People have asked me what is so special about the Camino de Santiago.  Is it a religious thing?  Why did I do it? What exactly does one do all day? Ultimately, it’s hard for me to explain.  It can be religious for some, but not for others.  I did it as a way to kick start my trip and now again as it is coming to a close.  As my friend Jackie said “it’s like tying a big bow around a great year.”

As for what one does all day. . . WALK.  You walk all day.  It’s inexplicable and it’s amazing.  I read a quote in my camino guide that said “We often confuse business with aliveness.”  I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again:  Time slows down on the Camino.  There is no planning ahead.  As relaxing as travel can be, it can still be stressful.  Figuring out maps, booking hotels, moving from one city to the next. . .on the Camino there is none of that.  You are carrying what you have on your shoulders, moving from one place to the next, and putting your trust in God.  To find a place to stay, to meet who you are meant to, and to lead you safely.

A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving-Lao Tzu

Scenes from the Camino:

Day 7 on the Camino. 111 miles down. Less than 100 to go. My feet are in shreds.  Say it with me people, “SHA-reds.” You would have thought I spent this past year relaxing on a beach, softening up these little toesies of mine.  Sure, there was some beach time but there was also tons of walking.  I would average 7-10 miles daily when walking around a new city.  I didn’t expect this Camino to be a  cakewalk, but in no way did I anticipation the blister-fest my feet have become. Without making excuses, my bag is heavy, we are walking far distances and my shoes have really taken a beating this year thus providing little support. It is what it is. I’ve said it about Dramamine, but I’ll say it about Compeed (the blister bandaids,) shout out to God for creating the scientist who invented these. Best things ever.

Life on the Camino is just so interesting. You see all the same familiar faces along the way. It’s a constant stopping and starting. Passing and being passed.  Waving and “Buen Camino”-ing (“Buen Camino” being the official way pilgrims greet each other out here.) I love talking to people and want to ask 1,000 questions right from the get-go usually starting with “Tell me where and when you were born.” But instead, I try to be more of an observer on this round through. A clear eyed, realistic observer.  People aren’t saints out here.  It’s easy to self proclaim ourselves as such, but I’ve seen it all. From overhearing catty remarks, to seeing cliques forming and even witnessing some less than stellar behavior, one thing’s for sure-people are people.

The other day, I overheard a group of pilgrims discussing a woman who they had recently met along the way. One girl said to her friend, “She’s kinda cheating.  She always sends her bag ahead.  What a packer slacker.” Sending ones’ bag ahead can be common practice on the Camino, for people who don’t want to carry a heavy backpack for 15-20 miles each day.  We’ve seen people out here of all ages and physical abilities. We even met a woman with a broken arm and sprained knee.  Good for her! If I had a broken arm and sprained knee I would NOT be on the Camino. My biggest physical hurtle would be moving my arm in a 90 degree angle to get the bonbon from the container to my mouth. I wanted to turn to the “packer slacker” comment lady and say “Judge not, lest you be judged woman!” Let’s walk more and judge less. We’re all doing the best we can.  The Camino is the last place these behaviors should be present. But, I need to remember we’re not saints out here.

Today my daily intention was thinking about and praying for all the people in my life who have “wronged” me.  We all have a list of those who have slighted us in some way over the years. Big deals, little digs, the list can grow if you let it.  

Today I opened the vault on the past and dug out the not so pretty memories. High school, college, and all the years since. I tried to remember moments that I don’t think about often, but when I do still give me a shot of pain to the gut.  I thought about the people in those situations, wished them well, and let it melt away. I also reflected on the role I played in creating or worsening certain problems.  Unfortunately, random, horrible things can happen to good people but more often than not we have some responsibility for the times we’re not treated well. Not standing up for ourselves or not properly communicating our feelings. It’s so easy to sit back and be victimized; to not take any responsibility, and only place blame. But to think back and say “This was my role and this is what I could have done differnetly,” that gives us power. 

I spent the day turning back the roladex of memories, pulling out each one by one and mentally ripping them up.  I forgave people, forgave myself for “wronging” others, took responsibility, and released it. Why keep this stuff? “Holding onto anger is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.” I don’t want to die, not even emotionally speaking, so it had to be done.

Did it help? Yup. Did I fix it all and I am now a perfect person? Of course not. We’re all a work in progress. Hopefully each day we’re improving, bit by bit to make ourselves better people. Let’s be easy on ourselves and validate the baby steps.  After all, no one’s a saint out here.

Today was a long, tough day on the Camino. Granted it was only Day 2, but it was still so challenging! We walked nearly 20 miles and much of it was up a huge, winding mountain.  Up, up, up, each step painful because blisters are always an issue.

On this Camino walk, my main intention is my friend Shannon’s son.  He was in a terrible skateboarding accident last week, and has suffered a life-threatening tramatic brain injury.  He needs all the prayers he can, so follow his progress here: Brian Support.

In addition to keeping my thoughts on Brian, I’m also setting daily intentions. These are usually prayers and good thoughts for family and friends. Intentions keep me grounded in my steps and focused on sending love to others.

Today, my friend Jackie (who is here with me) and I could hardly move another inch up the hill we were climbing.  As we were taking a breather and looking back into the horizon, I wrote a B in the dirt with my pole (for Brian), then the first letter of the name of the person who was my daily intention and the first letter of Jackie’s intention. I felt like this gave me the strength to keep going, as well as put things into perspective.  I may have been experiencing a bit of physical pain but I was ‘offering it up’ (as my mother would say) to others who were going through so much more than me in that moment.

This evening I was writing in my journal and looking back through old entries. I’ll do this every so often and  thought to myself “I wonder if I have anything written from last May?” I couldn’t believe when I found a post from 05/22/14, exactly one year before. I wrote it the night my school district approved me for a years leave of absence.

I wrote: “May 22, 2014- My sabbatical was approved at the board meeting tonight. I feel calm but also super nervous. I know there is no right or wrong decision, but I just hope this experience bring me the adventure I seek!! ‘The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. Lao Tzu'” Then at the bottom of the page I wrote: “Slow down you move too fast. You gotta make the moment last.” Who doesn’t love Simon and Garfunkel?

It was such a gift to find this note to myself from a year ago! In some ways I’d like to go back and tell this girl not to worry about the year ahead, but in other ways the worry and anxiousness was good for her. It kept her moving forward and alert to world around her.  It encouraged her to take risks and make connections. It has given her one hell of a year!

I feel so lucky to have taken this step forward into the unknown.  Just like on the Camino; one step in front on the other, facing some hardships along the way, but mostly counting blessings.

 Last September, after waking 75 miles, I left the Camino de Santiago in this exact spot. I didn’t complete the walk, but vowed to come back one day.  This morning, I began again at this same point.  Now I’ll finish what I started all those months ago. Here’s to two more weeks on The Way, and all the beauty that comes with the journey.

Would it be too dramatic to say selfies and subsequent selfie sticks are the bane of many travelers’ existence including my own?  I get the need for an occasional selfie.  Somewhat. I’ve traveled alone enough to know they can be needed. You’re in a cool city, you’re alone, you want your face in the picture, the whole “pics or it didn’t happen” phenomenon is swirling around in your brain. I understand the dilemma.

What I cannot wrap my head around is the blatant irreverence of places, people and things.  I’ve had to dodge numerous selfies sticks barreling towards my head in a massive crowd. Or worse yet, the sticks raised in the air ruining a perfectly good Kodak moment (Siem Reap at sunrise immediately comes to mind.) Additionally, I struggle to understand the pouty fish lip pose in front of a sacred site.  Do we really need a selfie in front of a Budist temple? Lastly, selfies are never just one picture either.  They undoubtedly turn into a photo shoot session, typically delaying all others from getting a good shot.  I’ve heard the Louve in Paris as banned selfie sticks.  Kudos France!

Trust me dear friends, I know selfies are sometimes a necessary evil. So if you must, please consider following these simple rules:

Please follow these rules carefully, because remember it’s not about the picture it’s about the selfie.

After nearly a year of traveling around the world, one tends to pick up a few life lessons along the way. Here I present to you a few of my tried and true thoughts, suggestions and general observations.

• Bus drivers in South America wave to one another. Not just a casual nod and small acknowledgment.   It’s an arm outstretched into an aggressive, full hand wave with a huge smiling face.  At first, I thought all of these guys knew one another.  Perhaps some do!  But this happened all over.   We would be traveling for hours on the back roads of Patagonia and a driver would wave to every single bus that passed.

• I was always thrown off when merging my experience of being in a new city with all the thoughts/planning that led up to getting there. It’s a strange feeling to have thought, talked, planned for, and researched a place and then finally be there. I would have to remind myself on a daily basis where I was i. e “Okay I’m in Bangkok right now.  This is what you were thinking about when you were researching Thailand.”

• Always carry a bit of toilet paper and hand sanitizer. Just do. Enough said.

• This year I was essentially homeless. I had no home. Can one be homesick without having a home? My perspective shifted because when I was tired or travel weary I would remember that I really didn’t have a home in which to return.  My comfortable bed, full DVR, and stocked refrigerator weren’t waiting for me.  This perspective helped me to keep on keeping on.

• Bravery is not being afraid to be afraid.”
I read this quote in a Vanity Fair article profiling war reporter Marie Colvin who was killed in Syria in 2012.  There is zero comparison between traveling for pleasure and being an heroic war correspondent, however this thought resonated with me.  A lot of my fear around a situation would be fear of the unknown. I noticed that once the experience happened I was fine. It was important for me to expose myself to a lot of things and in turn become less fearful of these situations. In the moment bravery doesn’t feel like courage, it feels like fear.  Very rarely does someone find themselves in a trying situation and say “Wow, I feel so brave and courageous right now.”  No, it’s more like “I feel so scared right now.”  Feelings of bravery didn’t typically resonate with me until after the experience when I was reflecting.

• It is SUPER important to hang on to whatever clips of paper (no matter how small) you are given by ANY and ALL types of official organization (no matter how random.) You never know when that random clip of paper will be needed again. In Patagonia, we spent time in Argentina before crossing over into Chile.  On our way into Chile we were asked to fill out a non-descript, non-important looking small piece of paper about the size of a post-it note. It was a triplicate and we were given a copy (in the same manner you would be given a receipt.) We spent 10 fabulous days in Chile and on our way across the border back into Argentina we were asked for this random cliplet of paper. Say what, now? You need that teeny tiny piece of paper given to me a week and a half ago that no one at any time indicated had any source of importance whatsoever? After a good 30+ panicked minutes, I pulled the crumpled paper out of the depths of my backpack, and said a little prayer of thanks that I didn’t get stuck at the Chilean border crossing.

• Traveling isn’t hard. Traveling on a budget is tricky. Most long-term travelers out there are looking for the cheapest accommodation available. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve logged onto booking.com looking for open hotel rooms in a city and have found $10 hostels beds in a 15-person mixed dorm room or $200 hotel rooms. The middle ground accommodations go quick. If you’re a procrastinator, think outside the box with websites like Airbnb.

• Packing cubes. These things are amazing. The best way to keep your suitcase organized. I won’t travel again without them. And in a pinch, a packing cube serves as a really nice pillow alternative!

• Eat breakfast.  Most accommodations include breakfast, so fill up buttercup.  Who know when the next meal will come.  Life is unpredictable out there.

• When learning a second language it’s imperative to have zero ego and to have a niche practice group. Mine was the taxi driver. We are both stuck in the car, and there is nothing better to do than practice my Spanish and for said taxi driver to practice his/her English.

• Traveling adjusts one’s priorities related to style. I wore the same clothing all the time. I just had to accept that I most likely wouldn’t have the “right” clothing for every occasion. But I quickly realized it really wasn’t that important.

• People clap for random things. A lot. Italians take the cake. They love to clap. Espcially when the plane lands on the runway. It best to “when in Rome” the situation, and clap along with them.

• Podcasts are a lifesaver. Download as many as possible for hours of entertainment when WIFI is sparse.

• Keep an expired ID on hand. A few places expected me to leave an ID when renting an item like bicycle or moped. I wasn’t keen on leaving my actual ID (or God-forbid passport,) so having an expired one to leave (and risk losing) felt just fine.

• People wear random T-shirts with hilarious English sayings. I’m sure most have zero clue what the t-shirt says.  It’s such a wonderful little treat to read these random sayings adorning a local’s teeshirt. Some of my favorites are as follows. . .

The ones that make little to no sense:
On a grandmother with kids in Spain: You are now on my flirt list.
As seen on a young boy in Argentina: I don’t want to be learned. I don’t want to be tamed.
As seen on an older woman in China: Lindsay Lohan is a myth reality.
As seen on a teenage boy in Thailand: I live outside the home.
As seen on a teenage girl in Hong Kong: Strike fear or get stuck.

The inspirational ones:
You only live once so make today surprisingly fun.
Wanting to be someone else is a waste of who you are.
I’m not perfect, but I am a limited edition.

The well played ones:
Nice is just a place in France
Be calm, drink juice, and support Italy
School and I have something in common: Class.
Don’t let someone dim your light simply because it’s shining in their eyes.

CLASSIC.

• Get an external hard drive for extra storage of pictures.  Also, organize pictures along the way.  This is invaluable.  With nearly 10,000 pictures from my trip, organizing as I went through each city was a lifesaver.

• Once you get to know how to get around a city and you are finally feeling familiar there, it will inevitably be time to move one.

• Probiotics is like mana from the heavens sent to alleviate  the rumblin’ in the tumblin’ from exotic foods.

• Do it now. If you’re in a city, don’t wait to see something. You never know how the time in that city will play out. Perhaps you won’t have the time or tickets will be sold out. If you have the opportunity to do something, don’t bank on it being available later. That goes for traveling in general. Do it now.

One of the most common questions I would get while traveling is “Where do you do your laundry?” This question would always make me laugh. It is such a tiny detail of life and yet so very important. I totally get it. The laundry issue can be all consuming. It was regularly in the back of my mind while traveling: Do I have enough clean clothes? Am I out of clean socks, shirts, and underwear? What do I do with all these dirty clothes? Why do I have to pack these gross dirty clothes back into my suitcase? I just wish I could ditch them right here.

Over the year my laundry situation ran the cleaning gamut.

1.) The hand wash: Hand washing clothing in the hostel sink happened on many, many occasions. This worked quite well especially in warmer climates where clothing consists of light tee shirts and blouses. Of course, it was a different story with heavy socks and long sleeve shirts needed in say Patagonia.

2.) Guesthouse service: In South America many guests’ houses we stayed in had some form of laundry service. Often times it was a single washer with a drying room. Not ideal when time is of the essence, but it does the trick in a pinch.

3.) Cheap laundry drop off: South East Asia definitely took home the laundry prize for simple, quick, and super cheap laundry services. Drop off in the morning; pick up that night all for the bargain deal of $3-5. Just don’t expect items to be given special, individual treatment.

4.) Laundry Mat: I hit up my fair share of run of the mill laundry mats, mostly in Europe. Do it yourself! Now, how does this machine work?

5.) Hotel Service aka worst idea ever: When I met my parents in Rome I was in desperate need to do laundry. Due to time constraints, I decided to drop my laundry at the hotel to have it sent out. A day later I received my laundry and the bill, a whopping 30 euros. I wanted to Google “you are dirty, rotten thieves” in Italian to really get my point across to the front desk but instead I took my belongings and silently swore that I would NEVER do that again. Word to the wise-the hotel laundry service will always rip you off and there is always a cheaper option. Unless you are in complete dire straits and willing to part with an exorbitant amount of money, this option should be avoided at all costs!

6.) Fabreze and air: Sometimes it has to happen. There are no other options other than dousing the clothing in Fabreze and simply stating out loud, “I’m just going to let this baby air out for a bit.”

Our last stop on the tour de friendship was Amsterdam, or more specifically a little town called Leiden which is nestled about 30 minutes outside of the city.  I love visiting small towns one would never ordinarily imagine visiting.   In my travels, I would often ask people I met if they had ever been to the US.  “Oh yeah, sure,” they’d answer.  “I’ve been to NYC, LA, Orlando and Las Vegas.”  While those cities are all well and good, do those places really give the best depiction of our country?  Do they paint the picture of the good ole’ US of A? They certainly provide a snapshot, but small towns and cities really show our way of life.  Same goes for traveling.  I loved seeing the big cities, like Amsterdam, but if I had an oppurntunity to get off the beaten path, I’d always take it.

When Julia and I were in Vietnam we had met a Dutch couple, Iris and Yorick. We were all on a “junkboat” touring through Halong Bay. This thing truly was junk, and both Julia and I and Iris and Yorick had the distinct pleasure of sleeping in rooms that spelled like engine fluid.  If you are thinking about going to Halong Bay, get in touch with me as I have some very strong feelings on this whole situation.  Regardless, we had all been traveling through Vietnam/Cambodia/Thailand for a about a month, and after weeks of eating only Asian food, the four of us bonded over discussions of beer, cheese and real bread.  We were talking about these foods and they told us “Holland has great beer, cheese and real bread. You should visit us at some point along your travels.” We said “We love great beer, cheese and real bread! How ’bout May?” Note: Don’t offer a Wetherhold girl to visit you if you don’t mean it.  She WILL take you up on your offer.  And so it was set.  We would visit our new friends months later when we were touring again though Europe.

After leaving our parents, Julia and I took an overnight train from Vienna to Amsterdam. These things can be so hit or miss. Julia and I got our own cabin right by the train entrance and thought we had a real, sweet situation on our hands.

We thought we had perfect little set up, until approximately 1:00am when two guys burst into the cabin and made themselves comfortable right beside us. There was so much commotion and to say I was annoyed was an understatement. There is plenty of room in other cabins? Why did these guys need to come right in here with us. Keep moving down the train. I mean really. These two guys were in the cabin with us for the next 5 hours or so and we tried to make the best of it. They were speaking Spanish and I was able to interpret from my limited skills that they were from Paraguay. Around 6:00am they started rustling to get their things together, to get off the train. We were all transferring in Cologne, Germany. As the train pulled into the station, I observed one guy leave the cabin and come back with a wheelchair. He then proceeded to lift up his friend off the train seat, put him in the wheelchair and push him off the train. I noticed the man wasn’t able to move his legs at all and needed total assistance from his friend.

This whole train ride I never realized the man was a paraplegic. It now became clear to me that they had jumped into the first cabin with open seats they saw so as to not have to continue down further into the train. Although I was kind to these men, I was inwardly totally embarrassed by myself. I had gottten so annoyed with them for not looking for another empty cabin.  It really gave me pause. Nothing like being totally humbled at 6:00am in the middle Cologne.

Julia and I had about a 30 minute “layover” in Cologne. It was just enough time to run to the restroom, buy a coffee, and GET MY PURSE STOLEN. But don’t worry. I got it back with a vengeance.

Long story short, Julia and I hopped off the train, grabbed some coffee and then ran to the restroom. We had a ton of luggage and it was one of those European bathrooms with the turnstiles that force you to pay one euro to use. I mean really. A euro to use a public bathroom in a train station, nonetheless? But such is life.  I waited outside with all our luggage, while Julia ran to into the turnstile loving, euro demanding bathroom.

As I was waiting all of our things were propped against the wall next to the bathroom. I made the very amateur (can I blame it on sleep deprivation?) mistake of taking my purse off and laying it on top of my luggage.   Rookie mistake! Never take your purse off your person! But I did. I was standing right beside my luggage when I literally took one step to my right to look for Julia walking back from the bathroom.  I turned back to my things and instantly realized my purse was gone. I mean I was within arms length from my purse. I could have easily reached out to touch it and yet somehow it was gone. For a spilt second I thought “did I even have my purse on me? Is it in my backpack?” While thinking this I turned around a saw a man facing the other direction slowly walking away only a few feet from me. Some instinct told me to grab him and spin him toward me. He turned around holding my purse, looked me square in the eye and said “What?” I replied “This purse is MINE!” and proceeded to rip it out of his hands. He turned back around and kept walking.

It was honestly one of the most unsettling feelings I’ve ever had. It was just eerie and totally creeped me out. My heart was racing and I can only thank God  for my quick thinking. Julia came back right then and I said “Lets get the hell out of Cologne.”

I’m sure you’re a good city Cologne. I just had a bad 30 minutes with you. I hope to see you again sometime, and maybe we’ll have a better experience.

Perhaps I will purchase this contraption prior to returning to Cologne:

We finally made it to Leiden to visit our friends and just had the best time visiting this little city.  Isn’t always said that the Netherlands has one of the highest levels of quality of life?  It’s totally understandable.  Everyone bikes everywhere, the people are so friendly,  there is an abundance of cheese, and they specialize in this little cookie called a stroopwafel, which is essentially two thin waffle cookies with caramel in the center.

The tour de friendship continued as I left Berlin and made my way to Vienna. It was here that I was meeting my parents and also had the lovely treat of visiting a friend I had met on the Camino de Santiago back in the fall. Eva the Austrian was part of the A-Team.

What a special connection she and I made on this little walk through northern spain. I was only a week into my trip at that point, and was dealing with nearly every emotion possible; excitement, fear, loneliness, a sense of freedom. Needless to say I was all over the place. The morning I started the Camino,I walked out of my hostel at the crack of dawn. I had already given myself an exit strategy. ‘Okay, I have absolutely no clue what I’m doing right now, so the plan is to walk to the first town (approximately 15 miles away) and if it doesn’t go well I’m coming right back here to this hostel tonight on the bus.” I shed a couple of tears walking out the front stoop and said a little prayer asking God to send some good people my way. Boy, did he ever. 30 minutes later I met Eva.

We spent the next 7 days on the Camino sharing stories, hysterically laughing, drinking good Spanish wine and *oh yes* walking. Seeing Eva was top on my priority list in returning to Europe.  She showed me around her beautiful hometown of Vienna.  We spent the next 4 days catching up on our lives, laughing hysterically, drinking good Austrian beer, and *oh yes* doing a bit of walking

After meeting my parents in Vienna, we left for Budapest where we met up with Julia.  She had been traveling in Europe with friends and solo, that little jet-setter, and I was looking forward to seeing her again.  Our family plan was Budapest, Prague, and Vienna

One quick word on Budapest.  Go.  That’s it.  A single word.  Go.  Here’s three more.  We loved Budapest.  Shockingly so.  I’ve always heard good things about it, but man did it exceed our expectations.  Why you ask?  Well, it’s rich in culture, delicious in food, and cheap in forints.  You heard me.  Forints.  Not euros.  And change in currency makes all the difference.  Eastern europe is where it’s at.

The Hungarian capital city is split down the middle by the Danube River into the Buda and Pest sides.  I definitely never knew that. Each side has it’s own vibe and energy.  Buda being open, airy, calm and orderly.  Pest being vibrant, busy, crowded and littered with bars, cafes and businesses.  We were told “There are two types of people living in Budapest.  Those who live in Buda and those who wish they lived in Buda.”  And while the neighborhood of Buda was appealing with its lavish castles, churches and green parks, there is something to be said about the Pest side of the river with its nitty, gritty appeal. Julia noted she would live on the Pest side if she had to choose.  “Just more character if you know what I mean.” I knew what she meant.

If you find yourself in Budapest and you should certainly find yourself there sooner rather than later, but sure to do some of the following:

Ride the Metro-The underground metro was the first subway line in continental Europe and is considered a World Heritage Site.

Visit Turkish Baths- The family weren’t too sure how they were going to like this but  we all ended up loving it.  This place is just beautiful.  There is an indoor section and an outdoor part.  There are pools of varying degrees from very cold to very hot.  It was so refreshing and fun to do.  I just loved it.  We were exhausted after doing nothing all day.  detoxifying takes it’s toll!