If you missed First part, see it here.
Hi, Mima!
Thank you for the effort you put in and all the patience you had waiting for me to continue. I owe you a summer vitamin salad with detoxifying rakia. I think if I hadn't sprained my ankle the other day, which has me grounded at home now, there was a danger I would have taken even longer.
…………………
I lit a cigarette and stared at the monitor, as if I were being carried away virtually, walking on the Galilean mountains.
Can you walk the Camino with a dog?
Oh no! At work, I need to notify, mention to our people, well, Carrie... who will look after her!
I clicked on the keyboard again, reading all sorts of foreign websites, searching for information on whether I could do the Camino with my dog and how.
The three obstacles for a Camino with Kari
The first hurdle is that dogs are not allowed in albergues, unless the pilgrim has special needs. Otherwise, I could find private hostels for a minimum of 30 euros per night, which doesn't suit me at all.
Second hurdle—carrying a tent with me, which would prevent me from staying at the hostels. However, this option doesn’t work either, since the 99% sites are privately owned and, in most cases, fenced off with a sign.
There were even those who, besides a hedge, also had a fence with a warning sign stating that it was electrified. The information said that you could only pitch a tent if you were stranded late and there were no settlements nearby. Otherwise, if you were caught, you would be fined.
Yes, of course. I personally met an Italian who, on the second day, got angry about something in one of the albergues, cursed them out, and somehow got himself a tent. In the mornings, I'd find him sleeping just with his sleeping bag under the grapevines and olive trees.
And the third obstacle was that I would be there from the end of July to the beginning of September, and then the temperature is over 40 degrees Celsius, which would be very difficult for Kari. She has black fur, there is a risk of her paws getting injured and burned on the long and uneven road.
Meanwhile, there wasn't water everywhere where she could cool off, and that would put me in the position of often carrying her, which is not the best solution for either her or me.
And yet, I decided to check the prices of airplane and train tickets for dogs and their transport conditions, just to keep it in mind.
How difficult is the first day through the Pyrenees?
After reading all this information, plus what every text said about how difficult the first day was because it went through the Pyrenees, and that it wasn't recommended for people without experience in mountain hiking, I asked a girl who had already done the Camino for a comparison with which route in our mountains could be equated, so I could get an idea of how „difficult“ it is.
What does „difficult“ mean to each of us
For each of us, the idea of „difficult“ and „easy“ is different and very individual.
The truth is, neither she nor anyone else could give me the answer to that question, and then I decided to stop reading anything else. I'll just pack my bags and leave.
Whatever happens, it will happen.
Vacation for Camino and the reaction of loved ones
When I went to work, I asked my bosses to spare me a minute when they were free, as I wanted to talk to them.
A little later, when they were free, they came into the room to me and I said to them:
„I don't know, you've most likely heard of the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route, and I want to walk it. Therefore, I will need more than twenty days of leave so that I can walk the entire route, which starts in France and ends at the Atlantic Ocean in Spain.“
They were very intrigued and supported me wholeheartedly, giving me the green light with their consent, for which:
„Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!“
I would say that they even got very enthusiastic and offered support in case I ran into any trouble.
„You're not okay!“ – Family negotiations
One check for completed work, the next official notification was to inform our people.
I wasn't worried that my father would tell me:
„You're not okay!“
And so it happened.
As my mother began to unleash her familiar repertoire:
„You're not alright! How much? 900 km? Alone? Am I not supposed to call you? You really want to drive me crazy and give me a heart attack!“
It took me a full day to convince her that it was going to happen, whether she wanted it to or not, because I had already bought my plane ticket and had my bosses' consent.
Then the negotiations continued for another six months, until the day of my departure.
The journey begins long before the first step.
While waiting for the months, weeks, days, hours, minutes, and seconds to roll by until my Camino date, I began to meet different people who had already completed it or who also wanted to walk it.
On one of my dates with a girl, she mentioned a friend of hers who had started in June but decided to quit after the second week because it rained every day.
I didn't even think about it, I just decided – no matter the weather, I'll go all the way.
The path works from the outside in
Camino is a path that works on you from the outside in, so that your change happens from the inside out.
If there's rain, then you need exactly that rain; if there's sun, then you need exactly that sun.
And I had decided to accept everything that the path would bring me, and then for the first time I set out and headed somewhere without any expectations.
Actually, my fear of disappointment lies in my expectations and my ignorance.
What do I practically want to expect, do me a big favor.
In my heart and thoughts, to make room for everything that was about to happen completely spontaneously, without any plans, without prior decisions, agreements, and without fear of following the yellow arrows.
The last week before leaving
The time until departure, which seemed so distant, also rushed by quickly.
A week before the flight, I started packing my luggage, which I had written down on a list.
I put everything on the bed and began to carefully review, sort, and remove things that I judged I wouldn't need.
What fits in a 14-kilogram backpack
I managed to reduce the weight of my backpack to 11 kg, which at the airport actually turned out to be 14 kg without food and water.
In the luggage there were clothes, a first-aid kit, energy gels and bars, sandals, a camera, documents, a small bag of balloons, a small notebook, a few pens, a diary in which to record every single day, a henna tattoo on my left hand, a watch, a silver chain, and the memory of a letter with two requests and one plea, which I had written a year ago and addressed to God.
Edge!
P.S. If Maria finds time, she'll whip up a great travelogue for us about the Camino trail. Hopefully, we'll live to see it 😊
See more by Maria Lyutskanova here
