Preparations

They say your journey begins the moment you decide to go. In that case, I have been traveling for several months now.  The details and preparations to be away from work and home and dog for 3 weeks seem overwhelming at times. 

This weekend was particularly harried – I seemed to have too much to do and not enough time to do it.  However, in hindsight, I managed to get all the important things done, and had some fun along the way.

I took long walks both Saturday and Sunday.  To walk for 3 or 4 hours seems to take an inordinate chunk of time, but these treks are imperative for my preparation.  I can’t just get off the couch, get on a plane and go walk a half marathon every day for 12 straight days without some training.

I decided I wanted to track down the oldest known labyrinth on earth – Jeff Saward (the labyrinth historian) says it is in Galicia, near an old remote monastery.  Google Maps seems to be able to get me there, so I am armed with good information and will attempt to find it on one of my last days in Spain.  I am giddy with anticipation!

 So now I have 5 destinations for my pilgrimage:

1. The bridge at Molinaseca where I started my pilgrimage 10 years ago.
2. The cathedral in Santiago de Compostela
3. The Hotel San Francisco – created out of St. Francis’ monastery in Santiago
4. Finisterre – the western-most point of land on continental Europe – ‘the end of the earth’
5. Armenteira Monastery – the location of the oldest known labyrinth, from 2000 BC.

Each of these 5 places holds a real and personal draw for me, and I am excited that my leave is only 13 days away!

Sometimes You Just Have to Finish What You Started

I was drawn to the Camino through my work with the labyrinth (labyrinths being a metaphor for pilgrimage, and the Camino being the real thing.)
Ten years ago, in May of 2001, I walked the last 150 miles of the Camino from Molinaseca to Santiago de Compostela.  Five years ago, in 2006, I walked the first 150 miles of the Camino from Roncesvalles to Burgos.  The middle part, the Meseta, the long flat rolling hills of Spain’s wheat farms, has remained unwalked by me. 

People told me I could skip it, that it was boring, that it was hot and dry and ugly.  And so I thought I was finished, until I listened to that sweet nagging little voice in my heart that said I needed to go the distance. 

So even though I began at the end, and I will end in the middle, this all seems to be the right thing for me to do, now, in the spring of 2011. I leave in a month for 13 days of walking. 

Yes. Sometimes you just have to finish what you started.