"How can you afford such a prolonged excursion?!"

Hailey: I am (slowly) making my way through "The Way is Made by Walking" by Arthur Paul Boers (2007), and I've come across some good food for thought:
Why fly all the way to Spain to walk? Why not just step out of the house and begin?

"Well, for one thing, not every walk is a pilgrimage."(...) "There was a time when pilgrimage meant traveling far, usually by walking, from wherever one happened to live." (from as far away as Austria even! see maps post!)  "Now, tens of thousands of Santiago pilgrims annually move by plane, bus, train or car to some more convenient place to begin by foot, bike, or even horseback." (my mom said she and my dad had to avoid stepping in horse plops along the way!)  

 "While a five-hundred-mile pilgrimage" (that's 800 km)  "may sound pious - and I admit to some self-righteous pride about this - it was a tremendous privilege.  How many people can afford such a prolonged excursion?  More than once someone asked: What do you do for a living that makes this possible?" (pp. 18-19)

To answer that, as I already have in post "The way to The Way", for me, I've come to what feels like the end of a long journey and life dream to become an art therapist. I've been working towards this since 2008. That's 7 years on the road to becoming an art therapist. There were points (I applied to my MA program 3 times) where I didn't think I'd make it to my goal.  It's funny to think about that now as the thought never crossed my mind to give up, but I sometimes just doubted I would reach the end.  I am full of self-doubt despite my life being full of amazing opportunities and things turning out for the best again and again.  So now, after this long journey (during which I have barely travelled or taken a holiday or break from studying or working) I am FREE!! Like, truly free. As in I have no obligations to anyone except myself and now utilising my hard-earned degree and newfound status as an art therapist.  Other than THAT small detail, I am FREE!! I do not have children or a spouse and though I am sometimes lonely, the feeling of being completely untethered is pretty fantastic, I have to admit! And I am privileged to be able to afford this trip (having worked all throughout my master's and lived off of my savings). So what should I do now that I've come to the end of my MA in Art Therapy journey? Embark on an 800km journey on foot across Northern, Spain, and not buy a return ticket - of course!
I'll let my dad tell you more about why he's so privileged to be able to afford such a "prolonged excursion."

Maps of the Camino

 

This last map above is - believe it or not - all of the routes people take to get to Santiago.  Some people ACTUALLY WALK from DENMARK! For real.

WOW! That was quick!

Bruce: Wow! Hailey set up this blog in just an hour or so! I told you she was pro-active! I would never have thought of this or known how to do it.
I am very proud of my smart daughter! http://thewayfatherdaughter.blogspot.ca/

WHY I AM "PRIVILEGED"

I am "privileged" as Hailey wrote to such a long retreat because I am self-employed and can basically take off whatever time I want. Besides, this is usually a fairly slow period in my work as I do a lot of marriage preparation, and couples most often get married in the summer.

So, it is a good time to take some R & R, although if the Camino is anything like when Grace and I went last year, it will be anything but rest and relaxation. By the way, Grace is not coming this year because of leg problems she experienced last year.

Maybe I am crazy doing this again, but the Camino is still there, I only did 300 km of it last year, and I like to finish what I start, which is the other 500km. In some ways I am doing this all ass-backwards. Last year we started 300km from the end and finished in Santiago, and this year I am starting at the beginning and will not get to the end.

Maybe my ego is driving this whole thing (and we know how that usually ends up!) but this time I am much better prepared for the hardship (and the bedbugs!)

The way to The Way

Hailey: Back in January 2015, my dad asked me to walk part of the Camino with him. I was speechless. Me? and You? Are you sure you want to walk with me? My dad's response was typically practical: "Well I want to walk the first part of the Camino that I didn't get to walk yet.  And you'll be finished your master's and I figure the timing will be perfect!" I was still speechless. "But it's me. Are you sure you want to go with me?" Dad's response was matter-of-fact: "Sure! I mean you can be pretty fiery, so I'm a bit nervous, but sure, why not?" So I said "YES! Let's do this!"  Then came the reality of my final semester of school which consumed all of me from January to June.  Then, while still writing my final research paper, I packed up all of my belongings in Montreal, travelled back to London (Ontario) where I immediately started teaching for the summer and applying for jobs that were miraculously cropping up.  I spent a good chunk of the summer waiting to hear about a particular art therapy job that would start right around the time we had planned on walking the Camino, and require me to move across the country. My dad would ask me on a daily basis: "Did you get it? Are we going to Spain?" and I'd be like "I haven't heard anything yet, just wait."  Well, as you can probably guess, I did NOT get the job (although they said I ALMOST did), and so...... WE'RE GOING TO SPAIN!!

Bruce: I am really excited about going on the Camino again, and particularly doing it with Hailey! She is such a pro-active, take charge sort of person. This is going to be a very different trip than the last 300 km I did on the Camino last year. We are starting at the beginning and doing the first 500 km together, then Hail will do the last 300 km on her own while I fly home. It's totally safe for a woman to be on the Camino alone and Hail is an experienced traveller. She has already arranged an AIRB&B in Barcelona for us! I can't wait to see this great city and meet our host there: Ricardo Rubens.

My own take on Hailey not getting the job: God has something much better in store for her: the Camino! We are both studying Spanish and getting ready and we can maybe practice our Spanish on each other - or maybe it will be Spanglish, our own new language  :-)