The Stone Site

The Clock is ticking and i’m trying to prepare as much as possible – one part of it is selecting a stone to bring!

I have realized that there are actually quite a few traditions around stones when you are walking the Camino. One of them is to pick up a stone at Montes de Léon (the biggest you can carry) and then drop it at Foncebandon. Another one is about the Iron Cross – here you should drop a stone taken from home. Sounds stupid? At first it may! But when reading about it, i realize that these are the things that perhaps makes the Camino a bit different compared to just a 800 KM long race. Carrying stones isn’t that something we do all the time, of course they are normally not visible and some of us poor bastards carry big ones and some others a bit smaller ones. At least i’m convinced about it – so it’s time to pick one from home! (Or should I order it on the web from Alibaba? Pre-dropped!)

To Combine the traditions and bringing the biggest stone from home is perhaps not a good idea – so I leave this stone alone!

10 Days before Take off! I’m starting to be a bit nervous – is everything under control?

Preparation is one thing, planning is another one. The distance is known, but how long time will it take? You are not driving a car – you are walking! And sometimes in sunshine, sometimes perhaps in rain. So with my walking friend “Runkeeper” i started to measure time. Walking alone in the early mornings, i’ll do about 5 KM an hour, but that’s just for about 2 or 2,5 hours. When walking a bit longer then it’s suddenly about 4 KM! And then with some breaks you are doing perhaps 3 KM or 2 KM an hour…

Doing things without a plan is perhaps not my thing – and one part of the fun is the planning! So early february I bought the Michelin Travelling Guide, then used Booking.com do book the Hotel. Of course i messed things up in the beginning like dates and some places – but finally i think i got it quite fine … I hope! This morning I finalized a nice visual Route Table Plan and calculated the distance. Red alert, and panic mode; i’m going to walk a bit over 40 KM in just one day – how did I plan that? However running around in panic circles, reading the Travelling Guide I realised that I mixed up “San Miguel del Camino” with “San Martin del Camino” – and suddenly the plan was a bit more realistic. I have to be careful reading names, there looks to be a lot of  “del Camino” and “del Real Camino” however it’s the full name that matters!

So if you would like to know my plan, just click on the Michelin book below. It’s spiced up with sticker slogans from an AIIM collegue; “Plan Once Succeed Twice” – that’s a very good one!

Preparing for the Camino is not just arranging flight tickets, getting useful shoes, USB-Charger etc – it’s also about brushing up the Social Precense. And there is a lot of do in this area for me! Walking the Camino is about weight, whatever you bring you have to carry with you for 800 KM! So bringing a Laptop is perhaps not prio #1. Therefore I will try to be as mobile as possible – and that’s not easy for an old fart as me. Typewriters and keyboards I like! One finger mobile writing is however not my cup of tea! But let’s see – i’ll start with this page on my computer and hopefully the other posts will be through my tablet or phone!

Talking about phones and modern technology, while brushing up my physics I stumble upon this classic phonebox. Can still remember putting in all the coins needed to make a call, and most of them just got lost ….