The Walk: Day 1

Essentially human – visiting the real world

Thinking: time to get out into the world to do a reality check

Doing: walking the Portuguese coastal route to Santiago de Compostela

Actually -  I started at Oia just over the border into Spain, where my friends who had begun the walk in Porto were waiting. Other commitments, and the realisation that I was unlikely to keep up with Judith and James unless they had already been walking for a week, shaped my itinerary. Even then I had my doubts about walking quite a long way (for me) every day, for seven days without a break. 

Writing a blog of my journey seemed a good idea – at least before I set off.

I was expecting to find the head space for all the thinking, reflecting and planning I wanted to do. I hadn’t expected that quite so much of my brain, especially  for the first few days, was going to be needed for the simple task of putting one foot in front of the other for hours at a time.

You may have guessed that long walks measured in days  not minutes are not something I have done that much of before. My daughter had had me in training for several months, so I knew my boots were okay, I needed to wear two pairs of socks, and carry water and chocolate covered protein bars!

From day one,  I met people who were doing the walk for lots of different motivations – for loved ones they’d lost, to celebrate a milestone birthday, for the walk itself and personal challenge, religious or spiritual reasons. At a time when it is easy to get lost in the echo chambers created for us by social media and to be fearful of a life shaped by AI, what I found in my fellow travellers was human spirit. The essentially human, positive element in all of us that comes from self-awareness, curiosity, creativity, collaboration and compassion, and drives our actions. That’s not to say we didn’t appreciate the information from the app used to track where we were and check the route to find our next coffee stop, but the different viewpoints and shared experiences along the way made it a journey.

Over the next week I will share my seven-day journey – the good, the bad and the distinctly unglamourous.

Buen Camino