Day 29: Sarria to Portomarín

It’s taken 29 days, but today kinda sucked. It was another shorter day, 22.1kms and was supposed to be easy. 

However my pack was uncomfortable, my right shoulder hurt a lot, I was tired and slow, I couldn’t stop sneezing and blowing my nose, breakfast was crappy, there were too many people on the path, too many bathroom breaks needed, I didn’t want to talk, I didn’t want to listen to music, I just wanted to be there already, I was very grumpy and completely over it. 

All this whilst walking through beautiful forests and picturesque farmland. Beautiful houses, acres of wildflowers, vegetable gardens, dairies and cows, grand looking farms, beautiful stone chapels, stunning scenery. We visit a beautiful stone chapel as the first stop in the morning, we meet a local in national dress playing the Galician bagpipes, and we pass the 100km to Santiago mark, but all I can think of is finishing this… this… whatever this is. 

I think the whole “only 5 days to go” thing has got into my head. It seems so easy, 5 days, we’ve done 28 already, so 5 days is nothing. I was thinking about decent showers, and decent food, and new clothes, and going back to work, and sailing in Greece, and what it all means to be done. But I’m not done. Not finished, not in Santiago yet, not complete. 

And I think that daydreaming hurt me. My physical body was giving my wandering mind a kick in the butt. My sore shoulder and sneezes were not so gentle nudges to get my mind back in the game. This is the last big push, the final quarter, the last gasp, the end game. Get on board! Stay focussed! Four more days to go, and I want to be present for them all. 

A mid afternoon sleep, quality Italian food for dinner, and fun night watching the Champions League final (in which Barcelona won and I’m taking as a good omen!) with pilgrim mates and I’m on my way back!