Last weekend I spent a few nights in Leon getting prepared for my Camino de Santiago trek.  Leon is a beautiful city about 4 hours northeast of Madrid.  On the way from the bus station in Leon to the hotel my taxi driver stated “Leon es muy tranquilo.  Madrid es muy rapido pero Leon tranquilo.”  Good, I thought, I like tranquility!

Many people start the Camino de Santiago in Saint Jean Pied de Port and walk the nearly 500 miles to Santiago de Compostella.  I knew I only had a week to walk.   I decided to start in Leon which is nearly 200 miles from Santiago.   This is a popular starting point for many pilgrims.  I knew I wouldn’t make it all the way to Santiago in a week but I reminded myself this experience was for the journey not the destination.

I first learned about the Camino de Santiago last summer from a friend.  She walked the camino for nearly 2 weeks and I saw all the beautiful pictures on facebook.   I  hadn’t  talked to her in quite a while so I sent her an email to get more information.  If she got back to me great, if not no big deal.   I didn’t have a strong feeling either way.  I figured when I got to Madrid it would be good for me to have something to do.  A mission of sorts.   Two minutes after sending the email she wrote back- “CAMINO!!! The Camino is amazing!  Life changing! Let’s talk about it more!!”  Wow.  That was encouraging.

The first day in Leon was spent running around the city trying to get things ready for the trek.  All “pilgrims” need a Pilgrims Passport.  This document gets stamped throughout the journey and allows a person to stay at Alburgues (or “hostels” along the way.)  Something about the Camino de Santiago seemed mysterious in a sense.  No one could give me a clear answer on certain questions I had.  Where do I get my pilgrims passport? Where exactly do I start the trek? How will I know where to stop?  A thousand questions were running through my head.

For a moment of silence I decided to go into the beautiful Leon cathedral.  I kneeled down to say a quick prayer.  Why are you so upset? I heard in my mind. Because nothing is working out and I don’t know how to do this alone that’s why I am so upset!  Don’t you know everything is going to work out? You just need to trust.   Trust I thought.  Why is trust so hard? Why do I have a constant need to control the things around me when it is completely obviously that I have no control?  With trust in my mind  I stood up and walked to the back of the church.  I asked an attendant if she knew where I could get a passport.  She directed me to an alburgue a couple of blocks away.  I walked there and was able to get most details figured out.

On my way out an older guy asked me where I was from.  He had heard me tell someone I was from the states.  I told him California.  Where? He asked.  Southern California, I told him. What part? Um, Encinitas.  Cool he said, I’m from Escondido.  What!? Small world! Of course I had to ask him if he knew one of my very best friends who was born and raised in Escondido (as well as her husband.) Nope he didn’t know them but it was a little sign.  Trust I thought again.  One step at a time.

That night I went to a Pilgrims mass.  It was a beautiful mass ending with a prayer for all the Pilgrims.  We were asked to come to the front of the church to be given a blessing for a safe and healthy journey.  On the way out all the little old ladies smiled at us and said “Buen Camino!” the typical greeting from one pilgrim to another while walking on the way.   I smiled to myself and thought “Trust.”