We knew that we would not be walking this year. We had to be in Singapore during our preferred September / October walking season and in the US during the alternative May walking season. That wasn’t great for my annual “get fit” month but I accepted it. I did, at least circumambulate an eight-day tour around the coastline of Singapore in May (which I do not recommend to anyone else). Also, Melanie and I planned to walk a series of cross-island trails on Singapore’s parks connectors and trails during September and October, hoping to get a lot of 20-25km days in. We were going to try to mimic at least the distances of the Camino while letting the extra heat and humidity make up for the lack of any elevation.

Well, at least that was what we planned. Our reason for being in Singapore next month has fallen through though. Oh shucks. What to do? A last-minute Camino? Why not?!?! Once again though, with no training time and limited preparation time, we will be walking the same route as last year – from Pamplona to Santiago – but we are also budgeting time to walk to Muxía or Fisterra. We will see how that goes. We are also committing to cutting back what we carry so that we can hopefully start carrying all our gear again, every day. Since the middle of our first Camino after COVID, were have used the baggage forwarding service. We want to go back to packing lighter, carrying everything and saving €14 per day. We will see how that goes. I was only 61 years old when I last carried my bag across a county. Let’s see if my body allows it again.

There is one other potential difference that I am considering for this Camino. I have written a blog for every long walk that we have done for a bunch of reasons. Originally, it was so my siblings would know what is going on and where I was. Also, I needed to remember the walks, who we met, what we did, how we felt, etc. so I kept it going. Then some friends said they enjoyed following along with us vicariously. Then our grandkids came along and my son used the stories for sleeping aids for the kids (yes, I know that is insulting to me, but they are my flesh and blood and I love them). Along the way, I also tried to make the blog more informative for the occasional random pilgrim looking for guidance or inspiration on walking a route. This year, I might just blog when and if I feel inspired to. I may just save more time to enjoy the experience of walking with a new batch of fellow pilgrims. Maybe I’ll still post something every day out of habit. Maybe I’ll just post the most important stories. I don’t yet know but I sure will find out. We plan to start walking on 18 September. I can’t wait.