4.17: mainly just feeling thankful.

Day XXI: Rabanal del Camino -> Molinaseca; 16.0mi.

🛏:

Santa Marina Albergue, 7€.

The scenery today reminded me of home. Snow capped peaks in the distance, tiny mountain towns and the smell of fresh pine filled my morning and any twinges of homesickness I woke up with were inherently zapped.

I spent the morning passing through quaint towns and around cows that were blocking the trail. At one point, the trail passed through a town infamous for having a population of one. I greeted the sole official resident and then stopped to greet his friends dog as well. “Where are you from?” the dogs owner asked in broken English. “USA, Colorado,” I said. “Ah, Colorado!” he nodded excitedly. I smiled. As I walked away he noticed my feet and pointed skeptically (I was wearing my *chacos again). “Colorado?” I shrugged in response. “Coloradoooo!” he laughed approvingly.

Not long after that I found myself where my guidebook indicated was the highest elevation point of the entire camino. I peeled an orange and thought about how, for the first time on this entire journey, I was at an elevation comparable to home. I thought of home. I thought of everyone I love back home and how thankful I am for the people that surround me. I thought about how it was the middle of the night at home and how everyone (except my night shift family) was sleeping while I was wearing my sunglasses in Spain meeting the sole occupant of a little mountain town. I thought about how thankful I was for a chance to wear sunglasses – the past week was awfully cloudy and deemed them unnecessary. Beyond that, I spent several pre-contact years unable to wear sunglasses and I still don’t take them for granted. (I inherited my Dad’s eyesight. And his teeth, which also scored me seven years of braces; 1st – 9th grade school pictures are a sore subject). I thought of how thankful I am for my parents taking me to my orthodontist and eye appointments, for letting me pick out my own glasses frames (mayyybe not thankful for that part in retrospect ..) and how I’ve never told them that.

And I thought about how thankful I am for the feedback I’ve received in response to this blog of mine. This is my first attempt at travel / public / personal writing and more than one kind message has brought me to tears. I’m overwhelmed by the themes and sentences people can relate to and the nudges towards continued vulnerability. The highlight-reel nature of social media really discouraged and disillusioned me lately and I didn’t want to embark on this trip without making a layer of honesty and real-life available to those interested in what was beyond the pretty pictures and eloquent quotes, because real life is the messy in between those and the false glamor is never lost on me.

Life has been tough lately. Thank you to whoever is reading this for following along with my journey and for loving me as I continue navigating the twists and turns and elevation gains and losses of Spain and life.

*🎒:

I’m going to be honest, I wasn’t a fan of chacos before this trip. It wasn’t them, it was me. I never liked how my feet looked in them when I tried them on, but I knew I needed to throw aesthetics out the window on this trip. I have nothing specifically negative to say about my Merrells, but I can say with certainty my feet would not have held up without these babies. I’m a fan for life.

🎧:John Mayer: The Search for Everything

“A great big bang and dinosaurs, fiery raining meteors: it all ends unfortunately. But you’re gonna live forever in me ..”

10 thoughts on “4.17: mainly just feeling thankful.”

  1. Kate,
    Thank you for sharing this trip, experience and adventure. I have truly enjoyed reading each post and living vicariously through you. I felt lead to comment on this post because of your comments about Colorado and how tough life can be sometimes. I too can relate to how it feels to miss Colorado and how hard it can be to deal with what life throws at you. Thank you for sharing.
    Rosey

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    1. Rosey,

      Thank you for the kind comment! I’m so glad (and honored) you’ve been following along. Colorado is certainly an easy place to miss. ❤️

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  2. Read this last piece and felt compelled to tell you that I’ve loved following along! I get excited each time my email notification pops up that a new post has gone up and I laugh at all the Kate things you say/do that remind me our times hanging out in high school. Was thinking a lot about you today, as I checked my time hop and guess what?! 8 years ago today we went to CSU’s campus and took our senior pictures with the senior StuCo class – and that one pic of you and I on the bench holding hands was one of them. Took me back to all those hilarious days we spent singing along to ridiculous songs, yelling at the top of our lungs and pulling all nighters to take dumb photos of ourselves on retreats. Miss you so much Kate and best of luck on your continued journey! It’s incredible what you’re doing 😉

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    1. I’m pretty sure I laughed more during senior year of high school than any other year of my life and the majority of those laughs were shared with you. That picture shoot was so much fun, I can’t believe it’s already been eight years .. dang. Thanks for following along, I’m really really looking forward to seeing you this summer. We’ll have to take more bench photos. 😉

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  3. Hello my friend! I have to tell you that I read your blog faithfully every day. I look forward to seeing how far you’ve traveled, the music you’ve listened to, the people you’ve met, and the lessons you’re learning. I’m so happy for you, because I can tell you are being so fully present in this experience, and I think that’s something many of us don’t prioritize enough. I also know that you have been working through some struggles, and I’m proud of you for being so vulnerable with everything. I love that you have taken this trip and that you are hopefully getting everything out of it that you want to.

    I am thankful to have you as a friend. I like seeing your references to the years of glasses and braces – the first version of you that I knew! What a beautiful, strong, incredible woman you have become, and what a beautiful, difficult, and wonderful journey you are on. I hope you know that I’m thinking of you often, and I would love to sit down and hear about your journey sometime! I miss you 💜

    Sending so much love to you, Kaitlyn

    Sent from my iPhone

    >

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    1. Ahh the glasses and braces and elementary years, there’s no one I’d rather share those ridiculous memories with. I love that you’re following along and enjoying all of the random things I’m throwing into my posts, but you also know how much of a music fanatic I am so I’m sure you’re not surprised. 😉 I love you and am so thankful for you as well. Thanks for the kind words. Sitting down and catching up in person someday would be the very best .. keep me updated on when that’s a possibility!

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