Well, after only how many years THINKING about it & now here I am actually STARTING it - or, at least I will be in the morning when I & the friend who's walking with me fly to Santiago de Compostela. Feelings? Uncertainty but also a certain sense of excitement. As a somewhat elderly pilgrim, I'm breaking myself in easy - this time I'm doing the Camino Ingles from Ferrol - maybe some other year I'll risk the Camino Frances. Our plan is to stay in SdC until Tuesday morning, to both acclimatise ourselves to the weather & to allow my friend to see a little of the wonderful city as it's her first visit. Then it'll be off to the bus/coach station for a ticket to Ferrol - and then it will really begin. Originally I was going to do the Camino with another dear friend but unfortunately, ill-health intervened & she told me about 18 months ago that I needed to find someone else to walk with as her health is not good enough. I shall miss her on the walk - we had talked so much about it - which Camino? When? - but I will be bringing with me a scallop shell from St Just in Roseland Church which she gave me after she had decided she couldn't do the Camino so that will remind me of her and of our original plans as I go along. But for now, I need some sleep.

......starts with a single step

As of December 2010, I had not made that single step. Holy Year had come and almost gone and despite all the good intentions of my travelling companions (now swelled by another two members who didn't want to walk the Camino but who were keen to accompany me and my original companion on our 'recce') we had not made any definite plans.

That was soon to change! My son lives in Valencia, and I was planning on visiting him around the end of January. My surprise combined Christmas and birthday present from him was a three day trip to Santiagio while I was staying with him. He's made the bookings - all I have to do is be at the airport. He speaks fluent Spanish so will be an invaluable help, both in navigating this trip and helping me find out information for another 'recce' trip (my friends are still keen on that)and the walk itself.

A journey of a thousand miles..........

I've been talking about doing the Camino in 2010 as it's a Holy Year (The Feast of St James - 25th July - falls on a Sunday) but have got no further than that.

I've joined the Confraternity of St James along with the friend I'm hoping to travel with, read various books about the Camino, joined the Pilgrim Forum and had a very friendly response from Ivar who, as far as I know, organises the Forum and also has a travel company that organises Camino travel but which will also help with forwarding clothes/packages to Santiago de Compostela.

I had hoped to visit Compostela back in November to do a 'recce' of it and also of the Route Ingles coming down from Ferrol. This is the first time I've done any continuous walking and with dodgy knees (from a childhood accident)and arthritis I wanted to be sure I wasn't biting off a lot more than I could chew. Still haven't done the 'recce' but have got round to learning a bit of Spanish and am still determined to succeed.