Slowing Down (6/30/2016)

The last few days have been AWESOME! We took several rest days to get blister free, we slowed our pace, and life is good!

At a little chapel we went off the trail to visit.

I wouldn’t trade those early, hard days on the Camino because we learned a lot, we saw a lot, we met a lot of interesting folks, and we were forced to go off of plan. (Now, Rachel would probably happily trade those days—they were REALLY hard on her.)

But, we are now in the sweet spot. We can see the end is nearing. AND, we’ve been forced to slow down and soak it in instead of racing to the end.

Since we left Sarria (the starting point for a lot of people on the Camino), we’ve overheard a lot of conversations about how many kilometers people are doing each day in order to make it to Santiago by their deadline. Many are walking 18-20+ miles in a day to keep the pace they need. And, we mentally cheer them on and shake our heads. If there’s one thing we’ve learned on our journey, it’s that everyone is on the OWN journey. You do you…

But I am thankful that we’ve had the bumps along the road that have slowed us down. I know it is in my nature to want to race ahead, especially when the finish line is close. However, over the last 4 days, we have had so much more joy in the journey because we have slowed down.

If we were following our guidebook (see Eric’s post today about our guidebook), we would have traveled from Sarria to Santiago in five stages. We would walk as much as 16 miles in a day. Now, we could do that. But we’ve realized that going at that pace leaves us little time for enjoyment. We would get up and be walking by around 6:30, and we would walk until mid-afternoon, probably stopping 3-4 times along the way for meals, snacks, drinks, and recharging our legs. But, by the time we would get into the village, wash out our clothes, and clean up, we would be too stiff and tired to enjoy much. We would barely make it past dinner time. Into bed by around 9, and back up to do it all again the next day.

Time to enjoy the flowers along the way.

The joy of slowing down has been an overall calm to the day. We can start later; we can walk slower. We get into town between noon and 1, giving us time for a lovely, late lunch. And we can sit outside and visit with some of the people around us. Dinner isn’t rushed because we aren’t exhausted. And we aren’t in a hurry to get to bed.

And the biggest blessing of all—we aren’t tearing our feet up. No blisters; no burning feet walking the last 3-5 miles; no cramps and serious stiffness when we get up from a chair and start walking.

So, we are now 3 walking days from Santiago, which we will pass through on our way to Finisterre. We will rest for a few days in Finisterre (and see the end of the known world during the Middle Ages) and then journey back for our final leg in Santiago. We understand that the HUGE thurible always swings at the Pilgrims Mass on Friday, so our goal is to be there on Friday, July 8.

We are indeed blessed!

Buen Camino, Y'all!