Today is day 20 on the Camino. Yesterday I did almost 50 kilometers, I went from Astorga to Acebo. Astorga was such a beautiful city, I loved walking around in it.
I'm finding when I walk by myself, once I get to the hostel, there's really not much to do. I guess I could sit and contemplate, but more and more I keep thinking "ahhh I just like constantly moving. I like moving my body, I like getting somewhere, I have energy, I might as well go farther." My body feels fine! My feet want to go!
The plan was to go to Villafranco today. I am still about 10 kilometers out so we'll see how I'm feeling once I get there, but I think I might go farther. There is sunlight until six, so I figure if I get to a place by 5 I should be okay.
When I talk to people about how fast I'm going they think I'm crazy or that I'm going too fast. For example, I met a man from Las Vegas who started calling me an Olympian because he couldn't believe how fast I was going. I also met two men who I ate dinner with last night, one from Italy and one from France, they were very nice, very good company, and they both were amazed at how far and how fast I have gone. You know, I'm not going 50 kilometers to impress people or to amaze people, and honestly it's not even hard for me, I just really enjoy walking. I would rather be walking then sitting around at a hostel. I feel better and I think more clearly when I am on my feet. Getting to a hostel by 3 or 4 or 5 in the evening still gives me time to take a shower and wind down and go to bed early and get ready for the next day. There really is no need to get to a hostel really early in the afternoon, at least not for me. I've had some people tell me that I'm taking it too fast and asking if I'm even able to see the scenery around me, and my answer is always yes! Of course I am seeing what's around me! I walk fast, but that doesn't mean I'm not seeing what's around me. I see the sky, the colors of the trees. Right now I'm walking by all of these grape vies that are different, beautiful colors, and there are birds flying around, the sky is loaded with clouds and they are a bunch of different coloros of gray and blue. It's really beautiful! I am experiencing all of it and seeing all of it, even if I am walking faster than other people. I kind of feel like I'm being judged because of how fast I'm going, but unfairly because I am still experiencing the Camino for myself, it's just at my own pace, which happens to be a little fast.
A lot of people have said "the Camino doesn't change, the Camino changes you." I'm sure I've been changed and I'll continue to change until the end, but I'm not really sure how I'm changing, and that's something I need to contemplate the next couple days. I think I'm learning to be at peace with and happy with myself.
Oh! I ran into this group of people yesterday when I got to Acebo. I was sitting in the bar and they came in to get a drink, and they were on their way to Mansilla. One of the guys, when I told him I had walked from Astorga, was just amazed, he couldn't believe it. He told me my eyes must have turned blue on the way. His name is Manuel, and I came across him and his group again today, and I thought about walking with them the rest of the way, and did walk with them a little today, but then they were just going so slow! I moved passed them, but they were a fun group. He took a lot of pictures of me. Hopefully he looks back on them fondly. Manuel, Anna, Franny, and a guy from Germany whose name I can't remember but he spoke very good Spanish.
There's an update for now. More to come.
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