• Blog
  • About
  • Camino Frances
    • Why the Camino?
    • Camino Packing List
  • Other Camino Routes
  • Books
  • Contact Me

Nadine Walks

stories of trekking and travel

Pre-Camino Visions.

April 22, 2014

I have this sort of ominous feeling that I’m in my last few weeks of quiet and calm. Everything is still fairly relaxed: I’m going to work and seeing friends and family, going on hikes and occasionally picking up something to bring along on my Camino. There is still so much left to be done, but I don’t feel as if there is any hurry- surely, I must still have plenty of time?

And I do, kind of. I have about 2 months until I leave, and that sounds like a lot. Panic hasn’t set in, but it’s like I can sense it, waiting just around the corner. I’m afraid it’s going to suddenly hit and I’ll feel like I won’t have enough time: not enough time to train with my pack (which I still have to buy) or time to research all of my travel plans or time to work out what I want to accomplish on this long walk.

But that panic isn’t here, not yet. I’m still settled into this pre-Camino time, going on hikes when I can, and dreaming idly about my summer plans. It’s still a nice phase to be in.

Yesterday I went on a hike, at a nearby park. I’d been walking for over 2 hours, approaching mile 7, when I saw a deer. I’d been walking on a small stretch of pavement before going back into the woods on a trail, and the deer was positioned perfectly: far off in the distance between two lines of trees, standing in a still silhouette.

“Don’t move, don’t move,” I whispered, as I swung my backpack around to reach in for my iPhone, so I could snap a photo. The deer was far away, but because it was standing so still, I thought that it must have sensed me. I zoomed in with my phone and took a picture, but it was blurry and I could barely make out the deer.

So I inched closer, taking steps through the tall grass crunching under my feet. The deer was standing so perfectly still, and with each few steps I would take another photo. Two steps, photo. Two steps, photo.

I couldn’t believe my luck. That deer wasn’t moving!

I was still far away but finally, I realized that something was wrong. The deer hadn’t moved in a few minutes- not an inch. I blinked, and then shifted my position. Was that actually a deer? Or… a tree trunk?

I waded off-trail through knee-high grass to take over a dozen photos of a tree trunk that I thought was a deer.

So, these are my days, lately. Long spring hikes with my camera, dreaming about the things that I’ll see this summer.

I still think it looks like a deer…

"Deer", Ridley Park

Leave a Comment / Filed In: Camino de Santiago
Tagged: Camino de Santiago, deer, dreaming, hiking, photography, preparation, summer, traveling, walking, way of st james

Welcome! I’m Nadine: a traveler, a pilgrim, a walker, a writer, a coffee drinker. This is where I share my stories, my thoughts and my walks. I hope you enjoy the site!
Support Nadine Walks on Patreon!

Looking for Something?

Struggling with the Post-Camino blues? Check out my free e-book!

Top Posts & Pages

  • Camino Packing List
  • Home
  • About
  • What to Wear on the Camino de Santiago: A Packing List Explained
  • The Loch that Never Ends; Day Two on the West Highland Way; Balmaha to Inverarnan, 32km

Archives

Prairie, Theodore Roosevelt National Park, ND
Walking along the coast on the Camino del Norte

Coffee on balcony of Airbnb, Paris, 12th arrondissement
Nadine writing in journal in Arrés on the Camino Aragones, sunset in background

Curving path of Hadrian's Wall, Day 13 on the Pennine Way
Nadine in Finisterre, Camino de Santiago

Inspiration

 

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”

-Lao Tzu

 

 

“… For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.”

-Wendell Berry, The Peace of Wild Things

Camino Packing List

Nadine and backpack on beach, Camino del Norte

Theme by 17th Avenue · Powered by WordPress & Genesis