Next Big Adventure – The Camino de Santiago

Hello!

I know it has been some time since I wrote a post. I haven’t even had a Sunday Special uploaded. I apologize for that. I have been preoccupied with my next adventure, to be honest. I could have written about it before but, well, I didn’t (sheepish look). All that aside, onto adventure!

I will be embarking on a pilgrimage, walking for almost 800 km / 500 miles through the north of Spain on The Camino de Santiago de Campostella! It is a very long walk! I am hoping to average about 20 – 23 km / day in roughly a 51/2 week span. I will be carrying my own pack. To prepare for this sojourn I have been doing some resistance training and some walks (though not a much as I had hoped). In addition, I have learned a fair amount about gear and attire that would be most comfortable for my curvy, plus-size physique. In today’s world it has been easy enough to learn about what may be the best options for this trek ahead of me. It certainly has changed from when the pilgrims of old journeyed along the Camino!

So what exactly is the Camino de Santiago? It is an age-old Christiain pilgrimage across the north of Spain culminating at the cathedral in Santiago de Campostella in the province of Galicia. It has been walked for centuries by those wishing to seek God, though prior to Christianity it was an important Roman trade route. From what I gather, it wasn’t until the Crusades that it became known as a pilgrimage. It was claimed that the bones of St James were found along the route and the church was then built to house them. From there the pilgrims started walking. Its peak of popularity was during the Middle Ages and then began to decline. It wasn’t until the 1980s that it saw a resurgence. Today, over 300,000 people take to the Way of St James on its many routes and for as many reasons. And I intend to join the numbers.

Although I don’t consider myself religious, I am intrigued by this journey. Something about walking and meandering along this way piqued my interest. I first became aware of it in the summer of 2007 after watching a travel show. Instantly I knew I needed to walk it. I searched out information online and came across the books and info in the time ahead. It was around 2010/2011 that I decided I would go for a milestone birthday – September 2019. And here I am, on the precipice of the journey, ready to jump – or step, as it would be.

All photos taken and owned by Eeva Valiharju / Wanders the World