I'm Gonna Walk 500 Miles

On the 13^th of April I will be on a stupidly early flight to Bordeaux. From there I will continue by train to St Jean Pied de Port on the French side of the Pyrenees where I have one night booked in a nice-looking private hotel. The next morning I will set out to walk the 769 kilometres to Santiago de Compostela.

Why on earth would a nominally sane man in his early sixties want to do such a thing? Bit late for a mid-life crisis isn’t it?

The answer is that I am going to follow in the footsteps of many thousands of pilgrims who since the ninth century AD have been making the journey to the last resting place of St James the Apostle. For the early pilgrims the journey had huge religious significance and many believed that completing it guaranteed them entry into Heaven after their death. Lacking a single religious bone in my body I am clearly not doing it for the plenary indulgence. For me it is about connecting to a tradition that is older than anything I know, about spending a month moving slowly through the landscape of a country that I do know and love and just maybe learning something about myself as I go. 

I don’t remember when I first heard of the Camino de Santiago but I am sure that when I read about it in David Lodge’s 1995 novel, Therapy, it wasn’t the first time I was aware of the name. Lodge’s protagonist arrives at the Camino towards the end of the story in which he has gone through upheavals in his life and is looking for closure on events from his youth. I think I can safely say that my route to the Camino is not the same as that of “Tubby” Passmore. What’s more (spoiler alert!) he doesn’t even walk the route himself. But if you want to know more you’ll have to read the book. 

My other big exposure to the Camino in popular culture was Emilio Estevez’s film, The Way, from 2010. In the movie Martin Sheen’s character finds himself walking the Camino unexpectedly, in memory of his son who has died suddenly at the starting point. In truth it isn’t a great film. The early scenes in which a group of misfits coalesces around Martin Sheen’s character to walk the route reminded me of nothing so much as The Wizard of Oz when Dorothy meets the Tin Man, Lion and Scarecrow on the Yellow Brick Road. Nevertheless it does give an impression of the Camino in the 21^st century which has stayed with me since I saw it on a flight almost a decade ago.

I’m not really sure what I expect to get out of the Camino. In a way there would be no point in doing it if I knew exactly what to expect. I think it will be tough going. The route that I have been reading about takes 31 days of walking at an average of 25 km per day although one day is listed at over 37 km. I know I can walk these distances as a one-off, but day in and day out for over a month and carrying a pack? We’ll see. I hope that I get to meet other people doing the Camino. In July and August the trails get crowded. They will be less busy in April and May but there should still be plenty of others following the Way. I hope to feel a sense of achievement at the end. I have actually sat on the terrace of a café in the Cathedral Square in Santiago and watched pilgrims arrive. They seem to be elated, triumphant and relieved all rolled into one. Some time in the third week of May I expect to know for myself how it feels.

I have been telling anyone who would listen about my Camino plans for several months. In part because I knew that if I announced my intention widely enough it would be very hard to back out. One of the questions that has been asked more than once is “Are you doing it for charity?”. I must confess that when I was first asked that question I hadn’t even considered it, but it makes an increasing amount of sense. I am a middle-aged, middle-class white male who can afford to take a month out of paid work to pursue a dream. Wouldn’t it be good if I could also be a vector to help out some less fortunate people? So I have decided to set up a JustGiving page for the Trussell Trust. The idea that a fifth of the way through the 21^st century, the sixth biggest economy on earth needs food banks – FOOD BANKS! - to ensure that some of its people have a bare minimum for their families to eat is a complete abomination. However that may be, it’s a fact and since it’s a fact those of us who can afford to do so need to support them.

If you can afford to, please go to Ian Camino at JustGiving.com and give a little to the Trussell Trust to keep that essential backstop in place. In return I promise that every day of the journey I will post images to Facebook, Instagram and Twitter that will offer a glimpse of the reality of life on the Camino. I won’t write many words because I don’t need the additional weight of a device with a keyboard in my backpack but I’ll try to find pictures that are inspiring, amusing or beautiful. And they will be pictures that neither you nor I have never seen before.