Re: Cheating.
Do you mind if I add my thoughts on this subject?
To walk the Camino is to tread in the very footprints of the exalted pilgrims who have gone before us. Be they kings, queens, princes or princesses. The beautiful sounds of Gregorian chants being sung by groups of monks, now being heard in the rustle of grass and leaves of trees. Rich men and poor men, the Camino invites us all. For more than 200 centuries before us, their DNA has permeated the very ground on which we new pilgrims now tread.
These pathways, be they from any of the varies starting points, are the embodiment of the Holiest of Holies. Be still in your heart and mind and feel the faint, but unmistakable sandal prints of St James himself, as he guides us ever onward to his tomb in the cathedral.
Yes, you can cheat. You can catch a bus, taxi or any other conveyance to the next point where you can obtain a stamp. You can do this all the way to Santiargo Compestela if you so wish.
You can obtain your certificate and take it home, frame it and put it on the wall for friends to admire. One day it will be taken down, put in a cardboard box and maybe put in the attic. Years may past, but one day, your grand children or great grand children or great great grand children, might just stumble across it and in doing so, may wish to honour your memory by walking the Camino themselves.
The question is? Who or what will they be honouring? Your footprints all the way to Santiargo or your seat on a bus?
Cheating! You can only cheat yourself. Bless you.