It is over a week since I completed my walk from Le Puy en Velay to Cahors, and it seems like time for some reflection on the enterprise: what has been done so far, what is still to be done, and what I have learned in the process.
So let’s look back at what has been done. The whole thing started out in Luzern back in 2014. In a desultory kind of way, I walked the stages of the Via Jacobi through Switzerland from Luzern to the French border. It was a case of doing a day’s walk now and again, in among the other walking projects that I had going on. So it is hardly a great surprise that it took until Easter 2017 to reach the French border after 302km and 13 days of walking. That is before I started documenting my walks here, so the memories are different.
And last September I started out from that same place on the Swiss-French border and walked the 340km to Le Puy. It is documented in the postings here, so I won’t go into details.
And in the recently completed walk to Cahors, I have completed another 339km. That took me from the hills and gorges of the Auvergne, across the high Aubrac Plateau, and down into the oak forests of Quercy. It means that altogether I have walked 981km.
I have calculated that I have another 388km to go to Saint Jean Pied de Port. In my postings here I have said that my objective for 2018 was to reach Roncesvalles, or at a minimum Saint Jean, so the planning is already underway for that. But I have also had to face a question for myself: which Camino route to take in Spain?
There are actually two routes: the very popular Camino Frances, and the less traveled Camino del Norte. Having seen the numbers of walkers traveling between Le Puy and Cahors, and that being long before reaching what most people consider the Camino, I am not sure about following the more popular route. Right now, my inclination is to take the Camino del Norte. But there is a bit more reading to be done before making that decision.
With regards to learnings, there are a few. Last September, I was averaging over 30km each day. I learned that just because you can do something does not mean that you should, and this time I kept it to an average of just over 25km per day. That worked well, but with a longer distance to go on the next stage, I am considering increasing it again closer to 30km each day.
I also carried too much this time. Last time, I only used my phone for photographs. I was not altogether happy with the photographs that I took, so this time I carried my Canon EOS complete with extra lens and case. It certainly added 2kg more to my weight of baggage and was bulky and awkward. So I am planning on something in between for the next stage: a small high resolution camera that I can take out quickly and will be light to carry.
And I guess that the most important learning is still that “I can do this”. In fact, while I had some doubts before starting last September, this time there were no doubts. And I have no doubts that I can reach Saint Jean.
I just have to make the time for it. I was going to say “find the time”, but time is not something you find. Time is something that we sometimes waste, and that sometimes people steal from us. Time is a commodity to be managed very selfishly if we are to achieve our goals in this world.
So now it is back to the planning and the preparations for the next stage.
Walkingman 