In the moment

When you walk, and keep walking, you get into a different zone. Like a long backpack-- you can't just take yourself there as it takes several days and a routine that gets you to "in the moment".The first few days you are still giving up the normal 21st century world and you adopt and appreciate getting to a simpler world.

We realize how little we really need, and how liberating it is to give up the big city and most of the "modern luxuries" and enjoy a simpler yet perhaps more essential environment. Auditory and olefactory senses are peaked. Walking by different plants and fruits you really notice the changes. The power of observation takes over. We stop thinking of all the little details of life at home, world news and in one sense go very low on Maslov`'s hierarchy but also realize that it does not take much to get to wonderful thoughts and observations of what you are experiencing around you. This is life in the moment.

Walking 20-35 KM or 12-22 miles a day seems like a lot but it goes by very quickly and not sure where it comes or goes but is incredibly pleasant-- I often remind Joanna that we need to take a break or she might walk 20km without stopping. We find it interesting that we have so much to talk about even though we are walking side by side.The simple things "in the moment" include our end of the day routine of arriving at an Albergue taking a nice warm shower and then a hand wash of our clothes. Much of it is not different from a pilgrim of 400 years ago--yet with our modern footwear we can cover more ground in a day (some may say that the slower pace had its advantages) and our modern fibers dry quicker than cotton and woolen vestments. We stay in Albergues instead of a church like a mideval walker. But in the end of the day, both the modern or medieval pilgrim, cover the ground and enjoy the sights. One of our favorite times of the day is early morning. We are so far west in the time zone (actually about the same longitude as Greenwich but in Centeral Europe time for those that track these items). We start walking by headlamp. It is only light enough to turn off the headlamp at about 8:10 am and the sun breaks the horizon around 9am. We watch the colors change from the dark of night (if we are lucky with wonderful stars- not fog) to the predawn pinks and yellows. These are some of the in the moment memories with no other cares in the world.

We realize that there is another world out there but for now most of the day we suspend it. It takes a while to get there but it is a wonderous place to be.