It takes at least a million steps to walk a camino. I know this because I joined a Garmin challenge in November to walk one. It took me 78 days and 1.1 million steps. I didn’t walk it in socks and sandals as the featured image suggests, I just like the feels of that photo. Hiking socks and sandals…what hiker doesn’t love that combination?! However, the camino, I did walk it from my front door, while on vacation, doing laps around airports and at home doing day to day things – all the steps counted! Let’s just sit with that gem for a moment. All.The.Steps.Count.
From time to time I checked in to see what percentage of the camino I had covered and how far was left for me to walk. Then, one day, just like that, I had completed 99% and I was almost there. On that normal day in January I was about to finish a camino! How did it feel? It felt good. Really good. Exciting even. In this current phase of my life where it often feels like I am not finishing or achieving anything – on this day, I would. I was about to finish walking the Camino de Santiago.
The true beauty of this was that I was doing it in the background of my everyday! Far away from Spain just plodding along in my daily life. Isn’t this a little bit of the camino working its magic. Magic in the mountains, the ups and downs of life, the depth of the valleys, those easy and the hard days and in the rivers, trying to find flow amongst the strong currents, who, with their own strong pull impact our days. Getting fitter, getting stronger on these normal days, doing all the normal things I needed to do and at the same time quietly walking the Camino de Santiago. Ok, I completed the distance of the Camino de Santiago, but you get my drift.
Have I signed up to walk another badge or walking challenge? Not yet. In fact I’ve taken my Garmin off for a while. I need a break from checking my numbers! Steps, sleep, HRV stats it can get a bit obsessive. I want to walk unencumbered for a while. But, if you need a nudge to move again or you feel you need to walk yourself a camino I can highly recommend it. I am proud of my virtual badge, of the 1.1 million steps in my legs and of the push towards and reconnection with daily walking. I’m also glad for the gentle reminder it gave me, that for anything to be achieved…All.The.Steps.Count.
How to walk a Garmin Camino de Santiago challenge?
You’ll need a Garmin watch that is connected the Garmin Connect app
In the app head to the challenges section and choose yourself a challenge!
Don’t have a Garmin! No problem. Use the watch you have or make your own challenge by counting your daily steps in the health app on your phone. Easy. Just walk.
Shared dorm room €30 including bunk bed, dinner and breakfast.
Recommend, yes ✔️roomy, mountainous, bar and restaurant on site, pilgrim meal and breakfast available, washing facilities, great vibe to sit and chat or enough space to chill on your bed.
Another day of climbing mountains and spectacular views in rural, green North Spain. It has been quite a physical walk so far. I am enjoying the challenge but I can’t say I expected this. I’m glad I spend most of this year collecting days in a run streak! My streak started early in the year when I was missing home. Due to restrictions, getting back to has been Australia hard, impossible actually. I had this wacky idea I’d run (minimum) a mile or 1.6kms a day until I could return home to see my mum. I was inspired by Shiva who had been running everyday since 2015. Yes! Every.Single.Day. She’s still going. I ran a total of 223 days until a rolled ankle (the casualty of living in a renovation) ended my streak. Those 223 days opened the door to this hike. Once my ankle recovered I was ready for a new challenge and to move.
I digress, back to the camino! I walked with Jo a bit this morning and also some of the trail alone. We walked a strong pace and we chatted about big things in a relaxed way. It was a nice morning. After some of our chats I would take the time walking alone to ponder what we’d talked about.
Fi and I have a loose plan of staying in Deba this evening. Just before Deba I met up with Jo again and we walked into town together. He has such an interesting and layered story as to why he is walking. Once again I am reminded just how little we can know someone until we actually talk, really talk to them. It can be so easy to think you can know someone even by the briefest of interactions. I am so good at putting people in a box! The camino always reminds me how often I get this wrong. The camino has this way of cutting out the crap talk and just getting close to people. #CaminoMagic
Once we arrive in Deba, a classic 1343 historical, gorgeous and European feeling town. Jo and I take a break in the lively plaza to have a coffee and some lunch. As we soak in the atmosphere sitting out in the sun amongst the locals, we are still pilgrims/hikers. 😂😂😂 Jo starts to change his socks and do his foot care routine.
We all have our own routines. Me, I never take my shoes off until the end of the day’s walking. I am sure I wouldn’t want to put them back on if I did! While we are sitting there we meet two Dutch pilgrims. These poor guys were looking at a ‘camino over’ on account of debilitating blisters. They were only here for a week to hike but after three days their feet are in bad shape. In this BIG world, what a SMALL world the camino can be. One of these guys comes from a village next to mine in The Netherlands, his wife works for the school group my kids go to! She is English. #CaminoMagic
Coffee, tapa and foot care sorted, we head out of town to look for the Deba Albergue. It has good reviews and sits above the train station. We can’t seem to find how to get in or where to find the hospitalero. Then, as it happens on a camino … we see Jenny and Peter. They are now walking with Ulises from The Canary Islands. They’ve all booked an albergue 5 kms up the mountain out of Deba. Ulises phones for us to see if there are 3 more beds, we are in luck. I call Fi, luckily she is in within network range. I explain the situation and I’m sure I can hear her eyes rolling. An extra 5kms can be a lot if you’re not planning them and it is a hot, hilly day. Fi loves a camino experience and knowing our new friends will be there and the albergue serves up a pilgrim meal she rolls with the change. A day that continues to unwinds itself in its own way. #CaminoMagic
Once we arrive up at our albergue I know we’ve made the right choice. It’s past life was a dairy barn so it isn’t the fanciest. But my gosh it has those luxurious after hike, chill out vibes. We are in the countryside with an expansive landscape, the beer is cold and the showers are warm. I nab myself and Fi a bottom bunk. Ha ha the joy of arriving early. I always try to avoid the top bunk! After the post hike rituals shower, washing, foot care, organising water for tomorrow etc I settle down with my journal, a cold beer and some chat with my new mates.
As the afternoon progresses Fi joins us as well as a few new friends from around the world. Ricky from Japan who is on a gap year, he is here to practice his Spanish. Lydia from America (originally Poland) also arrives. I have seen her on the trail before but I haven’t met her yet. She is actually the life of the dinner. She has walked tons of caminos, dreams of retiring in Spain and is attentively interested in everyone. She is also very good story teller, Fi thinks she has a secret story, maybe a Hollywood actress or something. I like indulging in this intrigue.
Highlight:
It is hard to pick one, so I won’t. These past three days have been nothing I expected and everything I needed. So yeah that is the highlight for me, a day where all the magic unravels.
Ho hum:
How little I need. A backpack, a few essentials, great trails, the right people. At the moment, I do carry more than I need in this life.
Handy gear tips:
I didn’t bring a spare bag to take to the shower or for towns. Fi does this, an ultra light shopping bag that rolls into a small pouch. It is a good idea and one for next time!
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