Patrick, Megan, Sonali, and I had another early morning departure. This morning was really fun despite the pain in my feet. We walked with Daniela, an Italian woman living in Germany whose tibialus anterior was hurting her and Jean Paul the French man who worked on my blisters. With Daniela, I spoke a combination of German and English.
Jean Paul has this crazy, fun energy and is one of those rare people that you meet who has a huge heart and wants to spread happiness to everyone. This is how he greets everyone:
He has so much energy. His big heart bought two boxes of ice cream treats after our breakfast coffee stop and was handing them out to people as he greeted them.
Daniela was really cool. She wasn’t a believer until a couple years ago when she was in a car accident that should have killed her. She enjoyed walking the majority of the trail in solitude to contemplate what she needed to. She was using walking sticks and gave me one to use. That helped me a ton. I felt connected to her and had really good conversations with her for the short amount of time we spent together.
I walked a little slower due to the issue with my feet but was totally determined to not get into a taxi or take a bus while in the trail. Sonali and I had it in our heads and hearts that we wanted to get to Santiago early on Wednesday morning so that we could bus it to Fisterra, where the Roman’s thought the end if the world was. Megan kept reminding us that we do have until Thursday to hike, so to pay attention to our phyiscal needs and if we needed a rest day, to rest.
Reality of Rest Stops
When the Camera is Known to Be There
Megan could tell when I was hurting because I’d get quieter, slow down, and not be in front.
I loved how livestock would just be walking around the trail. It’s so different from what I’m used to.
The heat picked up in the afternoon. When we made it to Ferreiros, I was at the tail end. There are two albergues and a lot of confusion. Patrick was nervous because there was a huge group of Boy Scouts not too far behind us and was worried about everyone getting a bunk. He booked himself into the municipal albergue and Megan had booked Sonali, herself, and I into a different albergue. Patrick was really sweet and concerned about all of us getting a bed. I had told Megan, once I was done at the bar/cafe I wasn’t moving. I was putting my feet up after my shower and most likely not moving. Megan went above and beyond what a friend should have to do. She contacted Daniela who was in the other albergue to borrow her sewing kit to redo the work on my blisters. Then she borrowed a lighter from a French man to sterilize the needle and worked on my feet. So much love and gratitude for Megan ❤️. We just chilled in our beds, zoned our, and elevated our feet.
One of the coolest things about the Camino is communicating with people with whom you don’t share a common language with. They will speak in their language and you speak in your own AND somehow you understand everything. Talking to others, they enjoy and have experienced this as well.
This hike was dedicated to my little one, Hanna. I waited and tried so hard for her to get here. This experience with that totally changed my life and what I do for a career. I was really tested on perseverance and not giving up. She is one of the funniest people I know. Hanna really pays attention to detail and notices small differences. She loves to cuddle. She knows how to push her big sister’s buttons, but also totally hero worships her as well. She enjoys making people laugh. She can be prone to anxiety but does okay with help managing it. She feels a lot. I can’t imagine my life without her. She is great at telling you what she wants and needs.
Mama With Wanderlust 