St.Jean Pied de Port is a picturesque French town, where people from all over come to begin the 800 kilometer journey across Spain, to Santiago. The ancient pilgrimage called El Camino De Santiago. I am here for that same reason. I am going on an adventure; a really long walk; a spiritual journey; perhaps a spiritual-adventure; i am having a long conversation with God; I am meeting many amazing people; living simply; loving the outdoors; challenging myself; getting away from the American grind; and most of all I am living MY LIFE! The one that was destined for me, the dreams that were written on my heart that I choose to follow, the life that the universe conspires to make happen... It is a new chapter to my tale, and it begins here.
Day Zero. Dinner with Deni. "The camino is a magical path, and the camino will always take care of you, no matter what you need, just trust the camino," says Deni, the 50 something French Canadian traveler with long wavy white sparkling, yet grungy, hair, who is on his 6th week of travel, and on the bunk below Shelley the nigh before our first day of walking. I am savoring each bite of my delicious French duck and local french wine, as Deni delves into some of his emotional stories from his past camino expeiences. They bring tears to my eyes, give me goosebumps, and they are just what I need to settle the doubt that rises in me as the much anticipated, hardest day of the trail, gets closer and closer! And, I have a feeling it is also what Shelley (my friend & travel buddy this trip), and John (the middle aged German, tired of the endless grind to his consumerist life, whom I met on the train to St.Jean) need to hear that night. Tomorrow we will walk 25.1 kilometers, with an accrued ascent of 1,390 meters, carrying everything we have on our backs! Buen Camino! May the Lord bless my way.
