As I have mentioned a couple of different times, I have felt very safe while walking the Camino. The only exception was when I had to go through a crowd of intoxicated people who had partied all night — and I really didn’t fear for my personal safety, but thought they might harass me a bit. Besides that, I have felt safe in all situations — walking in complete darkness, walking in cities, and even walking in very remote areas.
But last night, I’ll admit I was very fearful. Let me see if I can give you the progression of how it came on me. I was assigned a room at the hostel with 14 total beds, so that meant I had 13 roommates. I happened to get upgraded to a private room. (I’ll explain that momentarily.)
During the night, in my new private room, I woke up and felt this ominous feeling in the room. At the moment I couldn’t describe it, but it was something that caused me to be afraid. About that time, I heard footsteps. This hostel has creaky wooden floors and so you hear when anyone walks. These footsteps were obviously walking towards my room — this, of course, being in the middle of the night.
But then my sense of concern was justified, because whoever was walking towards my door stopped and, after a few seconds, unlocked my door from the outside. I heard the door swing open. And again, even though I’m not a fearful person, I did have a real sense of fear! Though I could just barely see their profile, that person walked through the doorway and into the room.
I was trying to figure out what to do. It was one of those situations where I wanted to yell at them, but fear seemed to prevent me from even saying anything. Finally, I summoned all of my strength and courage, and let out a yell. And it was a loud yell! But when that yell came out, it was a strange sound. I know this sounds really weird, but it sounded like the very beginning part of a siren. Yeah, I know it sounds really strange! But that’s the loud sound that came out of my mouth.
What happened after that is embarrassing. That loud yell that I made woke me up! It had all been a dream! I woke up to being back in a room with 14 beds and 13 roommates. 😝 I was so glad it was dark in there! After the initial embarrassment, there in the middle of the night, I got to laughing so hard I was almost shaking! But I tried to not bring further attention to this doofus who yelled in his sleep like a siren!
Whereas yesterday I could hardly wait to get out of my room because of the bathroom noises and the snoring, this morning I could hardly wait to get out of my room early because I didn’t want to show my face! I seriously think the Camino is taking its toll on my sanity!
Well, today was the day that I met a lot of my new family on the Camino: those who began their journey at Sarria hit the trail for the first time. I was actually kind of entertained by them — they were so easy to spot. All you had to do was look at their shoes!
For those of us who have been walking 425+ miles, our shoes are dusty and muddy, and we’ve even walked where cows have walked on the road, so our shoes have some extra substances on them. Our shoes are not clean or pretty! I will include a pic of my poor shoes. But these recent additions to the pilgrim family have shoes that are perfectly clean!
But then you could also look at the rest of their clothes. Many of the pilgrims were wearing preppy clothes, not clothes that were designed for a tough trail.
And then they had backpacks that are more like book bags. It was so funny, these new pilgrims would ask us, “Did you begin your journey today in Sarria?”
And we would say, “No, we started a month ago in St. Jean Pied de Port.” They would act like we were bigger than life and almost wanted our autograph.
But the main thing is they were giddy with excitement. They were taking pictures of stuff we quit taking pictures of long time ago (except sunrise pictures 😂).
99.93 kilometers to Santiago
To begin with, I was kind of annoyed by these new happy pilgrims. But after a little bit, I just enjoyed watching them.
I got to thinking about the pilgrimage of life. Sometimes on the Camino to heaven, new believers are so full of joy. But the longer we walk the Camino of life, we settle more and and lose our joy. We act like the veteran pilgrims on the trail right now — we just walk and don’t enjoy the views and experiences as we once did. The new has worn off and has become old stuff to us. So, just as these new pilgrims showed excitement and joy, today I prayed that Jesus would restore the joy of the Lord to those of us who have been walking the Camino of life for many years! Enjoy your pilgrimage today as much as you did right after you came to Christ!
It was another beautiful day on the trail. I am loving this part of the journey! As a bonus, today I reconnected with one of the first two original pilgrims I met. After I landed in Madrid back on September 6, I caught a train to Pamplona. From there I was supposed to take a bus on over to Saint Jean Pied de Port, but the train got there after the last bus of the day had left.
There were some of the pilgrims standing around, and I approached a couple, and I said, “Hey, why don’t we join together and catch a taxi? We can split the cost and that way we don’t have to lose a day.”
A man from South Korea was one of those two men who shared the taxi. I hadn’t seen him since that very first day. But today we ran into each other on the trail — it was awesome! We walked together for probably an hour. He is a follower of Jesus, and we had just a great time!
Thanks for joining me on the Camino as I begin the homestretch!
Home for tonight is in sight.
My albergue
Shoe update: My right shoe is now showing signs of blowing out the right side. The left shoe doesn’t worry me as much, even though you can see my toe! Definitely concerning... please pray they hold out for the last 100+ miles!
Updated location
Approximate total miles: 560
Approximate miles walked today: 14
Approximate miles remaining: 131