I snapped a picture of the Camino trail marker and laughed to myself, recalling a conversation I’d had back in 2020 with my youngest sister Meg.

“Would you ever do a winter Camino?” she asked me. She had just seen the video I’d made of my first Camino with my father and I knew where her question was going.

Meg has a seasonal business that’s closed from November to March.

“You thinking you want to do it?” I asked

“Maaaaaybe,” she said. “I mean, not in January. But maybe in November. After I close.”

“Sure,” I said. “I haven’t done a November Camino yet.”

And that was when the idea first came to me: to get to point where I could say I’d been on the Camino each month of the year.

• My first Camino covered me for May and June.
• My third Camino (with Lois) covered me for September and October
• My sixth (with my father) got me on the trail in July. 

A walk with Meg in November would get me halfway to my goal. . .

Fast-forward two-and-a-half years and, as tends to happen, the universe took my idea to another level. I can imagine some higher power hearing my thought and saying, “Ha! You wanna be on the Camino each month? How about every day?!”

Because that’s just what happened.

• Michael and I were on the Camino this morning when we were walking to the grocery store. And to the shoe store. And the coffee shop.
• Yesterday we were on the Camino while having our lunch.
• Last week, after Tai Chi class, some of my classmates and I went out for coffee in town. On the Camino.
• And every day, on my morning walk, I’m on the Camino at some point.

But is walking a few meters or a couple kilometers on a Camino route the same as actually walking it as pilgrim, over the course of a week or a month or more? Certainly not. But really? I’m not going to complain.