Stamps of all the albergues in this city…and a really cool building.
Gnarly lookin’ battle wound that somehow seeped through my tights
These past few days have taken a wonderful turn. I feel really, really good. My mind feels peaceful and my heart content.
Quick little backstory- about six days ago, I went through this whole “I’m sick of always being doped up on antidepressants and I don’t need man-made chemicals to make me happy” thing, so I decided I would quick taking them. Long story short, it was an awful idea. After four days of seriously doubting the value of my existence and hating everything in the world, I decided to give the ole happy pills a go again. Luckily, I am back to feeling great. Modern medicine is pretty neat, folks.
So anyway, I’ll rewind to two days ago. I spent the majority of the day walking alone alongside foggy sombre mountains and rainbows peeking out of grey clouds, feeling like the luckiest person in the world. It was sunny out but it was raining, and the trail was full of beautiful bright flowers and rolling hills and peaceful little streams. I walked with an old New Zealander named Jeff for about an hour that morning, and he told me stories about his days of hitch-hiking and adventure. I met a young Hispanic man with an Irish accent named Allen, who just recently sold everything he owned and decided to come hike the Camino alone. He doesn’t even know which country he’s
going to be living in after this; he is completely and totally free. We all are out here. There’s the funny old Asian couple who speak not a word of English but just laugh at every little thing and are always so genuinely happy no matter the weather or number of miles under their feet. I am beginning to see the same familiar faces at the albergues each night, and it is really quite comforting. They hug you and smile and offer food and company. It’s like its own little world out here. There’s such a high level of comraderey and respect for one another. I’m really going to miss this when I leave.
I find myself genuinely missing my fellow classmates during the days and getting really ansty to meet up at the albergues at night. They are honestly just such a joy to be around. Izzy, Paul, Nate, Tracie, Michelle and I spent that afternoon hanging out in the ridiculously nice albergue with heated floors and beautiful spiraling staircases, laughing and telling stories and not taking a second of the rare luxuries for granted. We ate dinner together, and then Paul and I went out for ice cream afterwards. Walking the lively streets of Logroño with Paul, who had an ice cream cone in each hand and was making me laugh so hard that I was doubled over and couldn’t walk was a perfect way to end the night. These people are so funny and make me so, so happy. Funny how close you become with people when out on the road.
There are moments when I’m out walking and I get this sudden, overwhelming feeling of complete and utter bliss and gratefulness. When else in my life am I going to be confined to nothing but what’s in my backpack and get to simply be outside all day and explore the world? I will never be more free than I am right now. I don’t even care how sore my legs are or how bad my feet hurt; I am literally living my dream every single day. What a wondeful way to spend these fleeting days. It’s really freaking cool, to say the least.
I think the trick to this whole walk is just being able to appreciate the small things that happen every day. On the surface, this whole thing seems pretty bleak. It is so much more than walking though. This requires so much patience and tolerance. I have honestly never felt so present.
Tomorrow is only going to be roughly 6.5km (essentially a rest day, just have to get to an actual town) because I fell really hard yesterday and busted my knee up pretty bad. It’s swollen to twice its size right now and has continued to bleed all day, which is kind of a bummer but I mean what can ya do. Shit happens.
Its raining outside, this room is really cozy and this is the first night I will be falling asleep to zero snoring. Life is pretty good right now.
Buen camino, peregrinos.