Holy Camino

As I write this email I am in a crowded little email place in St Jean Pied de Port, at the foot of the Pyrenees, about to start my Camino.

I haven't yet begun to walk but my Camino has definitely begun.

In a way it began at the beginning of the year with my intention to get clear about the next phase of my life. As people reading this blog will know, 2009 was a year of dissolution in practically every area of my life. 2010, according to numerology, is my year of manifestation.

As part of my intention to get clear on what I wanted I repeated the Chris Howard Breakthrough to Success programme and decided (along with Rob and Mike) to go to Portugal to do another of his courses in July. Rob immediately announced we all needed to have a few days in his village in France, which when I googled it, was this very village; St Jean Pied de Port, the starting point for the Camino de Santiago de Compostela.

I decided that I would go ahead of Rob and Mike, walk the Camino and then meet up with them at the end of June to begin our holiday with Rob's friends and our trip to the course in Portugal.

Jo, my friend from Queenstown, initially intended to walk with me but pulled out and Rob and Mike also pulled out of their trip. Leonie has now joined me and I will no doubt refer to her throughout this journal but will write this blog as my own experience and refer to 'my Camino'.

I called this blog 'holy camino' partly because 'camino' was already taken and partly because this year, 2010, is Holy Year in the Christian faith and this trail has been a Christian pilgrimage trail for many hundreds of years. It is expected to be pretty crowded as pilgrims from around the world walk the 800km from the South of France to the West of Spain.

I am not sure how often I will find or be bothered with internet cafes, and I have also come away without the download lead for the camera. But I may find leads, cafes, be botheredness and it might just be worth checking in occasionally if you want to follow along.