I was one mile into a hike the other day when it started to rain. I swung my pack onto a picnic bench and reached into the bottom for the rain cover, when I realized that I’d left the rain cover in my apartment. Draped over a drying rack from my rainy hike the day before.
This illustrates two things: it’s raining. A lot. And I’m forgetting stuff.
I’m normally not a forgetful person, so when I start to leave things behind, I know that I have too much going on in my head.
And I do. I have 10 days before I leave for Europe and I feel completely and totally unprepared. I know that’s not true: some things are taken care of, like my flight and my train ticket and where I’m going to stay for my first two nights. And I have most of my things. I still need to find a long sleeved shirt, and I need to get to REI to pick up another fleece that I ordered (yes, I second-guessed the white one. If I had loved it-regardless of the color- I think I would have kept it. But the fit wasn’t great). Otherwise, I think I have everything I need.
I told myself, months ago, that all I really needed was a way to get over to St Jean Pied de Port (my starting point for the Camino), and a good pack and good shoes and a few extras. After that, the rest would take care of itself.
But I also know that I like to be prepared. And the closer this Camino gets, the more nervous I feel.
And what’s with all this rain? The one thing I had been doing really well was training for this walk, but in the last few weeks? Other than a great 8-mile hike with a loaded pack and some good friends, I haven’t done much. My days are too busy for long hikes, and when I do have a little more time, I strap on my pack and as if on cue, the skies open up and dump water on me. I’ve done a few smaller hikes in the rain- to test out my jacket and the pack cover- because at some point in my 35 days of walking this summer, I’m sure I’ll have to walk in the rain. But yesterday, as I set off on a hike and began to get rained on for the third time this week, I gave up and turned around.
All of this being said, I can’t wait for this time next week. Work will be over for the school year, I will be leaving for France in three days, and inevitably, I will have more items checked off my to-do list. And I suspect that the little kernel of Camino excitement that is currently buried somewhere in me is going to be making more of an appearance.
And today? Today the skies are blue and the sun is shining strongly. In a few minutes I’m going to go outside, stretch my legs, and soak up some of this little-seen, late spring sun.
Wait til you get to Galicia and you have nothing but rainclouds following you for the entire last week! 🙂
You’ll be fine though, Nadine. I’m really excited for you and can’t wait to follow your journey. Oh, one last thing you may not have heard from anyone: finding wifi along the Camino in Spain isn’t so difficult, but finding it with good upload speed is close to impossible. If you’re thinking about taking a lot of super high-quality shots that take a long time to upload it’s going to be tough; if you have a smartphone camera you might consider sticking to that. Or else be prepared to spend literally 2 hours in a cafe somewhere waiting for your pictures to go online!
ULTREIA!
Thank you Nathan! My fingers are crossed for miraculously clear weather through Galicia… (one can hope, right?).
And thanks for the advice about the uploading time for photos. I’m definitely bringing a smartphone, and will take photos for the blog with that. I borrowed a small digital camera and those photos will mostly be for me… or for sharing here post-Camino. That’s my plan for now anyway…
One can hope, but plan for the worst 🙂
If there was one thing I wish I had been prepared for, it would have been the agonizingly slow upload times as 8 o’clock, 9 o’clock, and finally 10 o’clock crept by and everyone else had left the albergue 2 hours before me to hit the road. Not that it’s a race against anyone else; it’s a race against having the sun beat into the back of your neck. During the initial stages of the Camino in Spain, when it was mostly sunny and hot (mind you, I reached Spain the last week of September and we still had scorchers) I tried to walk 3 hours before noon and then take at least a 3 or 4 hour break to let the sun creep down a little bit. Everyone has their own method, and certainly their own pace, and you’ll begin to figure it out after a week or so.
Don’t stress! All you need to do is turn up and start walking; fast or slow , however you feel on any particular day. There’s nothing to worry about and nothing you’ll be able to change at this stage, no matter how many walks or rainclouds you encounter. It’s going to be great.
Thank you, and I know that this is true: there really is nothing I can change at this point. I think I’m as ready as I’ll ever be!
All I can say is that ALL of this is *perfect* training for your Camino. The Way is as much about walking as it is about managing stress and remembering stuff and dealing with the unexpected.
Sending you good vibes, peregrina. Just keep putting one foot in front of the other — and rest when you need to.
Thanks for the good vibes, Jennifer! I think it’s the dealing with the unexpected that I’m really going to have to work on during my Camino (and I’m sure I’ll get tons of practice). But ultimately it’s about exactly what you said: putting one foot in front of the other.
Those photos are beautiful, Nadine! It’s good you have stuff to stress about here, gives you less of a chance to stress about over there! You’re ready, and you’re going to have such a great time! I can’t wait to hear about it– I wish I could go, too! 🙂
I wish you could come too, Amy! (and yeah, all the walks in the rain will make me a bit less stressed when I hit rain over in Spain! But I’m still hoping for no rain at all…)
Just remember, if you put in the effort, the Camino will provide. So you’re ready. I got off the plane not having a clue but it all worked out. And as for rain, much like Nathan said, Galicia is all about rain. Our first day it started to rain and didn’t stop for 3 days. But after the first day, it was old hat. Good luck and look forward to reading about your journeys.
Buen Camino.
Thanks Jeffrey, these words are a good reminder to me that I’m more ready than I actually believe. And if it rains all summer? Then I get wet. And I think I’ll be able to handle that. 🙂