Sept 12: the Camino community

One of the great things about this trip is the sense of community that you develop with the others who are on the Camino.  The first photo is a morning shot from Sept 12 looking down the Camino and all of the others who are on the trail.  Linda and I have talked about what a great feeling it is to see this line of people, all heading in the same direction, all with the same purpose.  It's a little bit like the start of a big race, like the Flying Pig or the Thanksgiving Day Race, when you see all of these people who are out trying to achieve the same thing.  But in the case of the Camino, there is no competition to see who gets to the finish line first.  The sole goal of everyone is to make it to Santiago, and we're all here to help each other achieve that goal.  Oftentimes the running community can be like that, too.  Each person just trying to achieve their personal best.

The second photo is from a lunch stop we made on Sept 12.  As we roll into these small towns, we all start looking for a place to eat.  It often gives us a chance to catch up with people we've seen on other legs of the trip.  Or to meet new people, because these places can become crowded and it's only natural to share some space at a table.  At this lunch location, we met a woman from Austria who is walking the Camino alone.  She's 60 and recently retired.  She told us that traveling the Camino has been a dream of hers for the last 10 years, since she met a friend who walked it alone.  She was going to walk the Camino a couple of years ago, but her husband got cancer.  He beat that, but then the following year, she got cancer.  She has now beaten that, so she is grabbing the opportunity to do the Camino now.  She said that these brushes with cancer (and death) have taught her to really appreciate every day and to pursue all of the things that she's wanted to do.  And her husband has been very supportive.  Actually, it's also been interesting to us the number of people who are married but are doing the Camino alone.  I'd guess that of the married people we have met on the Camino, at least 50% are doing it alone or doing it with a friend, but not their spouse.  Perhaps they like the time to be alone and think.  Or perhaps it's an oppportunity for them to prove something to themselves. There is a saying that each person has their own Camino.  There is no right way.  There is no wrong way.  There is just your way, that is right for you.