Enough for Now

I have been walking with the pilgrims on the Way of Saint James, the Camino de Santiago. Today I am in Santo Domingo de la Calzada after walking here from Nájera. It was a really great day of walking, and it was my last. Tomorrow I´ll take the bus to Burgos, beginning the last segment of my travels. This has been a great experience, even if I spoke less Spanish than I wanted, due to the international nature of the pilgrimage.


It was also an inexpensive segment of my travels. The system of albergues makes it very affordable to stay overnight if you have a sleeping bag or sheet sack. Of course, it´s pretty interesting for a whole lot of people to share just a few toilets, wash basins, and showers, but after awhile, you get into a kind of group rhythm that makes it work. Is this kind of walking possible anywhere in the United States? We have places that would be just as good... and they wouldn´t have all those annoying gold retablos in the churches, and the walk wouldn´t come with any sense that visiting churches was a big part of it, maybe.


It´s different from the Appalachian Trail, which is all about getting in touch with the lingering wildness still visible in the East. It´s about culture and civilization and history, with walking thrown to slow you down as you pass through it.


Of course, some people manage to pass through all this culture and civilization and history on foot without really seeing much of it. They focus on their kilometers per day -- forty is a favoite number for this group. Then there are those who become preoccupied with the care of their feet and knees, so the only place they visit in any town where they stop is the farmacia. I got to do some of that, and it is culturally interesting, learning what another group of people think is the right way to treat this and that, but it´s pretty narrow.



But I´m wondering, do we already have anything like this? and if we wanted to have one, where would it be?