A spoonful of raspberry and dark chocolate sorbet prances on my tongue. It's a bright day at the beach. I'm reminded of Barcelona and how much I absolutely adored my time there.
After my marriage imploded, I found the strength that had been buried under years of Yeses to her and Nos to me, the only thing that made sense was to walk the Camino de Santiago.
Now, that probably sounds bizarre. Um, the only thing that made sense was to walk 500 miles in Northern Spain on a catholic pilgrimage when I'm not even religious? In a word, Yep!
I had flung myself heart first into an entirely different life and honestly had no idea what I was doing or what I was capable of. I got up everyday, went to work, came home, saw friends occasionally, repeat.
The notion of relying on myself was what my soul guided me to do. It was the only way.
So, I began my training. I knew I couldn't simply walk 500 miles. Like, hey, let's go for a 500 walk over the next few weeks, great! Uh... no girl,no.
My friends Alyson and Mark were also going to be walking the Camino in the fall and I the following spring. For months we walked increasing miles one weekend day a week. I also began to go to the gym and enter 5k and even a 10k.
I had never thought of myself as athletic. Growing up, I was a chubby girl. I had placed - along with others'- a stigma of unhealthy, fat and nonathletic on myself. Those were lies. With each step counted on my fitbit and trip to the gym, I began to change my perception of myself. I realized I was athletic! Having curves didn't have anything to do with being in shape and healthy. I was run/walking 5-8 miles at the gym several times a week and toward the end of my training, I was up to a 15 mile hike.
Alyson and Mark postponed their trip due to an injury and I believe it was meant to be that we all started the Camino together. We left in April of 2014 on the adventure that would change my entire life.