7 weeks later

For those of you who think I might have fallen off a mountain top somewhere in France, 

let me reassure you, 

I did NOT.

It's now the end of May.

I'm back home 

and I'll start to document all that's happened 

since the previous post.

This will be a very different blog, 

however, 

than the one I envisioned when this whole thing started.

Different for many reasons, 

but primarily because I'm a very different person 

at this end of the journey 

than the woman who started out on the trail in early April.

Different also because it will be a retrospective look at my Camino, 

rather than a 'real time' recording of events - 

yet in all ways that matter, 

it feels perfectly 'me' 

and perfectly appropriate that things worked out as they did.

Spoiler alert:

I did it!

I completed the Camino to Santiago de Compostela 

as well as the Camino to Finisterre.

I did what I set out to do - 

and I did it my way... 

and no, I won't be breaking into song... 

but everyone's Camino is different. 

 Despite what some Camino cultists will try to tell you, 

there is no 'wrong way' to do your own Camino.

The Camino truly IS a metaphor for life - 

and there are many different ways to live a life.

We make choices - 

and we live with the consequences. 

We cope as best we can. 

We learn as we go. 

We wrest what knowledge and pleasure we can from the difficult times; 

we rub against others placed on our paths - 

those we like and those who rub us the wrong way -  

and, with any luck, 

we're transformed in the process 

and given insights we never could have achieved on our own.

My life is not the same as it was when I left in April.

I know what I've been through - 

even as I acknowledge that I have no idea of what's to come.

I also know, however, that I'll draw on my experiences in Spain 

and continue to be changed by what I did 

for the rest of my life.

I wouldn't have missed this chance for the world.

I don't regret a thing - 

and I also know I would never do it again.

It was easily the hardest thing I've ever done.

But come... see for yourself.

I've culled through over 2,000 pictures 

(yeah, I know... what can I say, I'm a visual person) 

and will be sharing a small portion of them in the posts to follow.