It’s crazy to think I’m only a week and a half away from leaving on my big adventure. I’m stressed – not about starting the Camino, but about preparing everything for being gone. Training coworkers to cover for me, making sure all the bills are paid, getting mail stopped, etc. I know everything will come together, but I can’t help but stress about it anyway. 🙂

What I’m not stressed about is being prepared for the walk. I’ve been training with long urban walks (10+ miles), hiking every weekend including a 13 mile hike with friends this past weekend. My body feels ready. I’m guessing this based on the fact that I can feel great while walking 25 miles in a weekend and still get out of bed on Monday. 🙂

I also feel prepared gear wise. I’ll add my packing list in another post, but I feel like I have the things I need for five weeks of walking – and they all fit in one 37 liter backpack. In fact, I’m actually trying to take things out of that pack now to keep the overall weight down.

Probably the best part of my preparation is all the support I’ve received from family and friends. It’s hard not to be excited about a big journey when people all around are cheering you on, sharing good resources or simply excited to hear about your upcoming adventure.

I know I will endure pain on my walk. I know I will get annoyed by having to listen to other people snore in the alburgues. I know I will have moments where I wonder why I’m there. But as one friend told me recently “Amazing thing to do that relatively few amongst humanity get to do….savor every minute of it.” And that I will.