Making My List, Checking it Twice...

I am sipping coffee (see my most-appropriate mug in the photo!) on this fine Thursday morning. I am also happily compiling bits of Camino information into my sturdy yellow-paged notebook, the notebooks that will travel with me for my 40 days of walking.

When I originally developed schemes for making this Camino adventure a reality, I had planned to have days and days to accomplish this pleasant task. I had planned to spend Jan-mid-April as a lady of liesure. But human plans frequently go awry or are discarded in the face of unexpected events. I ended up spending the last few months "pinch-hitting" at the office where I was formerly a VISTA. I was needed, in the absence of someone who had a family emergency. Thus my dreams of leisurely hours to plot and plan and consider all the myriad details of my trip, were reduced significantly.

So in the end, here I am, just days before departure, planning my tentative itinerary.

Of course it will be fine. I am not one who ever rigidly follows a plan. Planning is just an illusion of control.

Planning is a pleasant occupation and I recommend it as a mind-expanding exercise. It is like a mental exploration, an opportunity to determine what is really important and of value. Implementing the plan is not half as important as the planning. So, while my planning has taken a backseat to life, I am happily planning now. Tuesday was my last day in the rat-race of office demands.

I hope to post a tentative itinerary and my modest packing list. I have read so many Camino packing lists and itineraries over the past year and they never fail to move me.

I love to think of each individual as they make the hundreds of small decisions that lead up to their ultimate packing list. It is even more delightful to see post-Camino packing lists with a lessons-learned narrative included. The "what would I do differently" issue.

Perusing itineraries is engaging too. I read recommendations and mentally file them away.

I suspect, I will happily mull over all the recommendations and opinions I have garnered and then, I will follow my heart as I make my daily decisions on how far to walk, where to stay. This is kind of how I have lived my life - observing people, asking questions, considering opinions and then following my own heart and frequently making my own path or setting my own pace.

So check back later for a post that includes a packing list (with weights) and perhaps a list of potential stopping places.

Today I shall enjoy the planning and the coffee (in my cheerful Espana cup!).

Next Thursday, I may well be trekking my way down the Pyrenees and on my way into Pamplona.

We shall see!