Purposeful

Our friend Dave started out on the El Camino Santiago last week. The Way of St. James is the nearly 500 mile pilgrimage that's illustrated in the Martin Sheen movie: The Way. It starts in St. John de Pied de Port on the French side of the Pyrenees and ends in Spain at Santiago de Compostela. If you Google El Camino Santiago you will find innumerable sites to read, many of them are first hand accounts.

He's been posting regularly at: http://davescamino.blogspot.co.uk
Go take a look.

Experience
Dave is a professional photographer and of course that's very apparent. I was taken aback by the incredible beauty of the landscape he's passing through. It is a visual feast.

I find myself envious, which is very surprising to me, because I am not a hostel / hardship / push-through-the-pain kind of girl. Not in the slightest. Truthfully? I probably fall into the spoiled brat category. I'll just admit that before somebody points it out. But I long to stand where he is and see what he's seeing. It's that beautiful.

Challenge
I might even be willing to walk a great distance to do it. (Probably not 500 miles though.) This is also very unexpected; I envy the challenge he has taken on. He trained long and hard for this walk and I have little doubt that he will succeed. Think of the accomplishment.

Purpose
And finally, there's the purpose. Dave and his family have been hit hard by cancer. All 4 of his  brothers have been struck by the disease and 2 of them have died from it. Through his walk he is raising funds for cancer research. This is a meaningful and proactive response to an overwhelming situation.

When he set off last week, I never dreamed his walk would become my mid-life crisis.