My trip is the ONLY thing I think about now. I work out logistics, come up with questions and spend hours looking for bits and pieces of information. Last night, I figured out how to get back to Campbell River from Seattle and I tried all sorts of ways... planes, trains, ferries, buses.... until I came up with something that seemed fine. I received my credential in the mail yesterday from the Canadian Society of Pilgrims. It is lime green, shiny and in english and french of course.... It looks LOUD and not what I would imagine a credential issued in Spain would look like. Funny how vanity comes in all forms. I found myself pondering this and then read on the Pilgrim's forum that someone else felt the same and I immediately felt better. Odd really. Perhaps, I'll buy another credential in Burgos and look at my Canadian credential as a contribution.
I also read on the forum that one can buy a pilgrim's scallop on E-Bay. There is a big wave of people who now know about the el camino de Compostela. I feel an urgency to walk it before it is "too late" and wrecked by commercialism. Again an odd thought, no doubt vanity related...
It is quite interesting reading the forum and hearing what other people preoccupy themselves with - the tiniest of details and I am just the same.
Other things that come up are self image. I would never wear a Canadian flag on my pack because I don't want to be immediately labelled. Much like I am thinking about not wearing the scallop shell until I find a real one at Finisterre. These are all busy thoughts. I hope I can clear them away so when I walk, I am doing just that - walking. I would like a break from these busy thoughts. I am hoping I have allowed myself enough time to zone out and savour the walk. I realize it takes time to do this.
I'm off to walk the beloved canyon view trail with Sandra this morning... maybe with the pack or not.
