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The Way of St. James

// May 28th, 2009 // No Comments » // Rants and Musings

Until the cows came home.

Last month I celebrated my five-year anniversary of arriving in Spain, which would be cool if it hadn’t made me think how little of Spain I’ve experienced. The Way_of_St._James is something you keep hearing about from the locals, and it’s easy to see its appeal:

You get to do some exercise,
You’re off the grid for a week,
You stress-test your relationship with your walking partners,
You get to eat Galician home-cooked food (for the most part).

You also get the compostela, which is a cool diploma declaring you as a “Pilgrim”. We were told you only got it if you said you had walked for religious purposes, so that’s exactly what we said. I hope misrepresenting the nature of the trip doesn’t land me a spot in hell, should it exist.

Lost in contemplation, or unable to walk anymore?

Walking 200 Km. in 6 days carrying a 12 Kg. backpack isn’t as easy as we made it to be. It certainly didn’t sound like much after last year’s Caledonian Challenge. Then again, I should’ve remembered that you walk the Challenge without any weight on your back, that you get to rest for as long as you need after walking for 24 hours, and, most importantly, that after I finished the Challenge I had my left knee so worn down that the doctor forbade me from doing any exercise for 6 months. After your first 10 hour walking day, you wake up the next day to find aches in places you didn’t think could ache. You sort of rub your muscles into working order, and then go out and walk another 10 hours. And again, and again. It’s not as terrible as it sounds, though. After a couple days, you get used to the pain and, unless you hurt yourself in the process, you start having a good time walking. And then, just when you’re starting to really enjoy yourself, you arrive at Santiago and the walk ends.

I didn't bring any fancy clothes for the occasion.

The road itself is quite an experience. We didn’t plan our stops correctly and ended up walking over 30 Km. every day, and it still was incredibly fun, which speaks volumes about the trip itself. The food was uniformly excellent, and our walking group was great. We originally planned this as a six-person trip, but real life got in the way and it ended up being three of us. Being all guys had its advantages: bathroom breaks were quick, and the horror that was having unisex (open!) showers was somehow mitigated. I had a close encounter with a naked woman old enough to be my mother, and I’m sure it was a lot more uncomfortable for her than it was for me.

Somebody had to cook, somebody had to take the picture.

The one thing we kept hearing from all the other walkers (which were usually over 50, foreign, or both) that had already completed the walk previously was that this was the sort of thing you came back to. I can definitely see myself going back next year and trying a different route. The main problem will be having this year’s walking pace as precedent, which was insane. It’s certainly a unique experience, and one that heartily recommend.

Until the cows came home.

Last month I celebrated my five-year anniversary of arriving in Spain, which would be cool if it hadn’t made me think how little of Spain I’ve experienced. The Way_of_St._James is something you keep hearing about from the locals, and it’s easy to see its appeal:

You get to do some exercise,
You’re off the grid for a week,
You stress-test your relationship with your walking partners,
You get to eat Galician home-cooked food (for the most part).

You also get the compostela, which is a cool diploma declaring you as a “Pilgrim”. We were told you only got it if you said you had walked for religious purposes, so that’s exactly what we said. I hope misrepresenting the nature of the trip doesn’t land me a spot in hell, should it exist.

Lost in contemplation, or unable to walk anymore?

Walking 200 Km. in 6 days carrying a 12 Kg. backpack isn’t as easy as we made it to be. It certainly didn’t sound like much after last year’s Caledonian Challenge. Then again, I should’ve remembered that you walk the Challenge without any weight on your back, that you get to rest for as long as you need after walking for 24 hours, and, most importantly, that after I finished the Challenge I had my left knee so worn down that the doctor forbade me from doing any exercise for 6 months. After your first 10 hour walking day, you wake up the next day to find aches in places you didn’t think could ache. You sort of rub your muscles into working order, and then go out and walk another 10 hours. And again, and again. It’s not as terrible as it sounds, though. After a couple days, you get used to the pain and, unless you hurt yourself in the process, you start having a good time walking. And then, just when you’re starting to really enjoy yourself, you arrive at Santiago and the walk ends.

I didn't bring any fancy clothes for the occasion.

The road itself is quite an experience. We didn’t plan our stops correctly and ended up walking over 30 Km. every day, and it still was incredibly fun, which speaks volumes about the trip itself. The food was uniformly excellent, and our walking group was great. We originally planned this as a six-person trip, but real life got in the way and it ended up being three of us. Being all guys had its advantages: bathroom breaks were quick, and the horror that was having unisex (open!) showers was somehow mitigated. I had a close encounter with a naked woman old enough to be my mother, and I’m sure it was a lot more uncomfortable for her than it was for me.

Somebody had to cook, somebody had to take the picture.

The one thing we kept hearing from all the other walkers (which were usually over 50, foreign, or both) that had already completed the walk previously was that this was the sort of thing you came back to. I can definitely see myself going back next year and trying a different route. The main problem will be having this year’s walking pace as precedent, which was insane. It’s certainly a unique experience, and one that heartily recommend.

The Way of St. James

// May 24th, 2009 // No Comments » // Rants and Musings

Until the cows came home.

Last month I celebrated my five-year anniversary of arriving in Spain, which would be cool if it hadn’t made me think how little of Spain I’ve experienced. The Way_of_St._James is something you keep hearing about from the locals, and it’s easy to see its appeal:

You get to do some exercise,
Yo’re off the grid for a week,
You stress-test your relationship with your walking partners,
You get to eat Galician home-cooked food (for the most part).

You also get the compostela, which is a cool diploma declaring you as a “Pilgrim”. We were told you only got it if you said you had walked for religious purposes, so that’s exactly what we said. I hope misrepresenting the nature of the trip doesn’t land me a spot in hell, should it exist.

Lost in contemplation, or unable to walk anymore?

Walking 200 Km. in 6 days carrying a 12 Kg. backpack isn’t as easy as we made it to be. It certainly didn’t sound like much after last year’s Caledonian Challenge. Then again, I should’ve remembered that you walk the Challenge without any weight on your back, that you get to rest for as long as you need after walking for 24 hours, and, most importantly, that after I finished the Challenge I had my left knee so worn down that the doctor forbade me from doing any exercise for 6 months. After your first 10 hour walking day, you wake up the next day to find aches in places you didn’t think could ache. You sort of rub your muscles into working order, and then go out and walk another 10 hours. And again, and again. It’s not as terrible as it sounds, though. After a couple days, you get used to the pain and, unless you hurt yourself in the process, you start having a good time walking. And then, just when you’re starting to really enjoy yourself, you arrive at Santiago and the walk ends.

I didn't bring any fancy clothes for the occasion.

The road itself is quite an experience. We didn’t plan our stops correctly and ended up walking over 30 Km. every day, and it still was incredibly fun, which speaks volumes about the trip itself. The food was uniformly excellent, and our walking group was great. We originally planned this as a six-person trip, but real life got in the way and it ended up being three of us. Being all guys had its advantages: bathroom breaks were quick, and the horror that was having unisex (open!) showers was somehow mitigated. I had a close encounter with a naked woman old enough to be my mother, and I’m sure it was a lot more uncomfortable for her than it was for me.

Somebody had to cook, somebody had to take the picture.

The one thing we kept hearing from all the other walkers (which were usually over 50, foreign, or both) that had already completed the walk previously was that this was the sort of thing you came back to. I can definitely see myself going back next year and trying a different route. The main problem is living up to this year’s pace, which was insane. It’s certainly a unique experience, and one that I’m glad to have shared with my friends.

The Way of St. James

// May 24th, 2009 // No Comments » // Rants and Musings

Until the cows came home.

Last month I celebrated my five-year anniversary of arriving in Spain, which would be cool if it hadn’t made me think how little of Spain I’ve experienced. The Way_of_St._James is something you keep hearing about from the locals, and it’s easy to see its appeal:

You get to do some exercise,
Yo’re off the grid for a week,
You stress-test your relationship with your walking partners,
You get to eat Galician home-cooked food (for the most part).

You also get the compostela, which is a cool diploma declaring you as a “Pilgrim”. We were told you only got it if you said you had walked for religious purposes, so that’s exactly what we said. I hope misrepresenting the nature of the trip doesn’t land me a spot in hell, should it exist.

Lost in contemplation, or unable to walk anymore?

Walking 200 Km. in 6 days carrying a 12 Kg. backpack isn’t as easy as we made it to be. It certainly didn’t sound like much after last year’s Caledonian Challenge. Then again, I should’ve remembered that you walk the Challenge without any weight on your back, that you get to rest for as long as you need after walking for 24 hours, and, most importantly, that after I finished the Challenge I had my left knee so worn down that the doctor forbade me from doing any exercise for 6 months. After your first 10 hour walking day, you wake up the next day to find aches in places you didn’t think could ache. You sort of rub your muscles into working order, and then go out and walk another 10 hours. And again, and again. It’s not as terrible as it sounds, though. After a couple days, you get used to the pain and, unless you hurt yourself in the process, you start having a good time walking. And then, just when you’re starting to really enjoy yourself, you arrive at Santiago and the walk ends.

I didn't bring any fancy clothes for the occasion.

The road itself is quite an experience. We didn’t plan our stops correctly and ended up walking over 30 Km. every day, and it still was incredibly fun, which speaks volumes about the trip itself. The food was uniformly excellent, and our walking group was great. We originally planned this as a six-person trip, but real life got in the way and it ended up being three of us. Being all guys had its advantages: bathroom breaks were quick, and the horror that was having unisex (open!) showers was somehow mitigated. I had a close encounter with a naked woman old enough to be my mother, and I’m sure it was a lot more uncomfortable for her than it was for me.

Somebody had to cook, somebody had to take the picture.

The one thing we kept hearing from all the other walkers (which were usually over 50, foreign, or both) that had already completed the walk previously was that this was the sort of thing you came back to.

The Way of St. James

// May 24th, 2009 // No Comments » // Rants and Musings

Until the cows came home.

Last month I celebrated my five-year anniversary of arriving in Spain, which would be cool if it hadn’t made me think how little of Spain I’ve experienced. The Way_of_St._James is something you keep hearing about from the locals, and it’s easy to see its appeal:

You get to do some exercise,
Yo’re off the grid for a week,
You stress-test your relationship with your walking partners,
You get to eat Galician home-cooked food (for the most part).

You also get the compostela, which is a cool diploma declaring you as a “Pilgrim”. We were told you only got it if you said you had walked for religious purposes, so that’s exactly what we said. I hope misrepresenting the nature of the trip doesn’t land me a spot in hell, should it exist.

Lost in contemplation, or unable to walk anymore?

Walking 200 Km. in 6 days carrying a 12 Kg. backpack isn’t as easy as we made it to be. It certainly didn’t sound like much after last year’s Caledonian Challenge. Then again, I should’ve remembered that you walk the Challenge without any weight on your back, that you get to rest for as long as you need after walking for 24 hours, and, most importantly, that after I finished the Challenge I had my left knee so worn down that the doctor forbade me from doing any exercise for 6 months. After your first 10 hour walking day, you wake up the next day to find aches in places you didn’t think could ache. You sort of rub your muscles into working order, and then go out and walk another 10 hours. And again, and again. It’s not as terrible as it sounds, though. After a couple days, you get used to the pain and, unless you hurt yourself in the process, you start having a good time walking. And then, just when you’re starting to really enjoy yourself, you arrive at Santiago and the walk ends.

I didn't bring any fancy clothes for the occasion.

The road itself is quite an experience. We didn’t plan our stops correctly and ended up walking over 30 Km. every day, and it still was incredibly fun, which speaks volumes about the trip itself. The food was uniformly excellent, and our walking group was great. We originally planned this as a six-person trip, but real life got in the way and it ended up being three of us. Being all guys had its advantages: bathroom breaks were quick, and the horror that was having unisex (open!) showers was somehow mitigated. I had a close encounter with a naked woman old enough to be my mother, and I’m sure it was a lot more uncomfortable for her than it was for me.

Somebody had to cook, somebody had to take the picture.

Doing the walk in May was a strange experience: it’s not holiday season in Spain yet, so almost everybody we met was over 50 or foreign, usually both. The ones that had already finished the walk before said that it’s something that we will do again, and I think they are right. I would like to do it again next year, but walking for two weeks instead of one. Doing it by bike instead of walking is a possibility too, but walking is a lot more personal. Starting from the French frontier is also a possibility, but I would need 5 weeks to do it from there, and getting people to sign up for a 5 week experience looks complicated.

My Writings. My Thoughts.

The Way of St. James

Nyle - Let The Beat Build

Nyle - Let The Beat Build

Nyle - Let The Beat Build

Nyle - Let The Beat Build

Nyle - Let The Beat Build

The Way of St. James

The Way of St. James

The Way of St. James

The Way of St. James

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