Kiwi-family
{Rachael, the Mama of the family}
- Time of past OR future Camino
- walking every day for the rest of my life
We leave NZ in two days. Yippee-dippee-doo!
After a week in Paris we will be taking an overnight bus to Leon.....then a bus to Astorga. And then we'll start walking.
Many of you know us by now - thank you so much for the lovely messages that you have sent. For those who do not know us, we are a family....mum and dad in their early forties, eight kids ranging in age from 6 to 17, and a Grandpa, who is 80. (Everyone always thinks the Grandpa is my dad, because we are both fair, but actually he belongs to my tall dark handsome husband!)
I have had the immense pleasure recently of doing some solitary walks (I'm an introvert) and my experience has been different to when we walk as a group. Even here in suburban Auckland when I've been walking with poles and a backpack, people have fallen in to walk a kilometre or two with me, or stopped me to chat or have slowed down on their bike to discuss the travels of Marco Polo! In spite of my introvert status, I have enjoyed these interactions a lot. HOWEVER, when we are walking as a group this NEVER (so far) happens. People say HI in passing, but do not engage with us as individuals (and I understand why - it's possibly daunting, we look self-contained, they don't want to intrude).
If YOU meet us along the Camino, please do feel free to join us for a while or to gatecrash our table(s) at dinner. This is my invitation to you.
~Rachael
After a week in Paris we will be taking an overnight bus to Leon.....then a bus to Astorga. And then we'll start walking.
Many of you know us by now - thank you so much for the lovely messages that you have sent. For those who do not know us, we are a family....mum and dad in their early forties, eight kids ranging in age from 6 to 17, and a Grandpa, who is 80. (Everyone always thinks the Grandpa is my dad, because we are both fair, but actually he belongs to my tall dark handsome husband!)
I have had the immense pleasure recently of doing some solitary walks (I'm an introvert) and my experience has been different to when we walk as a group. Even here in suburban Auckland when I've been walking with poles and a backpack, people have fallen in to walk a kilometre or two with me, or stopped me to chat or have slowed down on their bike to discuss the travels of Marco Polo! In spite of my introvert status, I have enjoyed these interactions a lot. HOWEVER, when we are walking as a group this NEVER (so far) happens. People say HI in passing, but do not engage with us as individuals (and I understand why - it's possibly daunting, we look self-contained, they don't want to intrude).
If YOU meet us along the Camino, please do feel free to join us for a while or to gatecrash our table(s) at dinner. This is my invitation to you.
~Rachael
