DeBoards in Spain

When we left Sarria this morning, it was a somewhat cloudy day and nice and cool. That was soon to change, and that wasn’t the only thing. As we left our Albergue, following the arrows to the trail, we realized we weren’t the only people out here. Loads of people were on the trail as…

The road from Sarria was much busier than we’re used to—it’s the shortest distance (about 100km) you can be on the walk to Santiago and receive an official compostela. And so, we walked with large groups of students, and some people noticeably wearing non-Camino clothes, and a few more people with dogs. Today, we’re four…

I’m coming to you from the upper bunk bed from a room with 20 beds at Albergue San Lazaro in Sarria. My ear plugs are girded. I’m ready to throw off my blanket at a moment’s notice when it inevitably gets stuffy. And, oh by the way, dear reader, Paula just kicked my bed from…

Today we walked from Triacastela to Sarria, a relatively light day. Not that it felt like it when the first hour and a half was an uphill climb. We’ve learned not to trust Google maps when it comes to elevation reports—everything is always “relatively flat” but somehow quite hilly. Nevertheless… Days on the Camino fall…

At some point during today’s walk, we passed a distance marker that said we were 150 kilometers from Santiago de Compostela. It rained almost the entire day, and my phone acts up in the wet, so I didn’t take a picture. But that means we’re halfway through our walk. We’re approximately 100 miles in and…

Today, it rained. We left O Cebreiro at 7:30, ponchos and windbreakers on, and descended (and descended) into rain. Sometimes it was quite heavy, sometimes a light sideways rain, sometimes a mist that seemed to rise out of the fog in the valley below. Our ponchos and windbreakers failed, our hats were soaked, our shoes…

It’s hard to believe we’re almost halfway through our walk. And today … we didn’t walk very much. Both of us are dealing with some leg and foot issues, so we made the smart decision to take it easy. A longish taxi ride through the mountains told us this was a really tough stage. And…

Yesterday I took 600 mg of ibuprofen, rubbed my shoulders and calves with arnica, and fell into a dreamless sleep. We had agreed that today would be a rest day—my knee is behaving as if it’s dislocated (yes, again), but nothing I shouldn’t be able to handle with some smart decisions ahead. Will’s legs look…

A funny thing happened on the way to writing this blog post, dear reader. I, Will DeBoard, am not sure where to begin or what to say. Those of you who know me know this doesn’t happen often. So I think we’re going to go with what made this day my favorite day, so far,…

There’s a saying around here: “The Camino will provide.” The idea is that you don’t have to worry, because if something goes wrong, something will go right to correct it. (Cfr Seinfeld’s Even Steven.) There’s also a Bible verse that (sort of) follows this concept: Don’t worry about tomorrow—each day has enough trouble of its…