I’m so tired. Cranky, irritable, sad, anxious… the list could go on. Despite my pack feeling lighter and lighter ( I guess that means I’m getting stronger ) my feet hurt….. my poor feet. This afternoon I found myself entering the phase of wanting to quit and go home. I know it won’t last, but in this moment, what can I say, it’s how I feel.

Doing a walk like this is something I wish everyone could experience, but it doesn’t come without it’s struggles… beyond the toll it takes on your feet, beyond the want for personal belongings, it’s emotionally draining. And as much as it is a beautiful journey, it is a challenge. ‘Mind over matter’. It’s something we know, something we understand and something we need to be reminded of. We constantly see little messages and reminders along the way.

I had the most incredible morning, it was a continuation of last night. Breakfast at a long table. I sat across from Michelle, a young woman travelling from Germany, Katherine who has taken a 3 week break from teaching in California and Hartmut, a gentleman from Germany who has been living on the Camino for the last 15 years. He wasn’t very forthcoming, but once I started asking him questions he was an open book. Remarkable stories. A true pilgrim. We laughed at our differences, and enjoyed one another’s thoughts on the Camino Francés. He’s filled up nearly twenty Camino passports and although he’s had a dozen stolen he’s most happy living in the moment.

Do you ever get that feeling when you’re happy to have met people and sad at the same time that you’ll never see them again?

Fernanda is an amazing woman. How she does it I don’t know, but if you get a chance to stay at her house, take it. You won’t sleep. But you will eat well and gain memories for a lifetime.

In the end we didn’t leave early as planned. We got caught in the hot sun, again, and found kilometres felt longer than they were. I walked silently most of the time. Thankfully there was more shaded woodland paths today, because, yet again, I wouldn’t have traded my time at that table with Fernanda, nor Harmut, nor our new friends for anything.

Tomorrow, I’m hoping to leave by 8, will that happen? I hope so… but that’s in 6 1/2 hours so I’m not holding my breath.

Bonne nuit. Good night. Boa Noite and buenos noche