thought of a long camping trip has always intimidated me. Thus, naturally, the thought of doing the Camino has always seemed daunting and a bit scary. But when I considered it with an experienced camper like Jon, all of a sudden it seemed much more doable and exciting.
Last night I mentioned it to Jon, and we almost immediately decided it would be the perfect way to spend our Spanish vacation.
And so, from this day forward, Jon and I will begin preparation for our newly decided, huge trip we have to plan! Do you bring a tent? I need to buy hiking boots, don't I? How many pairs of underwear am I allowed? Which route do we want to do?
We've got a lot to think about!
But in the mean time, if you're interested, check out some websites I found that will tell you even more about this cool adventure!
http://www.caminodesantiago.me.uk/
http://www.caminosantiagodecompostela.com/
http://www.caminodesantiago.me/
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