RTW ’23: Week 6

Seven years ago, Pam and I drove to Finisterre after our first Camino was completed. This week, I biked into Finisterre, and it felt so different knowing that I had ridden my bike the whole way in. As I biked in, I could see the wind turbines in the distant hills and remembered being there just yesterday! It means so much more to achieve a hard goal when you can look back and see how far you’ve really come.

After a trying week last week, Wednesday was filled with accomplishment: as I made it to Finisterre! I hopped on my bike in the early morning, eager to watch the sunrise before my cycling began. I arrived at my first beach around 10:30 a.m., and I was so excited to see the sweeping ocean before me. I walked Sally right down to the waters edge– I just had to get her tires wet! I had more riding to do, so I wasn’t ready to take off my shoes just yet, but running down to the waters edge is always my first response when I see the ocean, especially after such a long stretch of being away from it. After I savored the view for awhile, I jumped back on Sally and continued toward FInisterre, where I was met with a huge hill to get to the town. Just when I thought the hard work was over, the Camino had yet another hill for me to tackle, but I hung in there, knowing that it would be worth the view at the “end of the world”! And, as you can tell from the pictures below, it was! Standing at the “end of the world” was overwhelmingly breathtaking. I could have stayed there forever, admiring her glory and absorbing all that mother nature was offering me. It reminded me of just how grand the universe is, and how small I really am. It’s astounding how such small creatures can make such huge impacts in the grand scheme of things! After a while, I got back on my bike, and went to explore the town and find my accommodations for the evening. The alburge had a nice kitchen and dining area, so I made myself a cup of tea after getting back from dinner, where I joined about 6 pilgrims. I stayed for a bit and we all chatted about the Camino and traveling in general. I even shared about my RTW trip! It was a big day with a great sense of accomplishment and I ended the day absolutely exhausted, ready to rest my body and spirit.

On Thursday, I biked to Muxia, another ocean town, eager to receive my completion certificate for biking the Santiago-Finisterre-Muxia circuit. The ride itself was beautiful– I biked through the forest paths and reached the ocean again at the end of the day. The ocean always makes me feel at peace, and brings me a sense of oneness with God and nature. Over the past four days, I greatly improved my biking skills. I noticed today that I was better at shifting timing and not always using the easiest gear to get up an incline. On a few open asphalt roads, I let go of braking altogether on the declines and felt the exhilaration of flying down the hill and welcomed the accompanying adrenaline rush. Everything has a way of balancing out, though, and for every exciting downhill, there was always a price to pay in the form of a gnarly uphill battle– like the reverse law of physics, what goes down must go up, eventually. But, it was so fun to feel the breeze and inhale the scent of pine and eucalyptus trees as I went whizzing by! I knew the tourist office closed at 3 p.m., so I planned my route to ensure I arrived before closing time. However, upon arrival at the office, far before 3 p.m., I was met with a “closed” sign on the door. Google translated the rest of the sign to read that it was closed for the holiday, though I had no idea which holiday it could possibly be. As it turns out, Spain celebrates Columbus Day, too, and calls id Dia de la Raza o Dia de la Hispanidad! To say I was disappointed was an understatement, especially since I planned the day specifically to arrive in time to get the certificate. Thankfully, I was able to get my certificate from my hostel host! I know that it’s just a piece of paper, but I feel a sense of accomplishment for biking to all of the required towns and getting all of the necessary stamps. When I was biking up those challengingly large inclines, it helped to know that I was working towards a goal– and I did it! I was also able to fit in a phone call with my son for a touch over an hour, which was the perfect addition to my day. I am so proud of him and all that he’s accomplished over the last few months, and I’m so thankful for the relationship that we continue to have, even though I’m halfway around the world. Seeing his life unfold in such an incredible way leaves me in awe!

Friday brought heavy rains, which put a damper on my original plans to ride back to Santiago. In order to return my bike on the agreed upon day of my contract, I decided to purchase a bus ticket back. Sally will have to ride in the luggage compartment of the bus, so I bought some bubble wrap and tape to turn her into “luggage” and protect her on the ride home. If all goes well, I’ll get off of the bus, put Sally back together, and ride to Plaza Obradoiro in the afternoon. Otherwise, it was a quiet and rainy day. I made myself at home at the hostel which has a nice kitchen and basement work area for my bike. I had no food in the morning, so I went to the grocery store in the rain, and stocked up on a lot of food because I was really hungry. I suppose biking and walking everywhere will do that to you! I forgot my rain jacket in Santiago, so someone at the hostel lent me his jacket to go to the store. It’s really wonderful being in a place where we can rely on one another when we need help. When I got back, he joked and said “I lent you the jacket, but didn’t say it could be returned wet!”. It was absolutely drenched, which I couldn’t do anything about, but I did think to buy him a candy bar to say thanks. He laughed and said thank you as he shook off the rain from his jacket. In the evening, I attended a 7 p.m. Mass at a church near the water’s edge. It was a spectacular sight! The church boasts a very nautical feel with many boat models hanging from the ceiling. I’m getting a little more used to attending a Mass in Spanish, following along and saying the responses quietly in English as to not disrupt the flow of language around me. There were more local people than pilgrims, and being right at the ocean was so nice. The church also has a long and varied Camino history. Though Finisterre is known as the end of the world, this place felt like my authentic ending. After Mass, I stayed to watch the sunset and then reconnected with Jessica from Washington state– we previously had dinner together at the Alburge Alto de Pena when I started riding last Monday. She was with Linda from Germany, who had completed the Del Norte Camino. The three of us went out for dinner at a seafood restaurant where Linda and I enjoyed Zamburina (scallops) and Jessica ate Pulpo (octopus). We shared Camino stories, what’s next for each of us, and how special Muxia has been to finish our Camino. It was delightful food, company and conversation, and a great way to end my stay in Muxia. It really felt like being out with long-time friends, just catching up on life. The Camino creates its own community by having a common goal, and love for nature and exploring. Speaking of exploring, I’m excited to share that my next location in Spain will be Bilbao! I bought a train ticket from Santiago to Bilbao and booked a few nights at a hostel there. I’m ready to explore another region of Spain before leaving for the UK near the end of this month. I’ve been hearing a lot of people mention the Basque region while they were doing their Camino, so it’s exciting to be able to check it out for myself! It’s hard to believe that my Santiago chapter is coming to a close, but I am looking forward to the adventures that lie ahead.

When I woke up on Saturday, I was ready to return to Santiago with Sally, even if I couldn’t ride her the whole way in. I left my room and headed to the kitchen to make a big breakfast, only to find that someone took most of my food that I had left there! There wasn’t a marker to label anything, but there was also a rule that you couldn’t have food in your locker, so I didn’t have much of a choice but to leave it where I did. Anyway, lesson learned: have a marker handy to mark your stuff. I had just enough eggs left for breakfast, but the croissant was taken, so I made due with what I had. In the end, it was less food to bring back to Santiago, and I’m sure that the person who ate it needed it more than I did. After I ate, I took a last walk to the ocean before leaving Muxia. While there, I came across a granite sculpture named “The Wound”. At higher than 36 feet, the largest sculpture in Galicia and Spain, it towered above me, reminding me again how small I am in the grand scheme of things. Though the sculpture stands as a tribute to those who helped the local people after a massive oil spill occured, it truly represents the wounds– gaping and otherwise– in all of us. After my walk, I went to the bus station with Sally all “luggaged up” and ready to go. I felt really good about my mechanic skills. I had to remove the front wheel and wrap the bike in bubble wrap in order to get her into the cargo storage area on the bus. Everything worked out so well! Someone also waiting at the but stop helped me by loading the bike while I wrapped. Once I got off the bus, I removed the bubble wrap, found a trash bin for the wrapping, and put the wheel back on. I got off of the bus before the Santiago stop so that I could ride a few miles in before coming to the cathedral. I felt good about my decision to not risk riding in the rain yesterday– after all, it’s not about the miles covered but about the lessons learned along the way that count. Even though it was less than a full week behind me, I felt like a different person riding into Santiago than who I was when leaving. I was a lot more confident on the bike and it felt like I’d been away for much longer than I really had. Seeing all of the tourists and crowds was so different from where I had come from in Muxia in the morning, a sleepy little sea town. I feel transformed by the bike Camino experience– a little like going into the wilderness and coming out the other side completely changed. I’m also still feeling good physically, which is a huge relief, and I’m so grateful for the healing that happened while I was along the coast. I was kind of sad to drop off the bike after arriving in Santiago. I took the long way from the cathedral to the bike shop, feeling one with Sally– like how you linger after coffee with a friend. There’s always one more thing to mention or talk about. One week was just enough to start feeling confident and strong enough to do more. There will be other opportunities to bike during my RTW adventure, and now I know that I can do it! When I went to check back into the Loop Inn Hotel, it felt like coming home. The same two women who work there most mornings and evenings were there to greet me and asked me how my trip to Finisterre was! It felt so nice to be seen and known. It was also really nice to know where everything was at the hostel, and my WiFi even automatically connected. I’ll savor these last few days in Santiago, even though I know I’m going to be ready to start the next chapter in Bilbao.

Sunday was a rainy and cold day, so I spent the bulk of it preparing for the next part of my trip. I went through all of my belongings in the morning to look for what I could ship home– the items that I haven’t really needed for the past two months. I have two more days to finalize my decisions before I get on a train to Bilbao. Summer clothes are in the ship-home pile, as the next time I’ll need them is in Africa in February. Other than that, it was much harder than I thought it would be to decide what I need to let go of. Travel planning was my main focus of the day, including using the app “Schengen Simple” to calculate my 90 day limit in the EU. I need to leave the EU countries soon in order to have days left in December to visit the Leiden, Netherlands J&J facility. I also need buffer days in January in case my freighter ship is delayed coming into Antwerp, Belgium. It’s a little time consuming, and nerve-wracking, to try and time it all out just right! I did, however, book my overnight ferry from Bilbao, ES to Portsmouth, UK. The ferry only departs on Tuesdays and Saturdays, so I purchased a ticket for next Tuesday, the 24th. There was an option for a 4 person cabin or a premium seat, so I opted for the seat since I’m traveling solo. Hopefully I’ll be able to sleep on the reclining seat! I also spent some time researching about my sister hometown in the UK, Wareham, which is very close to Portsmouth, UK. I’m planning to take a train there for an overnight stay to explore the town. In between the steady rain, I went for a walk. I decided to visit the cathedral to get out of the rain and light a candle of thanks to Mary for my safe returns to Santiago. Once I got back, I watched a few episodes of “Lessons in Chemistry” via my Apple TV on my laptop, which is a really good show so far. It was such a treat to have WiFi and my laptop at the same time! I also had the opportunity to have a phone chat with my friend Christine from Massachusetts. It was so nice to reconnect with her, as we’ve both missed our regular walk and talks. I’m so grateful for some down time to reconnect with friends and family. As I start planning the next phase of my travels, it’s a good time to reflect not only on my feelings and time here, but the practicalities of living on the road outside of my home country as well. Spain and Portugal have been wonderful in so many ways: the hospitality of the people, the delicious food, the opportunity to spend time in nature, and so much more. It’s also very cheap to stay at simple hostels and pensions (homestays with meals provided most of the time), which is a huge blessing when traveling from place to place like I am. For the last two weeks since I’ve been solo, my daily cost averages around €55. Given that I spend most of my days walking or riding, the costs covered are for accommodations and food, even with eating out about 5 out of 7 days. A really nice meal with a glass of wine is around €15, a hostel bed in a dorm is less than €20, and picking up a pan (bread), cheese, fruit, and snacks at the Mercado for $10 cash can last a few days. I’m not finding those same, cheap accommodations in the UK, which is okay. I’m looking for some opportunities to volunteer, and I’m very excited to visit my cousin Tim and his family in Northern Ireland!

On Monday, I was met with more cold and rain. It didn’t put a huge damper on my walking– I still got a few miles in– but it wasn’t inviting me to spend too much time outside. The biggest challenge, if I can even call it that, was moving from one room to another at the Loop Inn, which I didn’t actually mind at all– it made me feel like a pilgrim again, packing up everything and moving to a new location. Everyone at the hostel has been so nice to me, and when I leave on Wednesday, it will feel like saying goodbye to friends. In the spirit of saying goodbye, I donated my Breiley Camino books to Casa Ivar’s shop today. It felt nice to lighten my load and give back to the Camino community. I did read the reflections at the end before letting go of them, and found such wisdom on page 93. It spoke about how the freedom to let go of what doesn’t serve us is always right there, but sometimes it takes something big, like walking in a foreign land for countless days with only the essentials on our backs, to find the truth. It was powerful and profound, and exactly what I needed to read as I close out my Camino chapter. Sometimes, these little reminders turn into larger life lessons– lessons to be taken and placed in my “essentials pack”. For most of the rest of the day, I continued focusing on trip planning for the UK. One of the things that I love most– and is naturally happening because of my ferry transportation choice instead of planes– is visiting a lot of coastal towns and cities. Because all of these ferry rides will be in October and November on the Irish and North Sea, I made sure that they were enclosed vessels instead of open boats. Slow travel means that I get the opportunity to see historical old seaports instead of the new airports on the outskirts of most metropolitan places. Some places that I checked out on the map today were Newcastle, Liverpool, Heysham, and my personal favorite, Douglas, Isle of Man. The Isle of Man will be a new country to visit for me. They have a really cool flag, their own currency, and even their own language, though English is still mostly spoken. They are a self-governing British Crown dependency, and are a separate country on the “official” list! Once I had done sufficient research for the day, I had a nice early dinner with Jessica from Washington State. We shared stories about our Camino experience and how we feel about integrating back into society after being in the “Pilgrim bubble” for so long. The new journey into our lives begins in Santiago, and who knows where, exactly, it will take us!

Tuesday marked my last full day in Santiago and it felt very bittersweet. I decided to start my morning by attending the English Mass. It was nice to see familiar faces– Sister Mary and Alan from Australia were there with some new volunteers. One of the background noises constantly heard during Mass is a faint bell chime every minute or so, which is the sound that the automated machine makes when it’s the next pilgrims turn to get their Compostela. It actually sounds a lot like the RMV office bell, and it occurred to me today that the sound itself is reminiscent of the line from It’s a Wonderful Life: “Every time a bell rings, an Angel gets its wings”. After Mass, the pilgrim campaign volunteers invited everyone for tea and biscuits. On a raw, rainy day like this one, the invitation was most welcome. Everyone shared an example of the hospitality they had experienced on the Camino, along with practical advice, pilgrim to pilgrim. I asked about Camino or multi-day hiking opportunities in the UK, and Alan gave me two websites to research, which look very promising. On the train to Bilbao tomorrow, I’ll start my research on those. Mass was an amazing way to start my morning, and I’m so glad that I was able to attend one last time. Afterwards, I had a list of to-do’s, which included shipping some items to the US for safe keeping. Thanks to Christine, I have a safe place to store my summer clothes, biking gear, and a few other items I won’t need again until February in Africa. I also had to take some time to work on my medical insurance claim, which was rather frustrating. My insurance requested additional information for the telemedicine doctor appointment earlier in my trip as well as the hospital tests that were run. I had to call my insurance and work out the process for uploading documents to them, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it was enough to get the claim approved. Even during a grand adventure, normal “life stuff” happens and needs to be dealt with! Despite the rainy weather, which is preparing me for my upcoming time in England, I made it a point to walk around my favorite spots such as Obradoiro Square, stepped inside the cathedral to get out of the rain, and took a trip to the Pilgrims office. I also wandered around without needing to look at my phone for directions, which brought me immense comfort before I depart tomorrow. I’ve really grown to love Santiago, and will miss the hustle and bustle of everyday life here once I’m gone. There are a few museums and places that I didn’t get to visit during my 2+ weeks here. I could have visited them today, but I decided that I wanted to save them for my next visit, whenever that may be. I have no set plans to come back, but hearing more Camino stories made me realize that there will be more Caminos in my future, and I will come here again.

As I was walking to Mass on Tuesday morning in the pouring rain, I saw a woman very eagerly and excitedly walking towards the square. She was soaked, even with a poncho covering her and her pack, but it was obvious that she was finishing her Camino at that very moment. She had the tell tale signs of a pilgrim who had been out on the Way for a long time– muddy shoes, bronzed skin, and toned leg muscles. More than all of that, she had the joy and enthusiasm of coming home to a place she’d never known before, much like a kid at Christmas. After she stared in wonder at the spires and grandeur of her surroundings, she spotted a familiar face– another entering pilgrim– and they embraced and chatted, as pilgrim friends do. This is what makes Santiago such a special place. It’s the authenticity and allowance to be fully present in the moment; to express yourself without reserve, like a child, a beginner in all things. People openly cry, laugh, shout “hallelujah”, jump for joy (taking photos, of course), run to hug someone they haven’t seen for miles, or just sit down on the ground and rest, staring up at the sky in thanksgiving and awe. It’s such an example of what true community and peace can be. It is here. And the hope is that everyone who passes through here will take that peace and love with them wherever life takes them in the world. There are many places in the world, right now, at war. Our news headlines focus on that, but there are also places where peace exists, and Santiago is a shining example. As I was preparing to leave for my next stop, I took some time to soak up that peace and childlike wonder. I wish that for you all, as well. Until next time, dear friends: stay safe, stay healthy, and always remember to make space for what brings you joy.

We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
WIll be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
-Four Quartets, T.S. Eliot