The Pace Of Walk

Index

The Camino

The *Camino had always appealed to me not for religious reasons but for spiritual one. I always thought I would go to get some closure and before starting a new chapter of my life. I thought I would go in 2014 in fall, then in spring of 2015. I started arranging back in 2014, but didn’t go till 2016. It was time! Two routes always spoke to me the coastal route in Spain and the Portuguese route. Both because of the coast, nature and less people on these two caminos.

Preparation

My preparation went mostly in looking for accommodations I could book up front with single room to ensure a good night sleep and trying to find a route to hike as much as possible along the coast. Also I walked every day for 1,5 hours to get in the rhythm. Till Golenga it was what I thought it would be solo walks with some chats.

Not Sunny Camino

But a cold and the interactions on the Camino caught up with me. Although I enjoyed it a lot it was too much for me. And then I thought I can make my own Camino walking a few stages shorter. Taking the train/bus when the route didn’t appeal. Also making sure I didn’t walk in the industrial suburbs. Also making sure I walked the last 100km. Still it was around 660 km walk without the training and walks to touristic landmarks and supermarkets. Oh and do not forget the getting lost parts. And as there are no busses running I hiked all of it or got lost and took another route to the finish.

The Camino Has A Lesson For Everybody

The Camino has a lesson for everybody mine was that I needed to be more in touch with what my body is telling me. Especially, when it is telling me, it needs to rest. Something I will never learn I think, looking at my track record walking the ‘*4Daagse van Nijmegen’ and playing too much tennis tournaments in the Summers and hiking De Nacht van de Vluchtelingen (The night of the refugees).

Slow Down My Pace

I still need to slow down my pace more in sports or maybe in life too sometimes. Follow my own pace in life instead of taking the pace of the people on my path and then I will be ok and I will enjoy life more. This is something I learned after slave labor was over 😊 and I started being an entrepreneur. I think it would be easier for me to get the slowing done part right in entrepreneurship than working for a boss and in sports.

Progress In Listing To My Body

It went a little bit better with hiking the Pieterpad, emphasizing little! I hiked not all stages at once and took a break when I was moving, progress.

*I walked the Nijmegen 4Daagse Marches in 2009. And in 2016 I saw the walkers walking through Cuijk, after I hiked the Camino Portugues and before I moved to Arnhem. I have never been to the 4Daagse feesten and I will not visit the 4Daagse feesten in the future. Never been a party animal and never will be.

**I hiked the camino to think about what I wanted further from life and Databeet, not to party like some do on the Camino. I talked while hiking with my fellow hikers, but did not party with them or others. I am not a party animal and liked the quietness and calmness of the camino. 

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• The Silence of the Camino