Friday, May 31, 2024

Waking early at 3:00 I snooze until 6:00 am. I prepare for the upcoming day in the darkness and silence of the donativo. I begin walking with another satisfying and quick pace. By 9:00 am I have walked 11 kilometres. And then, I ran into Edy, a man I had met in line at Roncesvalles on the second day of this walk! He was standing on the trail, resting after having completed a climb. When he sees me, he needs a second to understand what he is looking at. His eyes widen, his jaw drops, and a massive smile appears. The same happens with me! I haven’t seen Edy for two weeks! He was experiencing issues with his feet and had taken time to recover. Now, he is back walking and is aiming for Sarria where he will take some time off from the walk, collect his family who are flying in, and return to the trail to walk the final section from Sarria to Santiago in ten days. Today is his last day on the trail before he takes his ten-day break. I am so lucky to have run into him! We walk into Sarria together and find a restaurant where coffee and breakfast are enjoyed. We take a few selfies, exchange contact information, and film a ten-second portrait of him, and then we say goodbye and ‘buen camino’. It is such a wonderful and lucky experience! Ten minutes later I meet up with Greg, Paul, Rob, and Nicola on the far edge of town. A few more ten-second portraits are filmed before we begin walking again. Rob is staying overnight in Sarria. Paul and I make plans to meet up down the trail. Next, I film ten-second portraits of Craig and Nicola for the film. Many laughs. I walk solo for a few hours—fast and confident. Upon walking into Portomarin by 2:20 pm I hear my name called and see Sander, Fay, and Chloe on a patio. They are leaving for the next town where they will stay 13 kilometres down the trail. I check in to my albergue. Shower, organize, write. I am surprised to learn that I have made over one terabyte of material on this walk of video clips, photos, and writing. I met an interesting man named Jay at the albergue over an interesting conversation. He turned out to be slrrping in the bunk directly below mine. The day ends exhausted but feeling confident with the walking and the work!

Today’s distance walked: 42 km    |    Total distance walked: 860.13 km