When Lots of Things Coincide in a Weird Way; I.e., “a sign”!

[Ginevra]

So, something happened and it was reaaaaallly amazing. Let me discuss. 
 

First, to go way back, an acquaintance of mine once told me that after she graduated college, she went to Spain and walked the Camino de Santiago (an ancient pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela and the Tomb of St James). I thought it was cool but shelved it in the back of my brain as an interesting adventure. 
 

Second, a couple years ago, I got a book called Unforgettable Journeys, which has in it (among other things) the Portuguese Way of the Camino de Santiago. I remembered my friend saying she had walked it and I wondered if I could ever make it happen that *I* could walk it. 
 

Third, I’m currently doing hikes with a group of friends, section-hiking the Appalachian Trail. So, recently, I started to give more thought to the possibility of actually walking the Camino. But it still seems logistically hard to arrange, mainly because I can only take so much time off work. 
 

Fourth, I met recently two people who really inspired me. One was a woman we met on the trail, who began hiking sections during COVID when she retired. I would guess her to be early/mid 60s. She has hiked over 500 miles of the 2,192 miles. Then I met an amazing military Captain who is planning to retire this summer at 64 and then do the solo pacific-to-Atlantic cross-country bicycle journey. 
 

So. Here’s all this stuff marinating in my brain, and over the past couple of days, I started to really look into how I might do the Camino, either by planning to do it when I retire (god willing, if that’s still a possibility), or take the shorter Portuguese Way, which I could probably swing for time off and could do sooner. 
 

On the way to work today, a car pulls in front of me on the road and is in front of me almost the entire way to work. And what sort of stickers do you think were on this car’s bumper? The seashell that is the symbol for the Camino de Santiago! I was kind of freaking out. I was like, “could that really be the Camino symbol right in front of my eyeballs this morning?!” It was! And there was another hiking type sticker on the car as well. I found all this pretty stunning! But…there’s more.

Later in the day, I went to do a volunteer event with someone I work with but don’t know very well. We’re chatting and I talked about the AT hikes I’m doing. She says, “if you like hiking, you would probably love hearing about this thing a friend of mine is doing…” and before she said another word, the hairs on my neck stood up and *I KNEW* what she was about to say.  She said, “Have you ever heard of the Camino de Santiago?” 
 

Y’all…I lost my mind! I was like, “OH MY GOSH, you cannot be saying those words to me right now!!” So I told her about the Camino turning up everywhere I look. 
 

I don’t actually think there is a Being who cares whether or not I hike an ancient pilgrimage. But still. I do think, as the old proverb goes, “When the student is ready, the teacher appears.” I think Something Out There is pointing me towards The Way and that’s just a really amazing metaphor. 
 

I hope I do get to walk the Camino de Santiago and it feels like maybe the Universe also wants me to. So maybe! 

[Rosie_0801]

Well, if you'd like another, I just finished a book last night called 'Two Steps Forward,’ by Graeme Simsion and Anne Buist about walking the Camino. 🙂

[Kareni]

A woman in my book group walked the Camino last year.

I hope you'll get your chance, @Ginevra!

Regards,

Kareni

[Ginevra]

3 minutes ago, Rosie_0801 said:

Well, if you'd like another, I just finished a book last night called 'Two Steps Forward,’ by Graeme Simsion and Anne Buist about walking the Camino. 🙂

Love this!!!

[Toocrazy!!]

I read that book Rosie, and I think that’s when the Camino got into my brain. 
I’ve been thinking about it for several years @Ginevra- maybe your post is another sign for ME! 

[Terabith]

I know at least three people who have walked the Camino de Santiago!

[Carol in Cal.]

My sister in law was paralyzed from the mid chest down in a snow tubing accident a few years ago, and she plans to wheelchair that trail next year, supported by her husband and a friend.

Having said that, I think that a lot of times the stuff is out there and you just don’t notice it until you are tuned into it.  Like when I was picking out my first car and decided on a Honda Accord.  I had never noticed them before, and suddenly they were everywhere.  But really they were always there.  I just was not tuned in to them.

[alisoncooks]

A woman I know (the mother of teens that my kids are friends with) walked it last year. I’d never heard of it before she posted on Facebook. 

[Katy]

I binge watched a couple on YouTube walking the Camino de Santiago about six weeks ago. It looked so pleasant and frankly, easy compared to the AT. 

[Ginevra]

4 minutes ago, Katy said:

I binge watched a couple on YouTube walking the Camino de Santiago about six weeks ago. It looked so pleasant and frankly, easy compared to the AT. 

For real though. Much shorter for one thing.

[wintermom]

1 hour ago, Ginevra said:

For real though. Much shorter for one thing.

Actually, I was just doing some google searches, and the traditional pilrimages to Santiago de Compostela started from where ever people lived in Europe. The longest distance I can see is from Zagare, Lithuania, and the distance is 3262 km (approx 2026 miles, comparable to the Appalachian Trail). I had no idea that there were routes from many different countries (Ireland, England, Holland, Germany, Poland, Italy, Slovakia, Portugal, Malta, Switzerland), with France being the most common. You can definitely pick a distance/route that fits any timeline. (source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camino_de_Santiago_(route_descriptions)

[Eos]

I hope you do go and send pics! 

[Scarlett]

3 hours ago, Carol in Cal. said:

My sister in law was paralyzed from the mid chest down in a snow tubing accident a few years ago, and she plans to wheelchair that trail next year, supported by her husband and a friend.

Having said that, I think that a lot of times the stuff is out there and you just don’t notice it until you are tuned into it.  Like when I was picking out my first car and decided on a Honda Accord.  I had never noticed them before, and suddenly they were everywhere.  But really they were always there.  I just was not tuned in to them.

This.  

[Ginevra]

10 hours ago, Carol in Cal. said:

My sister in law was paralyzed from the mid chest down in a snow tubing accident a few years ago, and she plans to wheelchair that trail next year, supported by her husband and a friend.

Having said that, I think that a lot of times the stuff is out there and you just don’t notice it until you are tuned into it.  Like when I was picking out my first car and decided on a Honda Accord.  I had never noticed them before, and suddenly they were everywhere.  But really they were always there.  I just was not tuned in to them.

I know this is a thing. But it still seems weird that both those references to the Camino happened in the same day. 🙂 

[DawnM]

My cousin did it a few years ago and loved it.   She talks about it all the time.   

[Eos]

Yesterday I asked my mom about a friend of hers and of course she said, oh she's off walking the Camino, then told me about many others who'd done it and from where. 

[PinkTulip]

I’ve been doing a lot of research on both the Camino and the South West Coast path around the tip of England, trying to decide which one I want to do. The SWCP would take 7-ish weeks if I did the whole thing, which I would have to spread out over 3 separate trips. Or I could do the Camino in one, or do several different Camino paths over time as well. Both sound really intriguing to me and something I definitely want to pursue in a few years. 

[knitgrl]

Dh and dd13 did the Primotivo in about 3 weeks, all told. They enjoyed it immensely.

[Ginevra]

I told my hiking buds about my “sign from the Universe”. It’s now on the radar as a possibility I also go two books about it. One is the Portuguese Way, which could more realistically be done before I and my hiker buds retire. 

[TrulySusan]

Awesome story! My sons just arrived in Spain and start their Camino on Thursday. I had never heard of it before they started planning their trip. I hope you go and then, obviously, report your adventures to all of us. With pictures.