June, 2012: After 37 days walking Spain’s Camino de Santiago, every pilgrim knows what a mochila is. But maletas? I’d heard the word, and knew it had something to do with luggage, but I wasn’t clear on the exact definition. Until . . September, 2021: Dad and I were on our second Camino. Our bags…
Tag: camino
These Are A Few of My Favorite Things
“We’re moving to Spain,” Michael would tell people. But me? I couldn’t say those words. “We’re going to Spain for a year,” I’d say. “Maybe we’ll stay longer.” And honestly? Every time I heard Michael say, “We’re moving to Spain,” my heart raced a little. In an anxious, nervous moving-is-a-big-word kind of way. Besides, was…
A New Chapter
Just weeks into dating, Michael gave me a gift: a ceramic journey boat filled not with people or goods but with a scene. An old church sits upon a green hill, a river flows in front of it, a small stone bridge connects the churchyard to another tree-dotted hill. It was one of many precious…
Summer Plans Part 1 (or San Antón Part 2)
This summer marks the first year I will be able to travel for multiple weeks in Europe without having to: Quit my job. Find a job upon my return. Live off my savings. Why? Because I did a most stunning thing one year ago: I accepted a full-time teaching position. I’ve been on the planet long enough…
Best Moments of 2015
I did this last year, and had such a good time doing it, I thought I’d do it again. So voila: the best moment of 2015 (in no particular order). With apologies for everything I forgot. It was an eventful year! The moment I booked my flight to Nicaragua. (That was a Monday. I left three…
Lightening the Load
On my first Camino three years ago, my friend Rick and I would see people with small daypacks. These were the people who hired a service to bring their packs to their destination instead of carrying them themselves. “This walk would be a piece of cake if I wasn’t carrying a pack!” Rick would say. “Yeah, I…
A Day in the Life: On the Camino de Santiago
On Friday I’ll begin my third Camino. My friend Lois and I will walk ten miles per day for fifty or so days, reaching our goal of Santiago, Spain sometime in early November. Some people’s eyes grow wide when they hear we’re walking ten miles in a day. “Well, think about it,” I explain. “If…
Scenes from a Morning Walk
Every morning, sometime between 6:30 and 7, I depart whichever home is serving as my current residence: hiking shoes on feet, pedometer at my hip. If I’m going to walk 490 miles across Spain in September, it’s time to get practicing. This morning, I walked down to a fog-covered Schroon Lake with Michael and my father,…
An Update and a Thank You
“I thought maybe I got off your e-mail list somehow,” my former piano teacher told me today. “But then I went on your blog and saw you just haven’t written anything in a while. ” This is true. I’m not sure why I haven’t written. Not for lack of adventures–that’s for sure. So here’s a little taste of what…
The Things We Leave Behind (or Three Uses for Everything)
Last week, I watched Jeff and Chelsea decide what they would need on the next phase of their life journey–and knew that, like me, much of what they left behind would not be missed.
RenaissanceRebecca 