Made it to virgen del Camino last night! Found some company with Phil and Shiloh!

Here is a picture of a little boy inspecting my skateboard. He was obsessed with it and every time his mom tried to take him he would throw a tantrum. I was touched.

I walked to ledigos today. Beautiful walk and I met some great people.

I am now in a village called Carrión de los Condes. It is a very cool place and I am staying in one of the coolest albergues I’ve been to yet. However, the beds look suspect to bed bugs (here’s to hoping!). I ended up running into my classmate Vida and they informed me that a couple of others (Phil and Shiloh) are nearby. Thus, I am beginning to feel less lonely and even beyond running into Vida I am begging to open myself up more to fellow pilgrims. Vida gave me good perspective when they said that a good way to battle homesickness is to view each chapter of your life is a life of its own. It reminded me of a conversation that I got into with an Italian man (it feels weird to be mentioning everyone’s nationalities but I do so just because I am excited to be meeting people from all over the world) who was talking to me about how the Camino showed him the importance of constant arrivals. As his speech got more passionate he at one point picked up a rock and put it in my face and said “this, this is MY Camino.”

Also, I am battling the harsh reality of having to rest my torn quad from skating or else it will turn into something nastier. That one is hard because if I don’t skate everyday I constantly feel like I am missing something. Oh well.

I am currently in Burgos. I arrived here last night and it was the hardest walk yet. The day before I walked an extra ten Kilometers in order to give me self an easy stroll into the city so maybe I would have more energy to skate or explore. Wrong! I ended up walking in rain and wind and hail the whole day. I slept like a rock and now I am feeling refreshed. I am going to take a rest day here and continue tomorrow morning. How am I feeling? Honestly, I am very lonely and it is nice in one way because I have all the time in the world to contemplate my place in my life and in the world. However, the romanticism of this loneliness is wearing of in the same way the romanticism of being in a foreign country is. I haven’t hit the wall physically but emotionally it seems as though I have. However, this city is beautiful. I know a lot of people sigh at gothic artchetecture and I understand why humbillity  is often better than extravagance but the cathedral here is one of the most beautiful things I have seen in my entire life. My goal of meeting more skaters in different cities hasn’t really been manifesting but I’m still optimistic. I am contemplating a lot but I am missing my friends and family and constantly wishing I had someone to share these experiences with. It’s true that you don’t know you’re life until you leave it. I feel as though I’ve gained a heightened awareness over the past week or so about the importance of specifically the amazing people that I have been blessed with in my life.

I am currently in a town called Ages. One man said the population is 60! I guess that’s doubled given the amount of pilgrims staying here.

made it to santo Domingo. It’s been a long day, got lost a lot. Had dinner with a really nice German man. Feeling a different pace in my day to day life and over all it feels good but I am homesick.

I am now in Najera

Today I walked from Estella to los Arcos. I am feeling quite sore in my legs but over all I am good. To sore to really skate though but that is ok. I walked primarily alone today and it felt nice. I saw a lot of Hawks (or at least larger birds) surfing the wind today. This was special because an important figure in my life who passed away is remembered by large birds. It’s one of those things that I can’t explain but I know when I feel his presence and today I think these birds that seemed to follow me were, to me, a miracle of sorts. It was windy today and watching them dance in above me made me think about surfing beyond the skateboard, beyond the surfboard. Surfing as a way of living, surfing as a way of dying.

Made it to Estrella today and I am very tired/sore. However, the Camino delivered a great half pipe to soothe my legs and massage my feet after a hard day of walking.

Sacrificed one more day of walking to spending one more day in Barcelona because being here is more than a childhood dream come true. However, I must say goodbye as my bus to pamplona leaves bright and early. I have made a short video of my time in Barcelona but it doesn’t come close to portraying the true joy being in this city has brought me. If you search best skateboarding cities in the world Barcelona will come up first and for good reason. The architecture here is made for skateboarding and sometimes even on purpose. For the most part, Skate parks are simply integrated into the city landscape leaving me asking “is this a skatepark? I mean they put metal coping on all the ledges but it looks no different than any of the other plazas.” Thus, instead of feeling like you are in a cage you feel a true connection with the city landscape which is one of the most centric, if not the most centric reason that I love skateboarding so much. To me, it feels like having an authentic relationship with my environment. The U.S. doesn’t seem to quite understand this idea. In our society we stigmatize loitering or simply hanging out in the city without buying something or going somewhere so it is no surprise that we are not accepting of those of us who see the city as practically a playground. I have noticed that as Bill once put it in seminar, Barcelona is a “city for living”and I argue that the landscape and policies from a skateboarders perspective can say a lot about this. Also, I experienced for the first time the true cross cultural element that skateboarding has. Since Barcelona is practically a skate mecca (talk about pilgrimages) in the two days I have been here I have met skaters from Germany, France, U.S.A, Brazil, Japan, and Canada. I skated for hours with a woman who knew only Portuguese and while we exchanged almost no words I felt a connection through a shared passion. This is what is beautiful about skateboarding, the arts, and ultimately in passion that you may have. It has the power to cross languages and cultures and experiencing this previously known truth has brought me a lot of joy and optimism for this world.

P.S everytime I see footage of Barcelona it is of very famous modern looking plazas so I was pleasantly surprised to see the plethora of old winding narrow streets and alleyways. Why doesn’t anybody film that stuff?????????