How long does it take to plan a big journey? Well of course the answer is along the lines of "it depends", and indeed it does. However to be a bit more specific, a response of "a few months" is probably reflective of most journey planning.
This journey is different. It's been in the planning for a couple of years, and in the "dreaming" for a lot longer than that.
Which brings me to today. In exactly 150 days Janet and I will take our first steps out of Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, France for an almost 800 kilometre walk across northern Spain, arriving in Santiago de Compostella about 6 weeks later. The walk is generally known as the Camino de Santiago and we will be walking on the Camino Frances, the French Way.
On our journey of 6 weeks we will pass through big and well known towns and small almost nameless villages. Some of our accommodation has been planned already, and some will be a rather more hit and miss affair, staying in dormitories, or albergues, along the way. I am excited by all we will see and experience along the way - 1000-year old architecture, food, wine, people - as well as by the prospect of the actual walk itself. And I have 150 days to brush up on my Spanish.
As I sit here in Yallingup I try to imagine the combination of excitement and the enormity of undertaking that that first step out of the small French town signifies. But what an adventure. And what a photographic opportunity.
Stand by for future posts. The next one may not be until Day -1. Or it may be earlier ...
This journey is different. It's been in the planning for a couple of years, and in the "dreaming" for a lot longer than that.
Which brings me to today. In exactly 150 days Janet and I will take our first steps out of Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, France for an almost 800 kilometre walk across northern Spain, arriving in Santiago de Compostella about 6 weeks later. The walk is generally known as the Camino de Santiago and we will be walking on the Camino Frances, the French Way.
On our journey of 6 weeks we will pass through big and well known towns and small almost nameless villages. Some of our accommodation has been planned already, and some will be a rather more hit and miss affair, staying in dormitories, or albergues, along the way. I am excited by all we will see and experience along the way - 1000-year old architecture, food, wine, people - as well as by the prospect of the actual walk itself. And I have 150 days to brush up on my Spanish.
As I sit here in Yallingup I try to imagine the combination of excitement and the enormity of undertaking that that first step out of the small French town signifies. But what an adventure. And what a photographic opportunity.
Stand by for future posts. The next one may not be until Day -1. Or it may be earlier ...
