To My Dear Camino Family...

Traveling is fun. But it's really the people you travel with that make your experiences even more memorable. Going into the Camino I was nervous because I knew no one. I was starting a pilgrimage through Spain all on my own. Who does that? Well, turns out only cool people do. I was lucky enough to meet some awesome people along my journey like Brenda from New Zealand, Neil from Canada, Branko from the Netherlands, and Carlo from Germany. There were so many more that it would take forever to list them all, but there are seven special humans that turned into my Camino family. And I think they each deserve a shout out.

First up is my leading lady Carly (a.k.a. Carl, Carby, Carb). Carby and I met on day one and we were basically inseparable for the rest of the trip. She lives in Chi-town and is just all around nice, hilarious, fun, insightful, long eye-lashed, and tall. We bonded over being former college athletes on terrible teams and Spongebob (pinkies out!). People were constantly baffled by the fact that we had only just met on the Camino and hadn't known each since birth. Carby and I were like two peas in a pod, and still are!

Next up is Lindsay from good ol' Canada. "Oh My Gawd" what can I say about Linds. To start, her laugh is contagious and constant because she loves laughing at her own jokes. But hey, they're funny so everyone always joins in. A fellow Harry Potter fan and all around positive human - even with gaping blisters on her feet. I was truly amazed by her perseverance and positive attitude. I'm so thankful we re-met while she was resting at one of the albergues and I woke her up by being obnoxiously loud.

Skål...did I say it right...to Morten in Denmark (or is it Danmark?). What a trooper for dealing with Carby and I for long walking days and long drinking nights. He was always the first to arrive due to his extra fast pace, but on the days where Carby and I walked with him it was always a treat. Especially when he sang for us that one time - because if I didn't mention, Morten is in the men and boys choir back in Roskilde, the city with a huge music festival that he religiously attends each year for a week straight. Morten loves the audio guides at cathedrals and posing in front of them with me.





Now it's time to put something in the popty ping. Oh you mean you've never heard the Welsh slang term for microwave? Thanks to Emma I'm basically from Wales now. Also one of the group's speedsters, Emma was often found taking pictures of neat and artsy items with her old-school film camera. And when not being totally awesome, she could be seen eating tortilla the size of her head. I would be remiss if I didn't mention that Emma is the tallest member of our Camino family (not true, but she might think so).





I spent an entire month in New Zealand in March 2019 without knowing the best part about of the whole darn country - Jill! Her positive and radiant attitude made walking 20 miles each day seem like no big deal. She was on a break from teaching back in NZ and was gearing up for a new teaching job back home. And I'm pretty sure Jill is rocking that teaching gig just like she did with that blue wig on our self-made Camino bar crawl. She has some wild adventuring stories and knows some excellent NZ/Aussie sayings.

Now let's talk about Vanessa, the host of Pilgrim TV and the most wonderful and hilarious Australian member of our crew. Every minute walking and hanging out with Vanessa was a guaranteed laugh. She was always ready for the Camino catwalk and sported her breast packs specifically to keep up with Camino fashion. They were filled with everyday items to glam up anyone's Camino look (a.k.a. tinted chapstick). And did I mention she's taller than Emma...

Now the final person I want to talk about is Kelly from my home state of Connecticut. Her favorite word is "Busta" and she has the spunk of no one I've ever met. Kelly is a kind soul who was always on the lookout for me. She truly cared about my journey and she was so impressively steadfast with her own, even when injury threatened to slow her down. She was with Carly and I on day 1 and got us started with a prayer out of the gate. It was a comfort to travel across the ocean to meet someone so close to home.



So that's the rundown of my Camino family. I feel so honored to have met these people during my journey and am thankful to have been a part of theirs. Everyone does the Camino for a different reason, and all of ours were indeed different, but each and every one of those reasons brought us together to walk across an entire country. I couldn't have done it without them and I'm a better person because of it. I've already begun having mini adventures with some of them, and hope to continue this trend and have a gigantic Camino reunion in the very near future. Thank you to each and every one of you, really I mean it.