This is Part 1, because I anticipate many more.
My leap of faith at the moment is whether and when to buy the tickets. I’ve been hedging for a week.
I realized that my financial plan isn’t 100% solid – and that unnerves me. As much as I am compelled to go on this pilgrimage, as certain as I am that this is the year to do it, I have responsibilities to my partner, my clients, and my creditors too.
So I’m still hovering over the BUY button on Orbitz.
I expect to know for sure within the next two weeks whether I’m leaving in April.
But I wonder: Does the desire for certainty still make it a leap of faith? Your thoughts are more welcome than you know.
Jen's Journey - Camino de Santiago 2013, 2016, & 2019 
Thanks for sending this, jen. i’m sorry i’ve missed the first few weeks. more later…
love and kudos!!! and, YESSSSSS, time for the CLICK of commitment! Have you looked into flying to paris (or madrid) and taking a train? when i flew to heathrow i found out that the ‘local’ flights all went out of stansted, and required an overnight in london. thank heaven for friends there! i flew to biarritz/bayonne, stayed at the hotel adjacent to the train station, and took the train to st. jean pied do port. lovely way to start! but next time i’d look into paris or madrid.
Just got here from your email, and I am so jealous! JUST DO IT! The desire for certainty does not make it less of a leap of faith, but remember that even though we desire it, there are no certainties. Even with a 100% fool proof plan there are unexpected situations. That is part of the point of the Camino, really. We all desire certainty, and it is important to be faithful to your obligations, but if you have it worked out to the point where your hand is hovering over the buy button, just say a prayer and take the leap! Yes you could spend that time and money on obligations here at home. But doesn’t your soul and your God deserve the time and money as well? Understandably it is easier for me to write that than for you to do it, it isn’t my time or money! but if you need another reason to just do it, know that I will def be following and living vicariously through your experience!
I am overflowing with gratitude, Rachel! What a beautiful, heartfelt sentiment. I am so grateful. Yes. There is no 100% foolproof plan — even one with all the i’s dotted and t’s crossed (or is that eyes crossed?). Thank you thank you. Hugs!
And Carol — thank you! MAD and PAR are crazy expensive. I’ve got it worked out so that I’m overnighting on the plane, landing in Dublin and that morning hopping onto a local flight from DUB to Biarritz. I’ll be awake a looong time, but I will sleep well when I finally arrive in SJPP. Coming back, I will overnight in Dublin, but that’s part of the plan since I have friends there I will entreat to visit me there. 🙂 Thanks for the tips.
Faith may be part of the reason you’re going. Faith is important to me because certainty is often lacking. When certainty is in place, is courage still required? And I’m guessing you’ll be in a very small minority on the Camino if you’re leaping your way to Santiago. Walking will attract much less attention…I say that with some certainty.
(laughing) Leaping to Santiago would certainly evoke some stares. Love you, Tim.
You can TOTALLY do it! Living in Spain, I’ve met many people who’ve walked this path: in its entirety, partway, by bike, on foot… and all of them said it has been an enriching experience. Northern Spain is beautiful, you won’t regret it for a moment. AND you will meet loads of people from around the world. For sure, an experience to be remembered.
Travel insurance is for people who have faith but also want some certainty. 😉
Certainty does not mean there’s no fear or anxiety. And of course there’s both fear and anxiety; this is a really BIG thing. Anything BIG includes the spice of fear. And thus anything BIG requires a certain amount of faith to make the leap – faith, trust in yourself, trust in your own sense of certainty.
oh, yeah. of COURSE you have reason to go via dublin!!! doh…! idea: spend a night at the hotel paris-madrid in bayonne. it’s not expensive. i shared with a woman i met on the bus from biarritz, and patrick desbois (the manager) stayed up until 1:30 a.m. with 3 of us, marking our guidebooks and giving us tips. it is directly next door to the train station, where you can catch the first train to st. jean pied du port in the morning. sorbs@wanadoo.fr
camera: yeah. i took one, but told myself i wasn’t going to use it much. at first, i didn’t. and some of my strongest visual memories are the photos i DIDN’T take in the basque country on the way to roncesvalles! i took more and more as i went, as i wanted to share them with kent when i got home. turns out he wasn’t really interested. so, yeah. no camera. no phone. there will be times you wish you had one, but in the end i think you’ll be glad you didn’t. you can ALWAYS get photos of anything via google later.
have you clicked “BUY” yet? 🙂 mid-april, right? remember, the latitude and topography is the same as here, so the weather will be fairly similar. starting any time between mid-april and mid-may would be good, i think.
You’re amazing and wonderful. These are great tips, Carol. I clicked BUY about 20 minutes ago!! April 16-June 5. Oh my lord, I’m really doing it. I love you!
my computer must have ‘helped.’ patrick’s email is sorbois@wanadoo.fr arghhhhh!
It’s no use, Jen. You’ve already decided you’re going. Surrender to the decision your heart has already made. 🙂 What, you’re *not* going go now? Anyway…
So there you go. You’re already certain. You’ve already set your feet on the path. You’ve already made the leap of faith. What’s left is just the mind quibbling with itself. Am I right?
Yup, that’s exactly it, Mark. So I lept. And I will leap again. And again. And I am so incredibly thankful for you, dear heart.