My Camino Might Really Happen!
After 38 years of yearning, it starts to come together!
A Magnetic Pull on my Heart and Soul
It was 2012 and a decade had passed since I saw my very first issue of the AARP magazine featuring Shirley McLaine walking the Camino de Santiago on the cover. I was dismayed at seeing the actress who was writing about her rather preposterous metaphysical explorations accomplishing a trek that was a serious goal of mine. I rolled my eyes imagining what silliness she would create. A few years later, my two friends, one from South Dakota, the other one from Sweden posted themselves on the Camino on Facebook. They probably hadn’t even known about the Camino till recently, while it had been a deep, magnetic pull in my heart and soul since learning about it during my graduate studies Spanish Literature 38 years earlier. In 2010, “The Way,” with Martin Sheen was released. It intensified my yearning to walk the 500 miles myself.
I was back in Denver, enjoying being part of a lively wellness center with my practice in hypnotherapy and sound healing. I had always at least offered these on the side, along with my college teaching and work in youth mental health and violence prevention for the past 26 years.. The center founder, Katie, and her mother, Sandra, both vivacious women, lived in the top floor of the 3-story Victorian building where all us practitioners had lovely offices and offered workshops. The center was nestled on a side street in a lively area in the downtown historic district. They walked everywhere around the Denver metro area, no matter the weather
A Walking Partner
Sandi was 71 and I was 61, but she seemed like a potential walking partner for me to start tentatively training to maybe, possibly, soon walk the Camino. I told her about the new Camino movie, “The Way,” that had come out a couple of years before (2010) and she rented it. She knew nothing about its history or about Spain, but she was always up for a new challenge. “Katie and I watched it together and I think it would be fun, but Katie thought it was silly. When I told her I wanted to do it with you, she frowned and asked if I would be safe at my age. “I said, sure I am and I’m going.” I was thrilled. One baby step closer to Santiago.
We started meeting to walk around a lovely park for 2 miles or so. I would drive to meet her, walk, and almost die of exhaustion before I got back to my car, but she would have already walked 2 miles from the Nourished Health Wellness Center to get there and then would be walking another 2 miles back to get home.
Despite the great gap in our walking capacities, Sandi was up for doing the Camino with me. It felt like it was my first tiny step towards being on the Camino. My heart skipped a few beats with excitement. Of course, my doubts about whether I could make it very far once I started walking never left me. Afterall, I was always the kid in PE class left standing at the end of picking teams for baseball and other sports. “Now, who has to take Vicki?
Where were the Funds?
Yet, I still wanted to try, but at the same time, it was hard to get motivated to train very earnestly, because there was another more immediate question hanging over my planning-how I was going to come up with the money.
I learned that since they were so close to Spain already, many Europeans did the walk in segments during their vacations, but for Americans, it was much more costly. Of course, as everyone did, we needed to invest in top-notch hiking boots and poles, a sturdy backpack, guides, a flashlight, and other small pieces and find affordable lodging. But for the North and South Americans, Koreans, Australians, and New Zealanders, after buying our round-trip airline tickets, we knew we needed to complete the whole thing. We weren’t able to pop over to do a week at a time like European pilgrims, so we needed enough money to pay for food and lodging for 5-6 weeks and be able to be away from our jobs for that long.
I just didn’t have the funds for it. I racked my brain, scanning for forgotten pockets of money I had stashed away or wondering if I had an unknown great-uncle who would be dying soon and leaving me an unexpected inheritance.
Then, my dad had a health crisis, during the fall of 2012, and I felt the need to get back to Southern California to be there for my parents. I quickly closed up shop at the wellness center and moved in with my parents in Corona, a town south of LA, in the Inland Empire.
A Gathering of the American Pilgrims of the Camino
Dad recovered quickly, but I decided to stay for a while to offer support to my parents. My dream of walking the Camino came with me and I started looking online for connections and resources and learned of the American Pilgrims on the Camino, a national organization with over a thousand members and that there were regional chapters all across America. I also saw that they had a yearly national Gathering where past pilgrims and those who were hoping and planning to walk met to share stories, resources, tips, and the love of Spanish culture, creating an incredible community.
The next Gathering was coming up soon in Santa Barbara, with the intriguing theme of “The Hidden Life of the Camino” and Sandi made plans to join me.
I loved the description offered in the organization’s newsletter, “La Concha (the shell, the scallop shell being the symbol of the Camino).” Besides the usual sessions on how to pack light and how to take care of your body, especially blisters, and advice on the best gear to buy, the “Hidden” presentations would introduce us to the birds that we might hear but not even see along the way and even how to deal with our own inner demons and angels.
The Camino has become a recurring theme in my life, as it connects with so many other practices. Always helpful to remember that there are many Caminos, and while I now walk the Camino every year, that translates to a 7-day walk along part of the path, as the Caminos in France (there are 4 primary ones) are often done in segments. I could not easily take off 30 or 40 days to walk, and I am not sure I would really want to do that much all at once. While a profound learning opportunity, after many days, they begin to merge together (though that is a wonderful experience in itself!!).
Victoria, I only recently heard of The Camino from another Substacker who is doing it this Spring. I'll have to check out that movie. I did a 500-mile challenge over the Summer but I had awhile to do it and I could do it anywhere and in varying amounts. I hope you get to achieve your dream.