As a teacher, I live by routines in my classroom. New experiences have the potential to create two different reactions. Predictability can help kids feel safe, and their needs met. When needs are in the bag, new experiences are exciting and have the potential to lead to some really deep learning. Unpredictability can cause fear and anxiety, suddenly any new learning is lost as kids spend all their energy trying to ensure that they are safe and fed. It's Maslow, he knew what he was talking about then, and it's still true today. Traveling, just like the classroom, has the potential to cause the same reactions. Predictable routines created during travel can lead to amazing experiences, deep learning, and create lifelong adventure seekers.
We are somewhat Vagabonds, sleeping in a different place every night, and pretty much everything from the toilet paper to the light switch is new. So routines don't come easy, but sticking to a few basic, predictable things can make a difference.
We wake up at 6am and are out the door with a piece of toast in our mouth and our packs on our backs by 7am. Sometimes this means we are walking with the stars, and it always means we get to see the sunrise. If you know how much the Amundsons enjoy sleeping in, you will recognize this as a Camino miracle. We also start with a prayer and decide as a family who we are going to pray for that day. Then throughout the day each of us prays as we walk.
Then the first town that we come to is Claire's favorite part of the day "SECOND BREAKFAST!" She sees that first town and suddenly picks up her step. That piece of toast just isn't gonna cut it for a 25km hike, but second breakfast is the solution to most situations that we have found. We eat heartily and well at second breakfast, our favorites include a potato/egg/whatever is leftover from dinner the night before called tortillas de patata. Then there is a cafe con leche for me and ColaCaos for the girls- a hot chocolate with steamed milk from the espresso machine.
Then we walk... and walk... we don't walk fast, but we left these pilgrims in the dust.
At noon we take a break and usually eat whatever we have in our pack, sometimes some questionable cheese, usually ham... lots of ham. Hiking in the fall has been amazing as the harvest is coming in, so we are benefiting from the overabundance. Lots of fresh tomatoes, the most amazing pimientos that I have ever eaten, asparagus, olives, sunflower seeds, oranges, and apples. The bounty is coming in, and we are enjoying it all. We are currently in Rioja, so we have walked by miles and miles of grapevines. We did not pick these, cause that would be stealing. But there is a huge benefit to hiking with cute little girls. We were walking and the workers who thought Claire was "que lindo! Esa peregrino!" gave her a bunch. She gets all kinds of treats all the time, chocolates from old women and cookies from the old men. It's like hanging out with a pretty girl in a bar. She has no idea that you actually have to buy things in Spain.
Then we walk some more and at least once a day try and see something cool. Either a cathedral or a catacomb (cause nothing says cool like old dead kings or bishops underground).
More walking until we get into a town around 2 or 3 pm. We shower and do our laundry so it can dry outside (I miss my dryer something fierce). We do some school work which is mostly interviewing other pilgrims from different countries to learn about where they are from and what it is like in their countries, journals, and reading then... SIESTA!
At about seven we try and find mass within the community, you just have to listen for the bells and make your way to the center of town. One of our most treasured moments on the Camino was sitting in a pew in a very small village when a nun who was no taller than Claire, yet decades older, spotted her and with a delighted grin scooched up to her. Then secretly kept slipping her sweets during the service as they giggled. Spanish nuns are the best.
Dinner is late, no early bird specials here in Spain. We were at a restaurant once asking if we could eat at 5pm, and they said the kitchen just closed, they meant for lunch service. Dinner wasn't even on their radar yet. So after mass about 8 or 8:30 we look for dinner. Many of the places that we stay have community dinners for a "pilgrim price". This means the price is pretty reasonable, but you get what you get, and you sit with everyone. No choice in food or friends, and yet I'm telling you every meal has been better than when we pick. This is where this forever-long hike, turns into a pilgrimage. When people from all over the world come together over some stew. A couple days ago I sat next to a woman my age who was born and raised in Siberia, as in Russia. I know this cause I made a comment about how cold it was today, and she is apparently a one-upper, ha! I know I should have let Charlotte interview her, but I jumped in on this one- in my 40 years I have never met anyone from Siberia, and I had questions!
Then we are in bed and asleep asap, ready to repeat again the next day in a different town with a new view but the same pattern and the same goal for the day- walk to Santiago.
For 24 days we haven't had a consistent bed or table, but I feel like we are starting to create a small sense of home. Our "home" just looks like the routines that we have built around each other and around this fascinating journey on the Camino.
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