DSouthard
Member
- Time of past OR future Camino
- Camino Catalan, (May-July 2012), Via Francigena (Barcelona to Rome - 2015), Via Francigena (Rome to Canterbury - 2016)
I'll be making my pilgrimage from Montserrat beginning around May 20, 2012. I just left a job/career as a technical project manager after 30-some years. My children are now adults and self sufficient, my marriage is a distant memory, I have almost no money and absolutely no property except for what fits into 1 back pack, 1 suitcase, and 1 guitar case.
I've been planning to walk the Camino for about 10 years, ever since I first heard about it. I'm in pretty good shape, but have no doubt the first week or two will be difficult. I can easily walk 20 miles in a day, but doing it day after day for weeks on end is not something I can properly prepare for. So like almost everyone, I just plan on being sore and tired for a while. I have 9 weeks between arriving in Barcelona and the return flight, so I can walk slowly.
I anticipate meeting lots of people and making friends along the way. I love travel and have always found wonderful people everywhere I've been. But this is a journey of spiritual discovery for me (as much as one can plan on that) so the plan is to spend a lot of time alone. Although, God works through people, so if He chooses to speak to me through someone, I'll be sure to listen. I'll carry a phone for emergency use, but it will be turned off except and unless needed. I will not be checking into any internet cafes and will not be writing a blog. I'll carry an old fashioned, analog journal for personal notes.
As I have (almost) nothing, I'm not in a position to stop working, nor do I want to. I would love to live and work in Spain. I'll look for a position teaching English as a foreign language there, but for a non-EU citizen, that is an impossibility without God's intervention. (I have TEFL certification and have been a volunteer teacher in the US.) So, upon returning, I'll look for a teaching position in a Spanish speaking country and continue looking for a way to get back to Spain.
Like others have commented, I don't do well sleeping in a room full of snoring people, so I'll carry a tent and sleep outside where ever possible. (Outside noises don't seem to bother me that way snoring does. Go figure.) I'm on a tight budget, so private rooms in hotels are out of the question. And, I'm looking forward to making the Camino as simple as possible.
I've been planning to walk the Camino for about 10 years, ever since I first heard about it. I'm in pretty good shape, but have no doubt the first week or two will be difficult. I can easily walk 20 miles in a day, but doing it day after day for weeks on end is not something I can properly prepare for. So like almost everyone, I just plan on being sore and tired for a while. I have 9 weeks between arriving in Barcelona and the return flight, so I can walk slowly.
I anticipate meeting lots of people and making friends along the way. I love travel and have always found wonderful people everywhere I've been. But this is a journey of spiritual discovery for me (as much as one can plan on that) so the plan is to spend a lot of time alone. Although, God works through people, so if He chooses to speak to me through someone, I'll be sure to listen. I'll carry a phone for emergency use, but it will be turned off except and unless needed. I will not be checking into any internet cafes and will not be writing a blog. I'll carry an old fashioned, analog journal for personal notes.
As I have (almost) nothing, I'm not in a position to stop working, nor do I want to. I would love to live and work in Spain. I'll look for a position teaching English as a foreign language there, but for a non-EU citizen, that is an impossibility without God's intervention. (I have TEFL certification and have been a volunteer teacher in the US.) So, upon returning, I'll look for a teaching position in a Spanish speaking country and continue looking for a way to get back to Spain.
Like others have commented, I don't do well sleeping in a room full of snoring people, so I'll carry a tent and sleep outside where ever possible. (Outside noises don't seem to bother me that way snoring does. Go figure.) I'm on a tight budget, so private rooms in hotels are out of the question. And, I'm looking forward to making the Camino as simple as possible.
