Hola First name / pilgrim 👋

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Just back from a wonderful 4 days on the Camino de Madrid with my very good frind Kate - It was fabulous 😊

 

It was her first experience on a Camino and wasn't the easiest of routes, but she did brilliantly and got a taste for what the Camino is and how it all works.

 

She said she'll be back 🤩

 

My fourth Camino is on my website now too.

The Camino Inglés from Ferrol to Santiago.

 

It was a great example of taking it steady as I did the 125km in 7 days and was also a very solitary one as I chose to pre-book mostly hotels for this one. That's a decision I would find strange now, but it was what I needed to do then.

 

It has been quite a process looking back at that Camino as it was shortly after my first miscarriage.

 

I thought I had started to process that loss on that Camino, but reading my diary and looking at my videos I see how I wasn't able to do that then.

 

It was an example of a Camino that I did just because I had committed to do one a year on my own and I am glad I honoured that, as it gave me some time out and, more importantly, got me to the next one!

 

Other things I did on that Camino which might not be considered to be in the “spirit” of a pilgrimage were doing work, distracting from being present with books and watching TV (I even binge-watched the Twilight Trilogy!)

 

It reinforces for me that it's so important to do it Your Way.

 

Maybe that one wouldn't count as a “real” Camino, but I did the best I could with what I had at that time!

This is a hysterical video from day 4 on the Camino Inglés where I was LOVING the rain!!!

One of my best buys for that Camino was my poncho.

 

It's a brand called FERRINO and is a PONCHO TREKKER RIPSTOP.

It continues to serve me well in bad weather, though I have others if it's just a bit showery that weigh less. This is just under 600g but it keeps me bone dry and I can ventilate it too with the opeining at the front and put it over my hands and top of my poles with the long sleeves. It holds up well in the wind too as it is more fitted to my body.

Here is a link to the UK site - definitely worth a look

Next week I will be writing my Chapter about the Camino Primitivo which I did in 2020. It's a big one about ambiguous loss and grief and it was in Covid! 

 

I'll fill you in more next week.

 

Do feel free to ask me anything that might be helpful about that Camino if you have any questions