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Saturday, 25 May 2019 I embarked on my journey to Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, France today. I had a hard time sleeping last night in anticipation of the first day of the Camino de Santiago , which wasn't even today. I had packed two bags, one for the Camino and another for everything else I would need afterwards to travel around Europe for a few months (including camera gear). The sun was just barely starting to rise when I walked to the train station with my Camino backpack on and my duffel slung across my body; that was quite a weight. The Bayonne station was a small depot with only a couple of platforms. I sat down on one of the open benches across from some men that were of retirement age and a couple of younger guys who all appeared to be Camino pilgrims ( peregrinos ). Some pigeons were walking about in the open area between all of us and the old men were speaking in French and chuckling while playing around with the pigeons; it made me smile.  A train had arrived, but I di...

I've been trying to reflect on the last year and decade, but kept getting stuck with my words. Perhaps it's because I have done little to dwell on one of the most major journeys I completed last year: the Camino de Santiago. I don’t want to bore you with just another Camino story. The same one you’ve heard over and over. Whether you know about the Camino de Santiago or not I’m just going to tell it like it is and start from the end. It’s something that changes you. You finish it after several weeks of walking on the trail and the weeks seem like just a few days. It’s hard to comprehend how long you’ve been on the trail in the end. It had become a lifestyle. You got up, packed your bag, ate a quick bite, carried on the road, had coffee and food along the way, looked for an albergue (hostel for pilgrims) to stay for the night, showered and washed any clothes, ate dinner, journal-ed, slept and repeated. Everyday started and ended this way and so life was very simple. You didn’t h...