On Saturday we will be resuming our 4,000 km pilgrimage from Budapest to Santiago de Compostela. Last year we travelled the more than 2000 kms from Budapest to Arles, France. Gord made the entire way on foot and I walked and rode with my folding bike “Grandma Friday”.
I often find myself feeling that I am not really making the journey legitimately because I have a bike. It’s certainly easier than walking every step. I have time to sit and read and draw when Gord is still hammering out the kilometres. I have decided that I must stop this game of minimizing what I am doing. I can add up all the kilometres that I walked while pushing my bike, and over the course of six months it adds up to more than the distance of many walking Camino routes. I can reassure myself that a 4,000 kilometre bike trip is not insignificant, especially when you throw in passes over the Alps and the Pyrenees. All of these arguments, however, miss the point of why I am on this journey.
I am learning how to spend time with myself.
I’m trying to live each day with the reverence it deserves.
I’m travelling across a continent with my eyes and heart open wide, hoping to connect with the people that I meet along the way.
I ‘m sharing a connection with everyone who is making this journey, has made this journey or will make this journey some day in the future.
I am a pilgrim and Life is Henro (the Japanese word for pilgrimage).
Or maybe I do it so that, like my friend Doris, we can have cake for breakfast.
Bon Voyage!
Great seeing you both earlier this month.
I look forward to all your writing & paintings!
It was good to see you also Mark.
So excited to follow along your journey. We can all fall victims of the game of minimizing things and your reminder is truly appreciated. You have motivated me to start planning my very first bike trip on my own Bike Friday (although much shorter and local to Oregon.)
Oregon is so Beautiful! Should be a great trip.
Even according to official rules Camino on the bike is valid if you biked 400 km. ???? But our inner critic can at times be more strict than all saints and archbishops and popes together.
Maybe that is your Camino challenge: to drag along the inner critic which might be more difficult than the walk itself ????.
Anyway – in my eyes you are both beautiful people and I wish I could hug you now, because I miss you.
Buen Camino, my Friends! ????????????????
Exactly!!!
All the question marks in my comment were smiling faces and hearts – somehow they were changed into question marks. Sorry!
Haha. Love it.
Buen camino mis amigos⭐️????????
Bon voyage mes amie & ami????????
Enjoy every minute ❣️
Haha of course we do it for the cake for breakfast! 😉
Safe travels over the pond, I can’t wait to see you both again. Buen camino 🙂
Thanks Doris. See you soon.
I look forward to reading your thoughtful prose. Safe travels!