I’m blissfully alone in the world. Legs crossed, back to the lighthouse, shrouded in fog, mesmerized by Tofino-worthy waves crashing up and over the rocks. I suppose Sarah’s somewhere on some rock doing the same thing, but for this hour or hours it’s just me and the rest of my life and the end of…

39 days ago I wrote about starting a camino family, not really believing that the random group of pilgrims who just happened to start the same day and walk about the same pace could be any more special than the ones from the day before or the day after. But in these final 5 days…

Shortcuts are the fast route to missing life. By definition they cut something short in the name of efficiency. That’s why I’m notorious in our family for “beauty cuts.” When I announce, “I think this will be a better route – trust me!” the family groans (which I generously interpret as endorsement) and knows their…

Before the invention of ATM’s, trekking the long isolated Camino with everything you needed to survive was a dangerous game, and the Knights Templar were created to provide protection.  At sunrise we’ve reached Ponferrada, home to the Game-of-Thrones-worthy Castle of the Knights Templar – a church-created army designed in 1119 to safeguard pilgrims to Jerusalem…

At the start of the Camino, Sarah told me to pick up a rock that I would later lay down at the famous Cruz de Ferro. Choosing (as always) to walk in ignorance, this is the first of only three things I knew to look forward to on the entire 800 km pilgrimage (the others…

One of our favourite couples on the Camino isn’t a couple at all. Zois & Gemma met nine years ago and found they had similar walking paces and life outlooks. They enjoyed walking the rest of that journey so much that they agreed to meet up on another camino in the future. And unlike most…

Pack – walk – eat – walk – eat – walk – nap – eat – sleep.  Repeat (times 38). The Camino is that simple. No wondering what we should do tomorrow. Each day will unfold with its own wonders and blunders. Landscapes softly transition from field to forest, hill to plain, green to brown…

At the end of a long day of 27 km and 39,000 steps, we stumble into Casa Susi in Trabadelo. As the owner glides down the stairs, I preemptively answer the question they always ask, which is, “Do you have a reservation?” As I rush into this un-greeting, he doesn’t even answer, he just smiles…

Foggy pre-dawn starts up a final hill and officially onto the Mesita – the flat table-top plains that some find boring and is supposed to challenge us mentally for the next ten days or so. A time to ponder big questions, and for these first few days it seems that the How and Why of…

This 2-day walk from Belorado to Burgos is one of great contrasts – in landscape, emotions, history, geography. We leave yesterday’s windy open hillsides and plunge uphill into beautiful forest land.  So many branches and trees down, thankfully no-one was hurt in yesterday’s gale force winds.  In hindsight, we maybe should have taken a safety/rest…