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Romance ... Fell briefly in thrall with a blue-eyed Irishman who presented as in dire need of an emotional, spiritual and psychological "fixer-upper": at the time, my specialty! (Ask any of my husbands.) The Camino is one fine opportunity for the stunning clarity it awards the pilgrim with...
😉 "..never would have worked ..." I mean! Married to a Scot (never to be mistaken for a "Brit") and eye-rolling familiar with how both sides of the pond get their argy-bargy up over correct pronouncements of the naming of things and the (im)proper use of fork and knife, I think you were well...
As a whippersnapper of 57 on my first CF in 2002, what I noticed about the Black Beret Card Throwing Sunshine Sitting Peregrina Up and Down Noting Gentlemen of Spain were ...their limps. Those canes were not just for looking smart and/or debonair, those men ...limped! They struggled getting up...
I sense you are 100% correct, as few women with whom I have engaged in "Which Camino?" conversations have mentioned VDLP or longer; several "long Camino" memoirs have all had solo male authors.
I know in my 76 year old gut this gal would love to walk VDLP ... in a small, mixed group so...
I was at the cusp of the era between boots, boots, boots and the advent of HOKA-like lighter trail shoe options, between the American Friends newsletter arriving in a stamped envelope and Google, between "a. couple of cotton t-shirts" and breathable textiles, etc., etc.
My regret is ...
Whoops! Off topic of 70 plus walking Caminos. Right. Circling back ... On three Spring CF Caminos spanning early to mid 2000's I spied with my Camino eye, in the category of "looks to be senior." more women than men. I saw more senior women in groups and in larger groups than I saw senior...
Pretty good! I vary wearing them with two Teva options too enticingly on sale on Zappos to pass up. Humidity is a big factor during mid-Missouri thunderstormy summers, and my feet swell. All sandals are uncomfortable at this point, so I am opting alternate trail walks with a pair of Hokas and...
76 and for my fourth Camino, ths time Porto - Santiago in Spring 2022, when I shall be 77! Teach these young whippersnappers that a mature and seasoned body and mind are nothing to be afraid of, white hair is a silver flame of experience and the fading sun spots on the left side of my face are...
Churchill would have to give up cigars (good luck with that), champagne at every opportunity, his team of secretaries (unless they would be carrying his backpack) and commit to a strict diet and exercise before he set on toe upon the Camno de Santiago. And even then, I imagine he would only be...
What a charming and professional presentation! Every one of the local and business folk who have a few words to say does so with such genuine delight and encouragement. As I plan on a USA-
Dublin-Rosslare-San Santander/Bilboa route next year, this is the perfect (as noted in a subsequent...
In 2019 on a stretch outside Leon, a dusty and windy April day, I walked briefly alongside a retired Brit who was living in ... Seville, maybe? As you do, "First Camino? Third? (me) Fortieth? him"!! And the way he answered the question, "40th", flat, unenthused. I took a step back and he...
I keep walking a Camino ...and flying back to the USA. Autumn 2021 (and that's redolent of overweening optimism) will find me on a fourth Camino.
Thinking April - November 2022 residence in Porto, Portugal, with launchings of walks into mountains in Eastern Portugal, weekends in Lisbon...
Exactly the town I was thinking!
If you want some clangor and clang of a big Spanish city, Leon is a bus/train ride back for a weekend of shopping at El Cortes Ingles or several good outdoor equipment stores, dining out and concerts -- hard to remember events where music and people were...
Thank you so much! Downloaded to the trusty iPhone 7 the millisecond I read this post. Knew I could via bbc.co.uk online but nice to know I can stretch my listener wings.
Interesting observation, as I felt I completed an admittedly brief yet concise questionnaire with a surprisingly full account of my Camino choices, inspirations and future plans.
Perhaps W Garza inferred that like rustling plastic bags and the clueless using headlamps and pilgrims packing up then unpacking then repacking their backpacks with the lights on at 5:00 am, the door slam is a teeth-gritting, pillow-stifling groan from the rest of us.
I never consider the Pacific Crest trail or Appalachian Trail as long-distance walking options: the Camino or bust! It is my be all and end all. It is my Way. And in pain? Oh, baby, those unbroken in Lady Scarpas on that long day to Los Arcos! Those ill considered Estrella trainers! The...
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