The magic of the Camino

There is a certain magic in the walking of the Camino; it is the magic of not having any great expectations for your day - save that it will be tiring- and hence no disappointments; of your priorities each morning being that night's accommodation and food, issues which are ultimately resolved leaving you gratified and contented on a daily basis. You take things as they come, are buoyed up by the fact your simple and basic hostel has bigger beds or more bathrooms than expected and you find enjoyment and satisfaction in even the most basic of meals after a hard day's walking. In other words, you begin to appreciate what you have and not what you don't. Each of us will have quoted this phrase at some time in our lives, but in those lives for many it is more a platitude; on the Camino you live it daily.

Then there is the magic of serendipity. Of more than once needing and getting the last of the beds in a hostel. Or the time I was descending into Zubiri checking on a man limping from an injury and expressing to him how it would be easier if he had a pole, only to find a discarded one a few steps further along the track. On the Camino it seems 'the universe provides' as a very dear friend of mine would say, although many I have spoken to might attribute such things to a higher authority. Whatever your belief though, you can not help but notice when good things happen, and good things seem to happen often when you yourself have and want for little. Attribute it to what you will.