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.