West Point Grey

No, not the funky Chevrolet half car, half pick-up truck from the '60s and '70s. The Camino de Santiago, the Way of St-James, the pilgrimage routes that end at the cathedral of Santiago de Campostela in Northern Spain.

Over the winter, Brenda and I met Karen, a woman from Calgary who was on sabbatical and had just recently walked the Portuguese Camino. Because of the pandemic, she said the route was quite deserted and she sometimes went days without seeing any other pilgrims. Brenda immediately began researching the Camino and the desire to tackle the 610 kilometre walk was soon deeply entrenched in her heart.

Preparation for the trip began while we were still in Thailand: the booking of our flights, buying new backpacks, ultra-light weight clothing, hiking shoes and various other gear. Once we got back to Vancouver, we packed our bags as they will be for the journey and began taking hikes around the city with our loaded packs on our backs. Our departure date, May 1, rapidly approached and we frequently tweaked the clothing we were bringing with us. Do we bring rain pants? How about a poncho instead of a rain jacket? Hmmm... maybe we don't need to bring a long-sleeve merino sweater. Which water bottles do we bring? Maybe our litle umbrellas?

And so it went until April 30 when Murphy's Law struck. I started feeling a little tickle in my throat on Friday the 29th. Just to be safe, I self-tested for Covid and got a negative result. Saturday I woke up and felt like a truck had run me down, backed up and hit me again for good measure. "Uh-oh", I thought. This isn't good. Another swab of the nose and, the day before we're ready to leave, I get a positive result. Brenda, fortunately, has tested negative at home and at a clinic so she's good to go.

For me, I'll self isolate for five days while the virus runs it's course. I'll fly out to join Brenda and our friends, Ernie and Anita, next Sunday, a week late. By the time I get to Portugal, they'll already be a couple hundred kilometres into the trip, so I'll only be walking about 400 kilometres.

Alas, sometimes our very best plans are waylaid by the universe and there's nothing we can do about it but roll with the punches and let the anticipation and excitement build. Which is exactly what I'm going to do for the next six days.Read more