Travel Day

I got up at 2 a.m. to do my elliptical workout so that I would be very sleepy for my transatlantic flight later today. I always used to do this on my camino travel day, but fell out of the habit. I recently realized that my only majorly bad travel days (like forgetting my passport, forgetting my green fleece, missing a connection) had been days that I hadn’t exercised. So I decided that since I needed all the good luck charms I could get, I had better reinstate the ritual.

Since I had such a great camino last year in beautiful mountain areas, I landed on another mountainous walk for this year. I’ll start in Palencia, a small city about 250 km northwest of Madrid. The destination is the monastery of Santo Toribio, a medieval pilgrimage site in its own right, home of the largest piece of the lignum crucis, or so I’ve been told. I am hoping to continue on to the coast after that, and then spend a few days walking backwards on the Norte. 3 weeks is about the maximum I feel comfortable with, given things at home, so those longer Caminos may be a thing of the past.

I packed my pack last night and am sure my camino friends will be glad to hear that I have finally moved on from the plastic bag method of packing. I got some stuff sacks and cotton laundry bags, thanks to some forum help. But one thing remains unchanged – my green fleece is heading out on its 26th camino.

I am aware of how very lucky I am to be starting out yet again. At my age, I know that I can’t take anything for granted. I hope, if something bad happens, that I will be able to accept it and deal with it. But for now, I am eager to get going.

All travel so far has been smooth. I made a 35 minute connection time in Chicago without having to even walk fast. I’m now in JFK, boarding the plane to Madrid. Not much to show in the way of pictures, but tomorrow —Palencia!Read more