Fun visiting Shanghai, the largest city in China.
Shanghai, China
My Camino – 10 days of Trudging
After a 10-day intensive trudge forward, scaling over countless mountains and rolling hills, wandering through endless broad and beautiful green and flowery fields, rain or shine, step by step we walked nearly 300 kilometers or 190 miles and arrived in ancient city Burgos today!
The official guideline divided this distance from St Jean to Burgos into 13 days of walking. That averages to about 22 kilometers a day. We have been pushing ourselves hard each day and always taking that additional 10 kilometers or a bit less. Many days we ended up as the only pilgrims on the trail, most of them are done by early afternoon. With scorching sun and high temperature, every mile seemed to be like ten miles long especially toward the end each day. We literally were dragging our hurting feet forward like a snail. We had gotten lost a few times and ended up somehow alongside of the highway with cars flying by.
I’m happy to learn that I am more fortitudinous than I thought. I start to believe that, actually, I am a pilgrim who’d endure the hardship and journey long distance to a sacred place. The sacred place in a way is in my own heart.
My Camino – Climbing over the Pyrenees
We made it over the Pyrenees today on our first day of this long journey of 800 kilometers in distance!
We walked a total of 16.8 miles, or 27 kilometers. Or more precisely, it was not walking, rather, it was constant strenuous climbing and brutal descending the whole way.
We set out from the beginning point of St Jean Pied de Port, a beautiful French town in the foothill of Pyrenees, at 200 meters (650 feet) above sea level. Immediately, we started a straight steep climb for the first 21 kilometers or 13 miles until reaching the top of Pyrenees, which is over 1400 meters high above sea (4600 feet). At which as if without any transition, the route was followed by a sharp descend of 7 kilometers or 4.3 miles to Roncesvalles.
We were on the road for more than 9 hours. We made a brief stop at Orisson, a town at about 8 kilometer from St Jean. We bought sandwiches and got our passport stamped at the crowded place full of weary pilgrims. Almost all the pilgrims took a break here, some of them actually chose to stay here for the night to ease into the long journey ahead.
There was rain and fog from time to time, we put on and take off our raincoats a few times to accommodate the changeable weather. The hiking was hard. My feet were sore, my 
shoulder was strained, and my whole body was really exhausted.
But the unbeatable film-like scenery surrounding me was stunning and made it all worth it. The magnificent mountains made me feel tiny and humble. I often felt I was melting away with the serenity and peace. My heart was filled overwhelmingly with joy from the wonder and beauty of the nature, even at the hardest times.
My Camino – It Is Here!
Henceforth I ask not good-fortune—I myself am good fortune;
Henceforth I whimper no more, postpone no more, need nothing,
Strong and content, I travel the open road.
–Walt Whitman
My trip officially starts today. I’m both super excited and at the same time nervous.
As the preparation is getting more and more intense, the long-anticipated trip is getting more and more real, at the same time it is actually getting more and more unreal in a way – like a dream.
Sometimes I’m seriously doubtful if I’m strong enough to walk thirty plus kilometers or 18 plus miles a day for a month straight; but sometimes I’m very confident that I can do it.
Even feeling the fear and uncertainty, I want to do it anyway. It is like many things in life.
The belief of the rich reward of the adventure dominants more than anything else in my mind. I yearn for the spiritual experience more than the physical experience. To get close and be able to talk to my own soul excite me. I am looking forward to meeting the best of myself along the way.
Life becomes un-ordinary when you are bold to experience the unusual.
I’m ready to let my soul fly and sing.
My Camino de Santiago Packing List
The less you carry, the further you can go.
— unknown
Part of the fun of traveling is the preparation for the trip. For the Camino, bringing the right equipment is very critical. The Camino trip is not a traditional sense of vacation, it’s an adventure that involves intense walking and hiking. The pilgrims need to live their one-month life relying completely only on their backpacks. The backpack should weigh no more than 10% of the body weight. 
It’s very challenging that each item needs to be super light and yet functional. I believe the shoes, backpack, and sleeping bag are the three biggest and most important gears to consider carefully and will make a big difference for the experience of your trip.
Quick-dry is a characteristic to have for shirts and pants to wear since it’s certain there will be rainy days. The clothes I’m bringing also range from warm coats to summer shorts. I basically compact my four-season’s clothes in the small backpack due to the changeable weather on the Camino.
After numerous trips to the stores, I think I finally got the stuff I need. Below is my packing list. I hope it can be of help for people who read it and plan to do the trip in the future.
I’m surprised to see it’s actually doable to live off a backpack for a month like this. Boiling down to essentials, we can live a simple life if we want to.
My Camino Packing list
Passport
Bank card
Credit card
Health Insurance card
Cash
Emergency Info in Spanish
My notebook and pen
A rock for Cruz de Ferro
Backpack – Osprey Talon 33L, 1.87 lb or 0.85kg
Sleeping bag – REI HEILO Sack, 1.56 lb or 0.7kg
Hiking shoes – Merrel Waterproof Hiking Shoes
2 smart wool socks (light mid-crew)
Rain poncho
Water-proof coat
1 light fleece sweater shirt
1 long thin sleeve shirt
2 T-shirt – quick dry
1-2 T-shirt for sleeping/multipurpose
1 long black legging pants
2 gray Capri legging pants
1 long light rain resistant pants
1 pair of summer shorts
1 pair of shorts for casual/sleeping
1 pair of regular socks
For phone: waist bag, charger (long cord), ear phones, European plug converter
Selfie-stick (this is really optional)
For better sleep: eye shades, ear plugs, pillow case
For colder weather: Scarf, fingerless gloves, headband ear warmer
For hotter weather: Sunglasses, Sunhat, and Sunscreen
Toiletry:
Tooth brush, tooth paste, floss
Comb, shampoo and conditioner, soap
Nail clip, shaver, small scissors, swabs
Face cream
Small face wash towel
Shower towel (quick dry)
For safety and health:
Whistle and body alarm
Tracking pole
Daily vitamins and vitamin C
Medicine: Advil, cold and diarrheal medicine, band aids, and alcohol wipes
Tape for preventing blisters; needle and thread for treating blisters
Other: Plastic bags, zip lock bags
Super excited! Burn Camino!
My Camino de Santiago Count Down
Afoot and light – hearted, I take to the open road,
Healthy, free, the world before me,
The long brown path before me, leading wherever I choose.
— Walt Whitman
Exactly nine days from now, I will be boarding the American Airline to Paris to start my walk on the Camino de Santiago, the French Way.
From Saint Jean Pied de Port, a small village town in France to Santiago de Compostela, the capital of northwest Spain’s Galicia region, this is a 500 miles or 800 kilometers stretch from east to west.
I plan to measure it step by step using my own feet during this one month time frame. That means I need to walk about 18 miles or 30 kilometers plus per day for 25+ days straight. This doesn’t including my time flying there and back home. When I finish measuring along the way, I will be granted that official honorable certificate to prove that I did it.
I have been preparing and anticipating this walk for the last couple of months when, at one point, I knew this was meant to happen. However, the moment time of my first desire to do the walk could actually track back much longer than two months – It was actually two years ago on the night when I was introduced to the movie “The Way.” Since then, the idea that I want to do it someday has been rooted in my mind.
This epic Camino is well-known in Europe and the world. It’s considered the Walk of a Life Achievement!
Since the discovery of the burial site of the evangelical apostle St James who was one of the twelve followers of Jesus, in the 9th century, this pilgrimage route to Santiago has become one of the three great Christian pilgrimage roads. The other two are the one to Jerusalem and the one to Rome. In ancient times, the Catholic Church would forgive the sins of people who completed the pilgrimage journey.
You don’t have to be religious to walk the way, but I believe a lot of the people who choose to walk the road are more spiritual. Many of them carry his or her own story and faithfully set out onto the road. People hope to find their own deepest spiritual meaning, to discover who they are, what they are meant to be with their current lives.
As I consider myself more of a spiritual being than a physical being, this walk seems to me the perfect one to go back or to get as close as I can to my original form. I hope the walk will allow me to go as deep as I can to reach my heart and soul, to allow me to further explore the inner world of myself. Only when you know yourself well and when you free yourself from within, you gain true freedom in life.
I’m very excited and grateful that I have the opportunity to experience this tremendous life adventure soon.
Zest Being 