Today marks 2 weeks of me walking on the French path of the Camino de Santiago. Tomorrow I will have completed more than 150 miles. So after this period of time, what is different than I’d expected?

It is both harder and more rewarding than I might have thought. Perhaps I’ve lost more weight at this point than I expected. There are a number of things different. It is less necessary to carry water than I would have thought. I frequently pass through villages that have small cafes or stores where water or other drinks can be purchased. Also, most villages have public fountains from which I can get water.

There are more pilgrims on the Camino than I might have thought. Although there are long stretches of time where I am walking alone, at other times I can see 10 or 20 pilgrims in front or behind me.

I have found fewer times to think deeply about things than I had thought. Often my thoughts are on the temporal things, such as, how far to the next village, do I need to re-tie my shoes, what would I like to eat, and such. But there are also countless times throughout the day when I am thanking God for the food, cold drink, the weather , the beauty of the villages and of the creation around me as well as the privilege I have to be doing this walk.

Carrying a backpack for several hours is more draining than I might have thought. My pack probably weighs around 18 or 19 pounds at this point. A frequent thought going through my mind and that of many other pilgrims is, “what is in my pack that I can live without?” I had known of carrier services that will take your pack to the next place you will sleep, I had not initially planned on using it much. Now I find myself thinking it to be a good use of $6.50!

Some other pilgrims appear to be annoying, while I have also met a number of others that I am excited to run back into on the road. It seems the nature of the walk to prompt people to have interesting and meaningful conversations. I pray to God daily that I encounter people each day as He sees fit.