Don't Be An Asshole (Day 29)

This morning I was off to Sarria and the hike itself was nice. If this hike was an ice cream flavor it would be vanilla. Before you think I’m being disparaging, I’m not. Vanilla is great. My friend Kristen’s favorite ice cream flavor is vanilla and I commend her for it. It’s straightforward, not flashy and usually damned good. That was today’s hike. Not especially hard or easy terrain. Beautiful scenery without iconic statues or other landmarks. A few villages along the way that were friendly, both of which had good coffee. Everything was right about this hike without anything being AMAZING. It was exactly the hike I needed. I also need to realize that I’ve been going on fantastic hikes for 29 days (minus the hike in the rain on Day 10 - that one was a shit show and not pretty or fun) so my standard for amazing is really high at this point.

A typical trail for today’s hike

A 500 year old church in a tiny village along the way.

The inside of the church. There was a chain hanging from the bell but I figured with my luck I would pull on it and the whole church would collapse. Best to let sleeping bells lie.

Everyday I send Michele a “proof of life” picture in the morning when I leave and in the afternoon when I arrive at my destination. This is what she got this morning.

Pumpkins, because I’m having the best pumpkin soup of my life in this part of Spain.

At the end of the walk I arrived in Sarria. As I’ve mentioned before, it’s where a majority of pilgrims actually start their camino journey. I came in on a Sunday and in a light rain so most everything was closed and i didn’t want to spend too much time wandering in the drizzle. In the short period of time I was out I saw a lot of pilgrims eating in the bars and albergues. I’m told by everyone that the trail will get much more crowded from here to Santiago and the camino takes on a different atmosphere.

Here’s the thing, I’m kind of close to done and don’t want a big change. I don’t want a bunch more people on the trail. I like the atmosphere and trail the way they are now. I want it to stay like it’s been for 29 days.

Here’s the other thing, it’s not up to me. People should get to experience the camino however works best for them. A 100Km hike is no joke and quite an investment in itself. People have limited time they can devote to hiking and most can’t do a 35 day hike so they commit to 5 days and that’s excellent.

I’ve talked with other SJPP walkers about this as well. It’s been the topic of conversation for a couple of days now on the trail and at dinners. We’ve all had these really interesting discussions where we realized how easy it would be to scoff at the new walkers with their clean clothes and shiny new shoes. To dismiss any complaints they have from walking for three whole days in a row. To feel like we have more of a right to the camino trail then they do because we’ve been doing the “whole thing” and they are late comers. Tourists as it were. I think all of these are natural reactions and what I absolutely love the most about these conversations is that we all realize that and are going to actively defy it. Our talk always circles back to, “they are us 29 days ago!”. We’ve made a commitment to not be assholes. We’ll deal with extra people. We’ll deal with the extra noise and lines at dinner. These people are us. We will feed off of their energy to give us the boost we need to get to the end. Everyone should get to experience this walk.

Except for the first pilgrim to pass me on an electric scooter. I’m pushing that prick over.