This is a work in progress as I walk and write of my experiences both of Portugal, the city of Porto (a city I’ve never been to, before on my travels), then the first steps on the Portugese Camino, before I head northwards for the Spanish border and finally to Santiago itself.
Before I even start out I have culled my luggage twice so far, I am allowed a limited weight as I am travelling with a low cost airline. Then a fellow peregrino ( official term for a pilgrim or traveller on the Camino) gave me a Portugese guide and these lines caught my eyes “……..of pilgrims needs to abandon clutter and to recover fundamentals. It needs to be free from the obsession with trivia, to discriminate between things that abide and passing fashion and fads*“. (I know I’m the first to admit that I’m hardly a fashionista) but I do know that we all can obsess and fuss over the trivia and inconsequential in our lives, it is only when we are faced with a life changing event that we realise the important people and things in our lives. With this in mind, I intend to lighten my load and if all comes to all, there is always the shops in Portugal or Spain to buy the essentials or that’s the plan.
Buen Camino!
See the Potugese Camino under categories.
*A Pilgrim’s Guide to the Camino Portugues. John Brierley. A Practical & Mystical Manual for the Modern Day Pilgrim. 3rd Edition
Ger Moroney 