You learn things about yourself when you travel. For instance:
1. I’m in really lousy shape.
2. I much prefer kilos to pounds.
3. You find a lot of time to be grateful when you eliminate the noise.
Over the last few months, I spent considerable time researching the Camino and learning about the things I would need to bring with me, and the things I could leave behind. Each and every forum I frequented featured pilgrims new and old, counting the grams in their pack and figuring out how to walk as light as possible. I thought they were splitting hairs – and then I packed my rucksack. My pack weighs 18.3lbs – or 8.3 kilos! The latter metric sounds like a much better outcome for my knees and my back. It's supposed to weigh no more than 10% of your body weight. For once, my chocolate chip cookie habit has worked to tip the scales (quite literally) in my favor in endeavoring to meet that mark.
One other piece of pilgrim advice came in handy earlier today when I received an email letting me know that my train to St. Jean Pied de Port tomorrow had been cancelled. French trains, it seems, run when they want to run.
Semper Gumby they said, and let the Camino take care of you. I’m not quite on the trail yet, so I had to improvise and turn to my good friends at Expedia, who quickly found an EasyJet flight from Paris tomorrow afternoon. I’m fairly certain I’ve spent a traveling lifetime avoiding EasyJet, but for an hour and thirty minutes tomorrow, I’ll be cheering them on.
Finally, I’ve been thinking about something Krista suggested to me several years ago, when things were dragging, and motivation was hard to come by. She welcomes the day, you see, and wakes up with the kind of positive disposition and energy that only a full pot of coffee can provide in my world. She suggested that each morning, I dedicate my day to someone as a way of maintaining forward momentum and thinking about someone else in my daily pursuits. It was a sweet and endearing idea that came and went as the days went by, and never really stuck amid the daily hustle and bustle. And so as the idea of taking a Camino began to take shape, this old idea gained new significance, and I decided to give a go once more.
Traveling across the Atlantic Ocean tonight, I’ve dedicated my first day to my friend and guardian angel, Carl Hyman. For those of you who knew Carl, you knew that he was fond of traveling. As a mentor, he worked to inject a sense of intellectual curiosity about the world into the otherwise mundane work we sometimes had to do in the world of standardized testing. He opened doors to far-away places and challenged his friends and colleagues to see the world a little differently (yes, he wanted you to see it his way, but I digress). His counsel always came with a healthy dose of constructive criticism when he saw things he thought were upside down. For instance:
- I was once kicked out of my office at 2:30 in the afternoon on a Thursday, because I didn’t have anything else to do. Contrary to my every professional instinct, Carl wanted me to go to the gym and grab a workout, rather than being idle because someone said I had to sit there until 5 o’clock. “Go think” I remember him saying, “and maybe you’ll drop a couple pounds while you’re doing it.” Tough love.
- I was marked down in an annual employee review when Carl noticed that I had accrued several weeks of unused vacation time and had no plans to use the days before they expired. He questioned my judgment in failing to take time, noting that this was a company provided benefit, and part of my employ. If I wasn’t being good to myself and my family, I wouldn’t be any good to him in the office, and everyone in my life would suffer. I’ve never forgotten that.
When Carl left us, he left a hole in our hearts, but Krista and I have always felt him watching over us – in whatever way that happens – in those occasional quiet moments when we need it most. He’d hate that idea, and the idea that someone wrote all of this down, but tonight he’s on my heart at the beginning of the next great adventure in my life. Mazel Tov, my friend, wherever the stars may find you.
Paris to St. Jean Pied de Port tomorrow, come EasyJet or high water.
Will