Day 13

Travel is adventurous and romantic and inspiring! It is also a bunch of spreadsheets. In my case those spreadsheets are hand written on the back of a planet ticket printout or hostel receipts. That’s how light I packed for this trip...every time I get a full piece of paper as a receipt here I say to myself, “Ooo! Jackpot!” And then fold it carefully and chipmunk it away, happy with my new treasure.

Why all the PLANNING, you ask? Aren’t I a pilgrim, supposed to just wander down the road and look for shelter every night? A lot of people do the Camino like that, but for these reasons I like to have a plan:

1. I have figured out more or less the distance that I prefer to walk every day. I don’t want to get stuck too far in between towns when I start to wear out.

2. It’s still the high season here and the trail is busy, some towns run out of accommodation so I like to book ahead in those situations.

3. I want to make sure if there are tourist things I want to see to end up in that place with plenty of daylight left.

4. The last 100 km of the trail are VERY busy so I’m trying to engineer my overnight stops to avoid the most crowded towns.

5. I should get back to work eventually so I have to make sure I’m progressing at a decent clip. I’m starting to get requests for meetings and stuff in early November so I have to figure out when I’ll be back soon. The people in a hurry can do the Camino in like 30 days but mine will be more like 40. (I like to stop for tourist things and I am kinda slow.)

6. Just wandering about the countryside not knowing where I’m going every day? My backpack getting heavier by the mile? That would drive me NUTS. I love having a goal every day.

Working so far!