Arrival in Saint Jean

I stumbled into a foggy Saint Jean Pied de Port half asleep from the winding bus journey through the French Pyrenees mountains. Edinburgh had fulfilled its yearly obligation to give me the latest possible exam and after the standard rapid 48 hour turnaround I had landed in this strange, small French town close to the Spanish border.

Fifty pilgrims were searching for the respective raincoats and ponchos and realising that most of us were going to be heading to the same solitary pilgrims office, I decided to lead the way up the hill. The queue to get the pilgrim credentials was already twenty deep while the hostels and albergues, that lined the steep rue de la citadel, all had signs outside stating their respective lack of capacity. A door opened and a bustling Frenchman exchanged the ´no space left´ sign to a ´2 beds available´, needing no further motivation with the rain starting to turn into a menacing downpour, I stepped inside.

It was a perfect start. The owner of the albergue was hosting an welcome ceremony just as I walked through the door. Over various glasses of port and wine (free wine is included in every ´menu del peregrino´) all the travellers introduced themselves, talked a little about their background and some of their motivation in wanting to complete the camino. The people ranged from ages 19 - 60+ walking in groups of 1 to 4. This variety coupled with the diversity in nationalities give the camino so much depth.

Italian walkers have been a blessing as I have been able to practicar mi Italiano for 20 minutes+ each day. My A level Spanish is also being slowly revived. Grammar is the main issue with most of my sentences being a collection of words stringed together. Meaning is more or less translated thankfully and today I enjoyed a 10km section with 3 Basque walkers from Navarra. Football and politics were the topics of choice.

I am relying on the albergues having a free computer to write on here so it might be a while till I next get a chance. I love this new way of life I have find myself in. I sleep 11pm-6am, meet people from all around the world in the day and read and write in the evening.

The occasional picture might work its way onto here if you are interested. The scenery over the last 3 days has been epic, changing from misty mountains at the start to far stretching golden corn fields that I found past Pamplona today. I have a huge 44km+ walk tomorrow with my goal of reaching Burgos next Tuesday still on target. Then I am having a short break with some friends from Edinburgh before hopefully reaching Santiago within a couple of weeks.

Hasta Pronto,
TJP

Camino Preamble

Three weeks today I will be starting a long walk. Starting in south west France and, if all goes to plan, ending in north west Spain 800 kilometres and about 23/24 days of walking later. Clarity is something easily lost and often forgotten.

From the start of term it will have been 19 weeks till the start of this trip, an endless countdown till I could start something new. University is much more than simply the work which is why I have probably survived it till now. I've been able to get enough perspective to realise I'm not fully happy with this current situation but a solid alternative is tricky to find. Breaking out is a difficult thing to realise as ironically many of the best ways to be challenged in new environments is by sticking out the status quo for just another 24 months. I'm relatively optimistic of scraping through the latest examination ordeal which would culminate in an exciting but daunting new life in Rome this September.

This walk has intrigued me for the last 2 years and the idea of doing it has grown in my mind till it was inevitable that it had to be done. I've often sat on a thought for a while and suddenly you revisit this thought or desire and it has grown to something where you can't ignore it any longer. I might write a few thoughts on here as I go along but mostly it will be an individual thing, learning from the other people on the way and reflecting on the hows, whys, shoulds over the past year and hopefully the next few steps going forward.

One of the things that I feel most fortunate and grateful for is the sheer variety of people I have come across over the past 3 years. Inspiring people who have a talent and passion for business and others who forsake the typical western lifestyle to explore the world. People who share my enjoyment of climbing, sailing and sport with others who are incredibly creative and simply aspire for beauty. Travelling with the girls last summer, opened my eyes to a more creative side of travelling that particularly encouraged me. I guess I find it hard to wade through it all and find some kind of order and rationality.

One of my aims of the walk is to rediscover some kind of purpose or order. Maybe a shift of priorities. I'm going pretty open minded. It will be quickly followed by a sharply contrasting London lifestyle and harmonising these two contrasting worlds will be a strange and difficult adjustment to make.

The start is tangible now and I've allowed myself to look forward to those nervous first few steps from Saint Jean Pied de Port...