3, 2, 1...

In three days we will walk into Santiago. It is all coming in a rush now. The wave of pilgrims has dramatically increased, and the Camino is in danger of feeling crowded. But I am one of the many, and so I have the patience with others that I hope they have for me. 

I am in the process of processing. How do I feel about an end to something, to the Camino? Is the appropriate feeling sadness or happiness? Maybe there is relief, or is it a bit frightening? What lives are we all returning to? Did we find what we are looking for, or is it unreasonable to even ask ourselves this? What expectations do I still carry, and how much did I learn? 

Now, we are three days beyond the blue dot. 

But, still, I strive to be in the present. My mind has inevitably started skipping forward, trying to map out the next few weeks of my life. I am 99% sure I will be walking to Finisterre. After the three day walk, I will take a bus to Porto, Portugal and from there to Italy. Suddenly life feels like it is in fast forward, and I cannot believe the quiet solitude of the Meseta has already receded so distantly into my Camino. 

We are walking through a secret garden.

Beginning in Galicia, stone markers have adorned the Camino, marking every .5 km as it passes by. It is amazing how quickly the numbers fall, now that they are so little. Today we went from 89.5 km to 65.5 km. Tomorrow we will have less than 40 km to Santiago. 

Walking under a dark blue sky, we left Sarria with the promise of rain. Again, we have walked into a different climate zone. The air is saturated with water, the humidity making the very air damp. The weather has been touch and go, yielding a gentle rain for the majority of the past two days. Thankfully, it does not even begin to approach the misery of the days of rain in the Meseta. The weather makes everything a bit more subdued, even though the Camino has been pierced with the loud conversations of many new pilgrims. Last night we were in Portomarin and tonight in Palas de Rei. The pilgrim industry is exceedingly prominent in this last stage, and there is a plethora of albergues in every town we come to. 

19 photos of Kelsey and I at the 100 km marker. 

Kelsey held her smile throughout the series of photos. I'm just confused.

I have grown close to a few pilgrims along the Way. First and foremost is Kelsey. My constant along this journey, we have provided each other the emotional and physical support of true companionship. How unbelievably well matched we were for this chapter in our lives, slowing each other down, making each other laugh. This walk is so important in the scheme of my life for the gift of her friendship. 

Pepe, Jesus, Nick, Gabriella, Tobias. The company that started together, we have slipped through the sift of the Camino to be together now at the end. Had we been just a day ahead or behind, we would have fallen in with an entirely different group. I am a believer that friends come into your life at specific times for specific reasons. And sometimes, we drift away from each other, and that is okay because you were there for each other when you needed each other. Maybe that is how Camino friendships go. 

I am blessed with a group of strong, beautiful women (Kelsey included) that are irrevocably in my life, and I love them all. Buen Camino chicas.

Sun trying, trying. But the gloomy clouds have prevailed.

If anything, the Camino has revealed to me how much more I have to learn about myself and the world I live in. Revelations they seem to be, but deep down, I have long known many of the shortcomings and hang-ups within myself. The Camino gave me the time to think hard and bluntly on them and start the difficult work towards bettering myself. It is with patience and kindness towards myself and others that I hope to achieve an evolution of internal peace. The Camino is a journey, and it is just one of many. Ever onward, inexorable, with clarity and honesty we walk.

Jacked baby cow.