Back to Where it all Started

From what I understand I'm not the only one to have first heard about the Camino by watching the 2010 film "The Way" starring Martin Sheen, directed and written by his eldest son Emilio Estevez. I watch a lot of films, but this was one that affected me long after it had ended, and a thought lodged in my mind that I found hard to shake-off.

Was it the best film I've ever watched? No. Was it a little rough around the edges? Yes. Did it have the best acting? Not especially. But I did find myself engaging quickly with its characters, feeling like I was making the journey alongside them, sharing their adventure, and both laughing and crying in equal measure. I'm not someone who cries at the drop of a hat, unless of course I see a stray cat (or any other animal for that matter) in need of rescue or a new home. However, I am someone for whom (the right) music can evoke deep emotion. The film has a great soundtrack and on the 4/5 occasions I've watched it, I'm unable to sit through the scene where the characters reach their final Cathedral destination, without sobbing uncontrollably and ploughing my way through half a box of tissues, face puffy and eyes red. For those of you who like to look these things up it's track 19 on the film soundtrack - Santiago de Compostela by Tyler Bates. I recommend listening until the end with the volume up.

If you haven't seen the film, it focuses on a group of individuals each dealing with their own struggles, starting their Camino journey as strangers but finishing as friends. It deals with issues of grief, grace, weight loss, hidden hurts, addiction, toxic relationships and more.

I've probably made it sound heavy-going, but it's not. It's essentially a feel-good film but also very moving. 'Camino' is Spanish for 'way' or 'path' and each of the characters is trying to navigate their unique life's path in their own, individual way. Their paths converge and continue in parallel for the duration of their Camino walk.

So, a seed of an idea about walking was planted in my mind 13 years ago. It didn't go anywhere, mainly because I had no plan about how I could find 5 or 6 weeks to complete the walk in one go. Many people choose to walk the Camino in stages, but I've always been an 'all or nothing' type of person so this didn't appeal to me quite as much, or seem like as much of an adventure. Working full-time with a limited number of holidays each year was my main challenge. Fast forward to early 2020 and the prospect of a sabbatical from work became a very real option. I was approaching 10 years of working full-time at the same school and was just about to submit my application for a 4-month break when Covid hit, everything was turned on its head, working from home became the new normal and travel for the foreseeable future was put on hold.

And pause . . . . . . .

Towards the end of 2021 when things had calmed down a bit and conversations and news items began focussing on issues other than the global pandemic, it felt like the right time to resurrect the plan. Luckily throughout Covid, lockdowns, curfews and working remotely, my motivation to pursue my idea hadn't waned. In fact, if anything, my enthusiasm and focus had intensified and working from home afforded me an additional, blissful two extra hours of time each day to get outside; time that I ordinarily would have spent commuting to and from work. Lunchtime walks had also become a regular occurrence; something I find difficult to do in an average busy office-based working day.

In early 2022 I'm pleased to say that my sabbatical application was approved. I'm not so pleased to say that the stark reality then hit and I probably would have backed out had I not by then committed myself to the time away from work. What I'd been thinking through in my mind for the past few years was a dreamy, leisurely, meandering walk through the beautiful Basque countryside, full of energy, making new and exciting firm friendships with fellow walkers from all over the world, chatting with the locals (in English of course), sampling the local culture and food, staying overnight in quaint Spanish villages surrounded by picturesque countryside, mountains and vineyards, with crickets chirruping in the background. I'd be at one with nature, much like Snow White cleaning her house in the Disney film; whistling and singing all the while.

I mentally slapped myself across the face and told myself to "get a grip" while the deep realisation sank in that, to be successful, this project was going to take a fair amount of effort, planning, focus, motivation and physical activity. Unfortunately I'm not particularly good at any of these things. Time for the hard work to begin.