I’m not sure what people are thinking as they see me hiking my neighborhood with loaded backpack and, now the click and clack of a pair of trekking poles. No one has asked yet and most won’t believe me when I tell them I’m about to embark on a 500 mile hike across Spain. I’m reminded of my friend Ron Moore who would always ask the same question when I would say I was training for a marathon. “How long will this marathon be?” he would ask and everytime I would answer 26.2 miles as his face showed he had no idea what the 26.2 mile distance meant. No offense, Ron, if you should ever read this.

With the Camino de Santiago, there are so many meanings that confusion is understandable. I know many take the shortest trek which will earn them their “I did the Camino” credential, the 135 km from Sarria to Santiago. Some start a little further out, but according to some statistics I saw referenced today, most of the pilgrims arriving daily at the Basilica in Santiago, something around 2900 just a few days ago, have walked one of the lesser distances. This is by no means diminishing the accomplishments of those who walk the hundred miles or so in their pilgrimage. But just as many think that a 5k race, or 10k, is a marathon when they are only 1/5 or 1/10 of a true marathon, there’s a difference between trekking 500 miles from St. Jean Pied de Port to Santiago de Compostela and the alternate trek from Sarria to Santiago.

Anyhow, I think 500 miles still is a meaningless distance to many. “Heck, 500 miles don’t even get you to El Paso.” But now, in the interest of transparency, I’m not even sure what 500 miles feels like, taken in 16-18 mile daily doses, and I still don’t have a grasp on this challenge ahead. But what I do know is that in less than two weeks I’m about to take those first steps. Meanwhile, I’m doing what I can to get myself prepared mentally and physically, though most of the answers as to why I’m doing this and whether I am capable of doing it will only come as I put one foot in front of the other, just like in a marathon.

Hey! Wrote this all while sipping my Starbuck’s Americano. My little tablet and bluetooth keyboard blogging kit is testing out A-OK. Now, back to the road and back home. It’s a wonderfully mild summer evening here with a nice breeze. Good night for walking. “Ain’t It a Pretty Night!” Thank you Carlisle Floyd.