Mind Over Matter

This morning Libby and I woke up with the intention of walking 20km and another 20km tomorrow. Little did we know, we would be at Santiago de Compostela's gate by the end of the day. 

We arrived to the city of O'Pedrouzo with the intention staying the night. An hour later, we decided we would walk at least another 2-5km in order to shave some mileage off for the next day. When we arrived to the city of Amenal, we had the intention of stopping for the day in their beautiful hotel. After realizing it was more than we wanted to spend on an albergue on the camino, we asked the gentleman working the bar and the hotel reception how far we were from the next albergue. He gave us two options. The first option was to go back 3km to the city of O'Pedrouzo or walk another 14km. Refusing to go back on our steps, Libby and I decided to trek along. We had work so hard to get to that point, we did not want to go back on our steps. 

On the way, the day got warmer, the hills got higher and our bags felt heavier. At many points, we had to fight battles between our body and our mind. I know carrying a bag that weighed over 15 kilos was no easy task but what got me through it was surrendering. 

I surrendered to the beauty around me and to the task at hand. I knew I was tired. I was aware that my feet hurt and my bag was heavy. But when I let go of all the issues I has created in my mind, the extra kilometres seemed effortless. 

We arrived 38km later to Monte de Gozo, 4 km away from Santiago de Compostela. I felt excited and accomplished to have arrived to our destination. Tomorrow, we will get to sleep in and roam into our final destination. The lesson I learned today is one that I can use in many situations in my life. Although the challenges and obstacles made add up in the mind which controls how the body feels, I can choose to surrender to the task at hand. You will gain so much more if you just let go of everything you see as a problem. Those issues are fears you have constructed in your mind. Let them go, and the reward is exponentially better than you can imagine. It's a question of mind over matter. And the main idea is to surrender to the task. 

El horario diario de un peregrino (The daily schedule of a pilgrim)

For the past week, Libby and I have followed a schedule most pilgrims headed to Santiago de Compostela follow. While there may be many that deviate from this schedule, most pilgrims follow the same regiment. Here is a brief daily summary:

5:15- Wake up and get mochilas (bags) ready

5:45- Make our way out of the albergue (hostel) and eat a power bar

9:00- Stop for a café con leche (coffee with milk)/ tea and snack. Get our peregrinos passport stamped for proof in Santiago de Compostela. 

9:20- Keep walking/take pictures/ gaze at the world's beauty/ talk about anything and everything among peregrinos

12:00- Arrive at destination. Take pictures!!

12:30- Sign in at albergue, get bunk assigned. Unpack everything ! 

1:00- Shower time/ Lunch

2:00-4:00- Siesta !

4:00-6:00- Tour city and talk to more peregrinos 

7:30- Dinner (Early bird special please) 

9:30- Bed time!!! 

Wake up and do it all again. 

Now it sounds redundant, but it's truly an amazing experience. Experiences like this one only lasts a few weeks and you gain so much from it. Although it may sound tiering and boring, it's truly rewarding. Every day, I wake up with enthusiasm and excitement for the challenges and beauty ahead. Every night, I go to bed with such respect for myself and other peregrinos who have gone through the same trials and challenges the mind, the body and the heart must conquer on a daily basis. You can buy or fake it. You must live it, day in and day out until you arrive to your final destination. I think the best part of it all is the multiple times you hear "Buen Camino" from locals and other peregrinos. 

Peregrinos dinner

It comes with a first, a second, a dessert and some wine. Yes, it's the peregrinos dinner served every night. For about 8-10 euros, you can have a meal that will fuel your body and re-energize you for the next day! The best part about this meal, is that it's shared among other pilgrims on the camino.

During the day, you pass and get passed by dozens of people. Some will zoom by you while others will take the time to talk to you and wish you a buen camino. Either way, most of the time, you end up in the same albergues (hostels) around mid-afternoon. From there, many will talk about the journey that day and set plans for dinners. You never eat alone on the camino.

Libby and I have had the pleasure of eating with people from all over the world.  From Montenegro to Australia, Italy to Mexico, the people you meet and eat with along the way, make this journey that much more amazing. You exchange stories and backgrounds, have a few laughs and find common ground. You come to realize how, although you may come from different places around the world, our needs are common. We all need food, shelter, safety and a sense of belonging. The camaraderie around these meals is special because while you share so much in such a little amount a time, you have lasting memories each time.

Peregrinos dinner might be one of my favourite part of the camino. And it's not just for the food and wine (hahaha) but for the good conversations with genuinely authentic people.

Acclimatize

There are so many lessons I have learned so far on this journey. I think the biggest lesson I have learned so far that I can use as a parallel in my life is learning to acclimatize. Let me explain. 

In every step of the camino, you have to take the time to let your body adapt to the journey. Before arriving, I was sure we were in the best shape to complete the camino. But I have come to realize, is that it doesn't matter how in shape you may be, what matters is how much your willing to put into the camino. Listening to your body is key. In order to listen to your body, your mind must be willing to go at the pace that is right for you. You have to let your mind an body adjust to te gradual change you will be going through. 

On our first day, we met a 75 year old French man named Joseph. He walked with us from Leon to San Miguel. I remember feeling a little disappointed when I saw people who were twice my age fly right past me. He told us that on this journey, you have to let your body acclamitize to what you are doing. You can't decide on the first day that you will walk 40-50 kilometres a day and feel great. You have to let your body get to one destination, relax and refuel, and increase with each day. You will realize that the more you listen to what your body needs, the further you can push it. On day one, we walked 26. On day two, we walked 30 and today, we walked 40. We are increasing our mileage even though the course is getting difficult because we allowed out body to adapt to each stop.

In life, we always try to rush to our desired destination. We rarely embrace the journey and the stops we make along the way. I know this camino is teaching me that in order for me to get to where I want to go, I must embrace every stop I make along the way. If you learn to love where you are at that moment, you make more meaningful connections, create a greater pain tolerance, a fonder heart, a sharper mind, a greater intuition and a profound respect for others and above all yourself.

We must learn to acclamitize in every part of the journey. I think that we will be a better, stronger and more resilient person once you arrive to your desired destination if we learn to do so. 

I hope you enjoyed this lesson as much as I did. With all those kilometres, I have so much time to think and process how far I've come and how far I am capable of going in life. I wish this kind of awakening for all because just thinking about how much I have grown gives me chills and brings tears to my eyes. This journey is a true blessing in disguise. 

Forget The Formalities

Our first day on the camino was a hot one. Apparently, it was the hottest day on the camino for many pilgrims who had started their journey on previous days or weeks. We were initiated at 5 am when most people woke up, packed up and headed towards the road by following the scallop sea shells and yellow arrows on the road. 

Our first two hours on the road were spent mostly between Libby and I. We did meet one man who guided us in the right direction when we were about to take a wrong turn. He told us he had completed the camino 51 times before this trip. Sometimes, he would start even further back than the Pyrenees. The camino starts wherever you may want it to start. Everyone goes as their on pace. You meet some for only a few minutes, others you walk with for a few hours. Either way, formalities are the least of people's worries. Everyone is living the same heat, craving the same assurance they are not walking alone and want the same daily outcome, to arrive to their next destination for the day. 

I really enjoyed my  first day on the camino. People are so kind and come all different backgrounds and age groups. The age group varied from a 3 years child travelling on the back of his mother to a 74 year old man who has walked most of Europe since he retired. Everyone is in high spirits and have so much resilience for embarking on such a journey. I know I look forward to starting my walk on day 2 at 5am. This time, my friends and I will be beating the heat with a early start. I am sure we will meet more good people along the way and great landscape to embrace. Every day, each person is writing a few new lines to their story. What links one story to another, are the connections with people we meet along the way and the nature that surrounds us. I think that is my favourite part so far on this camino.

Aurevoir Paris, Buenas Dias Léon!

At 630 am, Libby and I grabbed the Paris metro to Charles de Gaulle airport. Little did we know, our day would be off to an interesting start. We ended arriving to the end of the line and had to find our way to the bus shuttle. Luckily, a older man took is under his wing and guided us to our destination. We waited 20 minutes to find out that there would be a delay in our shuttle. Press with time, we headed to the taxi line, which luckily for us, wasn't on strike since the morning. So, we split a cab with our new and soon to be wed British friend abs headed to the airport.

Once we arrived at the airport, we enjoyed our last croissants and pain au chocolat from the bakery next to my friend's Solene's apartment. Our flight took off as we dosed off, and the next thing we knew, we were on Madrid. 

We had to figure out how we were going to get to our camino starting point, Leon. We decided we would take the bus and see the Spanish countryside. Four hours later, we arrived to Leon. Eager to get to our first albergue (hostel), we went to the bus terminals information desk. Unfortunately the man peeking at the desk spoke no English, and my Spanish could not follow his beat. But he graciously pointed us in the right direction and threw in a few English words he knew. 

So, we embarked on our journey towards the city square where a group of ladies, then a couple, a man on a motto and an older lady pointed us in the right direction. 

We had finally arrived at our first destination. We picked up our pilgrim passport, got them officially stamped and headed to the dorms for a quick dinner and bed. Tomorrow, the real journey begins! 

Conviction

I think we all have a certain conviction or 

convictions that drive us in our lives. Whether it is directed to our careers, relationships or goals, conviction gives us the fuel to our fire. I think it's important to seek what that is because when you find what you are convicted to, you tend to live a fulfilling life with passion and purpose.

I believe mine is what drives me to travel, talk to people and live in whatever moment I am in. I want so much out of my life and this world because I see the potential and beauty this world and the people in it possess. With that said, my conviction is to seek the deepest understanding of human connections. Not just through superficial conversations but through interactions that expand our mind and set a light on something we didn't know about the world, the other person or even ourselves. 

So far in my life, I have had the opportunity to expand my global network of friends and connections. And this is not simply as a superficial conquest of having many friends in different places. It's much deeper than that. It's having conversations in different contexts and settings but realizing that although we may come from different cultures, backgrounds and past, we are fundamentally alike. We share the same needs as basic human beings. By understanding that we are so much more alike makes me believe that this world does have potential for greater unity and understanding of one another. 

In a nutshell, my conviction is to people and becoming more self-aware of my needs and the needs of others by interacting on a deeper level. I believe that once we start doing so, we will start looking at the world and the people in it differently. Conviction leads to purpose. Purpose leads to passion and passion to love. And if you love what you do, your conviction will never seem like burden, but a blessing.