24.3 km ~ 34,336 steps
The Reason – Hoobastank
This morning I woke up as planned, to leave by 5:30 from León and I just couldn’t get myself to do it. I felt nauseous and laid back down, debating if this hostal would let me stay another day. But I realized that if I didn’t get up and go today, who knows if I ever would. It would be so easy to fall into a “oh, just one more day of rest” pattern. So off we went, on the long slog out of the city through sidewalks beside city roads and through industrial suburbs. And at the first “town” (more like another suburb of Léon) where I planned to stop and eat my banana I had bought the night before, I heard a man call out to me, though I had never met him before. I regret not getting his and his wife’s names now, but they have been following our journey on the Camino page I post to and were simply some of the kindest, most friendly people we’ve come across so far. Their enthusiasm was infectious and suddenly this day didn’t seem so bad anymore.
Also sitting with them was a wonderful woman I had started with back on June 20th from St. Jean Pied de Port that I hadn’t seen again until now and she happened to also be taking the alternate route, so we walked the whole rest of the day together laughing and talking about family, learning, kindness, depression, history, and all sorts of other things. For a person who has social anxiety and often feels uncomfortable even talking with people, she made me feel completely at ease and I simply loved our walk today.
We rest now in a wonderful albergue, Tio Pepe, with the nicest staff that welcomed Maverick happily, and plan to set out tomorrow with a brighter mindset.
