I am heading homewards and the magic of the Camino is already wearing of a bit. It’s cold and gray outside as I am watching out of the train window while traveling from Eindhoven Airport to final destination Enschede. As i’ve done many times during the past weeks I have a look at the weather forecast; more coldness and more grayness. But let’s not go there just yet. In this post I will share some post arrival moments to feel the Camino magic just a little bit longer.

Last day of walking. I don’t really know what to expect of this day. A part of me wants to arrive at destination, another part wants to keep on walking. What will arrival in Santiago feel like? Will it be special or will it be like the most common thing in the world? Only one way to find out.

I am still on the Spiritual Way today. Will today’s experience be as enlightening as yesterday’s one? Let’s find out in a different manner this time; 4 short stories to describe my day.

I just want to walk. That’s the feeling with which I start today. I don’t want to look at the weather forecast to see if it will rain or not. I don’t want to check my guidebook once again to see what to expect for the next stage. I don’t want to check the app on my phone to see where I can sleep tonight. It all does not really change anything and all of these routines sometimes get a bit in the way of walking. And today I am a bit tired of them. So today I will just walk.

Yesterday my walk ended quite early and with a painful foot. I walked with a limp around the town center of Redondela to see if some relaxed walking offered some relief. It doesn’t really. I realize it’s in part because of the large distance I walked after my resting day. Go easy is the mantra I have been repeating to myself during the first part of this trip not really having complied with it. Is this my body repeating the same mantra to me again? Tomorrow I will really try and listen. Will I succeed?

I had hoped rainy days were over. To not have to walk through rain again nor write about it again. But life, just like the Camino, has it’s own ways and does what it wants. I can only adapt although my mind finds it difficult to do so. I will try to not repeat myself in this blog post since I’ve already written a lot about rainy days before and will refrain from using words like ‘rain’, ‘water’ and ‘wet’ any further in this blog posting.

Shall I stay or should I go? That is the question which I was asking myself after doing more tha. 30 kilometres on day 8 and ending it with some pain in my leg. I was planning on doing a rest day a bit further on but now might be a good time as well.