It’s raining in Porto. I haven’t even started walking yet but my feet are wet already in spite of the waterproof Goretex lined walking shoes I bought a couple of weeks ago. Last day of preparations and getting in the mood before the real walking starts tomorrow.

It was a strange feeling when I arrived yesterday. It had not been more than 24 hours since my last Portuguese lesson in Enschede during which one of the exercises we did included landmarks in Porto. I was sitting in the metro to the city centre and saw some of the names of those landmarks coming by while listening to the other passengers speaking Portuguese. It somehow felt like a logical continuation of the lesson the night before but now I was inside the exercise. Taking a plane somewhere always feels a bit alienating to me. The sudden change of surroundings doesn’t come as very natural and it always makes me feel a bit uncomfortable, like it is too much of a change at once and my mind needs some time to acclimatise.

Today it already feels more comfortable. Being in Portugal is not so distant from the Spanish speaking environment that I am used to which helps me feel not so alien. Besides that Porto and it’s city centre is a pleasant place to wander around, even in the rain which is pouring down all day today. Not such an inviting climate though to go out and get to know the city which is what I had imagined I would be doing today.

So what does one do the day before starting to walk to Santiago. You go to church. In Porto that is the Sé Cathedral where you can obtain the pilgrim passport which makes it all oficial. I had imagined that some old lady might be asking me about my reasons to walk to Santiago but in stead it was just a matter of paying 2 euros and you are handed a piece of paper with numerous slots in which stamps can be placed all along the route to Santiago. The first slot already contains a stamp of the Sé Cathedral. No questions asked.

After the cathedral it was off to that other place which I have been frequenting the past few weeks in Enschede, the Netherlands, which is my base at the moment; Decathlon. The thought of having to endure today’s rain at some point during my walk, which is not very probable as today probably one month’s worth of rain came pouring from the skies, convinced me to go to the Porto outlet of this store and buy one of the things which was still failing in my equipment: a decent pair or rain trousers. My imagination probably makes the whole getting wet thing a lot worse than what reality will be like but it makes me feel a bit more prepared anyway.

Later that day I was happily surprised when I found myself wandering rather random through the small streets of the Porto city centre. Not needing to get anywhere in particular. Quite a contrast with my first reaction I had when looking from the hostel window at the rain pouring down this morning. “What a dreadful day this will be” I thought, and “I don’t want to get all wet”. The rainy day turned out to be pretty satisfactory and my gear held up pretty decently in the city rain. Yes, my feet did get a bit wet but not causing any major discomfort.

But preparing for a pilgrimage is not just about buying stuff and acclimatising. According to the guidebook I downloaded to my phone I should also be spiritually prepared for the Camino. So let’s go back to that church and the old lady who was not there. What would I have answered?

“I feel like it’s time for some adventure” I said to a friend about a month ago. That’s part of the answer. Not a real pilgrim-like one. But after reading many books about people doing walking tours I would like to know for myself what it’s like to be walking for days on end. Replacing the routines and worries of daily life with a walking routine seems romantic and might cause an unforgettable and maybe even spiritual experience in my imagination. But I guess reality will deliver otherwise. So no real answer in just wanting to know what it’s like to undertake something like this.

I guess for me the real answer is in learning to take it easy. Something which has been quite evident during the past year during which my emotional and physical state have sometimes forced me to take it slow and sometimes driven me not to undertake certain activities at all. Perhaps the preparative walk which I did with my mother last Saturday illustrates it nicely.

My mother had already warned me that she wouldn’t be able to keep up with my pace. When I walk, I usually walk fast, as if needing to get somewhere, to achieve something. I told my mother that going slow was OK because I would be walking with a loaded backpack and my knees were hurting anyway. I was actually a bit worried about doing the walk because I was feeling my knees quite a bit every time I went out for a walk. But when we walked at this more relaxed pace I discovered that for me and my knees it was actually an enjoyable experience and that it is something that I could implement as well during my walk from Porto to Santiago.

The experience of walking at a slower pace is actually a repetition of other experiences I had during the past year in which I had to take it slow and discovered that that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It can be surprisingly pleasant actually. Just like today’s unexpected relaxed rainy day experience.

So let’s put it in more cliche wording: it’s not the destination that counts but it’s the way there. Discovering that this way can be different than what I imagined it to be is every time still quite surprising and something which my head still has a hard time to remember. I guess the next few weeks will offer plenty of possibilities to practice some openness of mind. I am still not sure if that makes me a pilgrim though but what the heck, with enough openness of mind I might even not end up in Santiago at all. Let’s see what happens along the way. At least today I already got my feet wet.