Porto, Portugal

We arrived late last night and basically collapsed in our luxurious hotel room. Folks if you're traveling to Europe, stay in an NH Collection Hotel. They are reliably nice and offer real service. We arrived last night at the hotel sweaty and dehydrated from an AC-less train ride that never seemed to end. NH had the AC blasting and bottles of water waiting on us as if they knew our condition in advance.

This morning we got up and walked the town - enjoyed pastel de natas, coffee and took in a few churches. I departed from the airport about an hour ago and I'm now waiting to fly home while Mark is continuing his journey awhile longer.

I'm not sure what more to say about this journey. It was an odyssey and the heroes of this story are still working their way back home. So much of what we experienced I will never be able to share because it was for meant for me. What I will share is that I am grateful I got to share this adventure with Mark. We were frequently each other's counter balance and there are few men in the world with whom I can have the depth of conversation and authenticity like I can with Mark. That was a gift unto itself and getting to hear another person process the same experience in real time was what we frequently both needed when there was a temptation to intellectualize things. Thank you Mark. You are as close as a brother.

I said this a few times in the trip, and I'll close this adventure home by saying again - 484 miles is the distance from Saint Jean Pied de Port to Santiago de Compestela, but for me that was the distance between my head and heart. May we will all step into life as full citizens of this world by living it through our hearts as much as our heads. This world was always meant to break your heart. You will never escape it. But if you choose to inhabit with authenticity the hurt of your heart instead of disconnecting and shutting off the hurt, you will find within you a reservoir of strength, beauty, resiliency & hope. Meister Eckhart said it best - within us is a place that has never been hurt by the world and God is inviting us to sit and linger in this place.

May we all have the courage to be full citizens of this world - to live fully in our heart and mind.

Thank you for following me on this adventure. I pray it inspires you to dare to dream and the will to listen and follow that dream.

It's been 42 days since I last saw Jan. I left her to deal with a hurricane in LA back on August 19 and I'm finally coming back home. Thank you Jan for supporting this crazy idea and giving me the courage and push to follow through. I never would've done this without your voice in my life.

Peace be with you all.

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