Getting started

If you've never heard of it before, the Way of St. James - known in France as the Chemin de St Jacques - is probably better known as the Camino de Santiago. Or simply the Camino. It's a long-distance trek or pilgrimage that the majority of people either start in in St-Jean-Pied-de-Port, France, or Roncesvalles, Spain - a distance of about 500 miles. This route is called the Camino Francés. Some people walk different routes (mostly in Spain) and this is what I'm going to do.

This summer, on May 31st, I will set out from Le Puy-en-Velay, France to begin my Camino. About 1,000 miles total, doubling the typical distance. Why am I doing this? Because I want to. You might call me crazy, but I plan for this to be an adventure of a lifetime.

I have begun my preparations, having received my chosen pack for Christmas. An Osprey Ariel 65 liter hiking backpack. Most Camino pilgrims will tell you this is too much. But not for my trek. I plan to camp as much as possible, so will be toting a tent along with me, cooking supplies, sleeping bag and liner...

Since I'm visiting my sister in the Minneapolis area, I went to REI and got a few more things - a sleeping pad, sleeping bag liner, mess kit and utensils, and a sil-nylon day pack that packs down to a tiny bag smaller than a tennis ball.

My sister is a nurse, so she's helping me get my training in place. It'll include eating better and an exercise schedule. I'm using SparkPeople's app to track my food intake, especially helpful because it has a barcode scanner that will automatically enter all the nutritional info and serving size. So far there's only one item it hasn't found in the system already. I even managed to scan the barcode sticker on a banana!

Anyway, for more information about the Camino in English, you can go to the Confraternity of St. James site for the UK or here. If you read French, you can read about the first part of the journey here.