Day 7: Vigo to Arcade; around 14 miles

Today I walked with a 71 year old Professor, Jan, from New Zealand.  It was day 1 for her and I think she was grateful to be with someone who was used to pathfinding.  I started out around 8:15, walking through the early dawn in Vigo.  It took me 2 miles to clear the "city", and then the trail climbed high onto a ridge.  The views were spectacular.


Somewhere near the top of the ridge, I ran into Jan.  She asked if we could walk together for a bit and of course I was happy to.  We ended up walking the day together, talking about all kinds of things; family, career, journaling, travel, etc.  She has written a text book on Coaching Leadership which is in it's 3rd edition (she's working on that now) and spent her career in education.  I found the 2nd edition on Amazon!  Her daughter lives in Sweden with her wife and children which is hard for Jan.  One of her reasons to walk the Camino was to walk through her grief concerning this distance.  She lives on an island off of New Zealand near Aukland and described her home and her extensive garden to me.  It sounded magical.  We had fabulous Galacian beef burgers for lunch before finishing our trek to Arcade.  There we went our separate ways to our hotels.  I am so grateful to have met such wonderful people!  Every day is new.



The bridges in Spain and Portugal are beautiful

A 15% grade hill at the end of the day!






I have committed to taking it easier on myself as I head toward the end of this journey, i.e.more stops, slower paced walking.  I have 4 more days to go and my body is feeling the wear.  But I am loving every minute of this experience, all of it.

Comments

  1. AnonymousSeptember 28, 2025 at 7:42 AM

    Hi Beth, I’m following along, loving what you’re doing. The pics are great. When I’m struggling to carry on I sometimes think of the words of the great philosopher Dory from Finding Nemo: just keep swimming, just keep swimming! Judith was very excited to hear of your adventure. Be bold. Love you. Sean

    ReplyDelete
  2. PearlSeptember 28, 2025 at 9:12 AM

    Transformative is a word that keeps coming to my mind as I follow your journey Beth - your courage and dedication- you are tenacious and an inspiration-

    ReplyDelete

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