Turns out I haven’t had much energy in the evening to post here (been more likely to post pictures on Instagram: @acuriousloop) but do want to offload some thoughts about my first week of the Camino.

The first stage carried us through the Pyrenees, Basque country/Navarra and into the Rioja region. For the most part the landscape has been fairly dry pastoralia surrounded by low rocky mountains. The trail has gone through farms, villages, small cities, and lots of wine vineyards. The scenery has been open and expansive and has changed only very gradually since descending from the mountains.

I personally have had a challenging week acclimating to walking 15-17 miles a day on mostly hard surfaces. It’s been an exercise in listening to my body. A couple times already I’ve stopped before the typical checkpoint to let my feet and legs recover, and sometimes to take a break from the linguistically exhausting socializing (French, Spanish, English, and German are all being spoken in the albergue common room as I write this).

My spirits have been holding up with the occasional fallout due to low energy. It’s been helpful to recognize more and more faces as the cohort of pilgrims that started around the same time moves along together.

I’m loving the rhythm of getting up and walking then lounging and exploring a new place. It’s tiring and sometimes destabilizing, but the walking has been meditative and the Camino infrastructure and community have been very supportive in so many ways.

There’s really not too much to worry about on this trail. No bears, venomous snakes, or risk of getting too lost. Once my body stops aching so much, I’m not sure what my mind will turn to during the slow march to Santiago.