Wandering with Purpose (2025)

29/08/2025

Some tit set their alarm for 5am and then didn’t turn it off for ages so I woke super early 🤬
I tried to go back to sleep but too many people were up slapping about in their flip flops, zipping and unzipping things and rustling or whispering loudly so eventually I gave up and hauled my cross face out of bed and left the hostel at 6.15 in the pitch black! The town was pretty in the lights but pretty soon I ran out of street lighting and I was walking through woodland in the pitch black with no giant to protect me 🙄. Luckily there were 3 Spanish ladies that I managed to keep in the sights mostly so it was fine. The sunrise eventually came and it was lovely, with big skies and lots of layers of hills in the mist. However, for reasons known only to the fly population, there were millions of them and they all wanted to land on me so I spent a lot of my morning waggling my arms about looking slightly (more) deranged (than usual!).
I felt fit and strong and healthy today and the kilometres dropped away quickly. I had a quick breakfast stop and was at my hostel by 13h again. Although it’s a dorm it’s airconditioned which is much appreciated as it effing hot today. I was actually really glad I left early.. walking in this afternoon’s heat would’ve been horrid!
It’s now just 48km to the end of the world! 18km tomorrow and 26km into Finistère the day after..
I have accommodation in Finistère now and I have changed my flight so will be home 3 days ahead of schedule! I can’t wait!! At one point I thought I might not be ready to go home and might want to keep walking but I am sooo ready to go home now! And I’m looking forward to seeing how I feel about walking in the next few weeks 😉

28/08/2025

Ooof. Not gonna lie, today has been by far the hardest day on this whole trip..
last night was spesh, we had ramen and gyoza and not a tortilla in sight! Then a mountain of ice cream as we wandered the old town. Finally some sunset pics and then goodbyes 😔
I cried a lot when I got back to my room.. I wanted to go home, I felt incredibly lonely, but I also knew that I need to finish this, and that Finistère has always been my end goal and that if I didn’t finish then at some point I’d be sad that I hadn’t made it to the end of the world to burn my skort and thrown my stones in the sea. I also love that I will have walked the entire width of Spain from the French border to the western coast!
But.. it took every single ounce of verbal self talk to haul my arse out of bed this morning, pack my festering backpack, put on my slightly damp socks and walk out the door at 7.30.. the urge to stay in bed and swap my flight home to today was LOUD!!!
The city was quiet, so it was a gentle start.
The path took me out of the city pretty quickly and about 40 mins in I got to see the sun rising over the city skyline with the cathedral beautifully prominent. I don’t think you can see it that well in the pic but it was breathtaking.
Not long after than a nice Romanian chap joined me and we chatted for the rest of the walk. He walked a bit faster than I wanted but I think I needed that too. It got very hot this afternoom so I was happy to be in my hostel by 13:30 and have been watching a bunch of videos from friends and family congratulating me yesterday (and obvs crying!). I have booked my accommodation up to Finistère but am struggling to find somewhere in Finistère.. probably because it’s the weekend but I’m sure something will come up.. I’ve decided not to walk on to Muxia (it was never in the plan!) and instead get the bus up there for the day.. 🤞I can make that work.
Tonight is a big hostel again & I miss the luxury of the twin rooms I’ve gotten used to (thanks for spoiling me!) but it’s good people watching from the comfort of my bed. Supermarket dinner tonight!

27/08/2025

Wow.. what a day! We set off in the dark, watched the sunrise as we walked, bounced through our 10km and suddenly we were in the old town of Santiago and the cathedral was in sight. The whole place was super quiet and we arrived in the main square with hardly any people so took our selfies and bounced around a little! You’ll be pleased to know that there was no crying, just excitement and happiness and a sense of pride too. Randomly some of the people we’d walked with over a week ago appeared in the square so we had a catch up with them and some more photos before heading off to the pilgrims mass (in Spanish!) in the cathedral. Just as we entered I had a ping on my phone and I became aware that my dear lady s had organised some video messages for me.. cue the tears!!! I couldn’t watch them because the mass had started so I just cried my way through the mass at the very thought of such love and kindness ❤️
Mass over and we toured the sights of the cathedral and found the casket that supposedly holds the supposed bones of st James, hugged a saint (🤷‍♀️) and wandered out through the gift shop (of course!) into the bright sunshine.
We went straight to some steps in a beautiful square by the cathedral to watch my video messages.. cue buckets of tears, laughter and more tears. My beautiful friends and family ❤️ thank you 🙏

After a coffee and my daily coke it was off to the pilgrims office to get our compostella and official distance certificate (1515km but I’ve actually walked 1720km!!) and then it was lunchtime. The glass of wine, emotion and heat took their toll and an afternoon rest was required..
I’m checked into my lovely single room in an old monastery and look forward to setting off again tomorrow morning towards Finistère.. but first my final supper with my newest dear friend.. what a gift this journey has been so far in so many ways.. I can’t believe there’s so few km left but I’m looking forward to finishing and getting home now! Though I’m still not entirely sure how I’ll cope without walking to a new place every day…

26/08/2025

Penultimate day to arrival in Santiago and the (supposed) bones of st. James (jesus’s bestie!).. an early(ish) start because it was due to get very hot (35deg) from the middle of the day.. but only 19km today so not too much rushing going on. Lots of places were shut.. it’s Sunday 🙄 loads of pilgrims on the way 🙄
We managed a good selection of breakfast and ice cream and drinks stops..
We passed under the take off path from Santiago airport and that’s where I had a little cry.. the thought of coming home, of finishing this crazy thing, but also how is it the end? And then also, but it’s not the end, I still have another 80+km to get to Finistère.. also it’s the end of this bit, the end of walking with my lovely new friend and the start of a new Camino and new people and what if they’re all annoying like Olga the terrible?! 😱😂😂 it will be just fine!!!
So we’ve had a long lazy lunch with a couple of drinks and plan an early start tomorrow so that we arrive in Santiago for 10.30am mass. I’m quite sure there’ll be more tears 😂

25/08/2025

Last nights dinners was glorious.. a whole salad of actual real delicious vegetables followed by steak!
The place we stayed was nice to look at but we both slept appallingly.. both our beds made shockingly loud noises with minimal movement, were hugely uncomfortable and the bedroom door sounded like someone knocking on it loudly several times, every time it was opened, there was loud dance music somewhere nearish and the whole thing made for quite a grumpy wake up (on my part) when my alarm went off 😂
We left reasonably early and had a lovely meander along some pretty roads with lovely big views. So many dogs tied up in gardens here.. they shout a lot when we pass and I hope it wakes their owners early on a Saturday morning 😉
Eventually we arrived in Arzua for breakfast which is the town where we join the main Camino Frances.. pilgrims everywhere! The bustling-ness did our heads in so we made a hasty retreat back onto the way which thankfully whisked us out of town very quickly. It was very pretty and we yabbered our way along stopping at several places for drinks and snacks. The food choices from here are plentiful unlike recent days so it’s tempting to stop everywhere but I think we only stopped for cake and ice cream!
More meandering and we popped out onto a busy road and lo our accommodation was there.. 2pm day done. Showers all round and all clothes through the washing machine and out on the line.. a treat! Then a giant snooze.. so unlike me! And now to plan tomorrow and some dinner.. under 30km to go 😱🎉

24/08/2025

So much sleeeeep! 🎉✨
I think I slept from about 9.30pm to 8am.. mostly an unheard of thing for me, clearly properly shattered! But feeling fab again now.
Super slow start and then a wander over to the monastery for a look. Beautiful cloisters and my friend made a great tour guide with some crazy improvisations to the narrative.. there were some weird frescos from the 80’s but otherwise it was quite lovely.. we especially liked the “oven ready chicken” which looks more like a dinosaur!
By the time we left there it was lunchtime so we had the delish lentils from last night and set off in the boiling sun for our very short 12km.. lovely walk through woodland but then a lot of road walking which wasn’t as bad a some but it’s a bit dull.
I’m feeling very content today though. It’s now less than 50km to Santiago and the plan is to arrive on Monday.. I do wonder how I’ll feel when I get there (I’ve warned my friend that there’s bound to be tears involved!).. currently I think I’ll feel very proud of myself but also I’m slightly bemused by my own self for doing this too 😂
We’ll see I guess.. now to wash my clothes and the find dinner

23/08/2025

Turned out not to be a short day.. 🙄 28km.. totally knackered! But it was a beautiful path through lovely forests and woodland and we’ve finished in a sweet town which is commandeered by the monastery.. we chose not to stay there fearing the 98 beds might be on one room but apparently they’re in much smaller rooms.. my friend’s feeling a bit sad he missed out on the experience.. I’m just happy to have my own bed, no top bunk, a duvet and best of all a midday checkout! I’m planning to stay in bed til about 11.55 and then leave!! It’s only 12km tomorrow.. and we have accommodation booked so I’m not going any further!! My hips, knees and ankles all ache today but nothing serious.
Delicious dinner of lentils 💨 and chicken w a celebratory beer and a quick catch up with our friend who we somehow managed to catch up.. and then an early night!

22/08/2025

I have walked 1000 miles! I left home 84 days ago and have walked for 75 of them..

Phew! 30km through beautiful forests and lovely paths.. it’s been a momentous day.. 1000 miles walked and less than 100km to go to Santiago (still another 80 on to Finistère and another 30 after that to Muxia!) but the end is very much in sight which feels exciting and scary and emotional and uncertain but those feelings will change and develop I’m sure over the next couple of days.. still not sure when we’ll arrive.. we’re hoping to have a much shorter day tomorrow but it will depend on accommodation situation.. it’s definitely busier here. We almost had a bit of a calamity tonight as we arrived quite late in the day and they put us in a room where all the bottom bunks were taken.. there is no way my mate is fitting on a top bunk! Luckily the agreed to move us but I’m still up top 😳 it’s not quite like last night!!
Main course for dinner tonight is various mushrooms 🤢 so I’m doing starter and pudding only.. luckily I had a big lunch!
It was much hotter today, lots more native trees, loads more forests but also it seems drier and crispier somehow too..
also managed some good chats on the phone today 🥰

21/08/2025

Such a beautiful walk today.. we set off late because the weather early on looked pants and it did start off heavy drizzle but softened pretty quickly to just damp. We’d walked for 45 mins when my mate realised he’d left his wrap thing behind.. he went back for it, I did not! But then I did suggest he phone the hostel as they might be willing to forward it on for him.. they did, so he was able to turn back around and caught me up pretty easily. He’s 6ft 10. Considering he has so few items to remember I did take the p**s!
The path was super pretty through woodland and farmland and almost all off road for the first chunk.
Saw the most beautiful graveyard.. had a snooze outside the gates then continued on to Vilalba.. it’s not a pretty town but it has several pharmacies so I was able to buy reading glasses! And now I have checked myself into the parador in vilalba.. it has fluffy white towels, shampoo, conditioner and a BATH.. a full size normal luscious bath.. so that’s where I’ll be for most of this evening!!
I’m getting quite emotional about nearing the end of the the Norte.. just 119km to Santiago now.. the km’s are dropping very fast suddenly.. if I keep going at this rate I’ll be arriving 3 days earlier than planned. Somehow these last few longish days have felt really good.. I think I’m walking much more slowly than over the last few weeks but I guess it’s also that my body is just used to walking for the best part of 7 hours a day..
anyway.. I need to focus on my bath 🛀

20/08/2025

We left in the dark this morning because we had 1000m to climb and we didn’t want to do it in the full sun.. No epic sunrise.. too much cloud 🙄 but it was beautiful.. We stopped for breakfast and provisions 2 hours into the walk and off we went for the big climb and the amazing views.. the guidebook recommends you don’t do this path if you’re alone or if the weather is bad.. it suggests you take a longer route with a gentler climb and services along the way..
the weather was dreadful… but we were committed by then..
We stopped for lunch snacks.. no idea where the view even was 😂

On the upside it was a 24km day, the hostel tonight is delightful, we’ve had a decent lunch and now it’s rest time. Last nights accommodation was really lovely but the building creaked loudly all night (it was the oddest thing!) and there was a man in the room below who snored so loudly I could hear him through the floorboards.. I am SO grateful he’s not in my room tonight 😂
Also. A bad thing has happened.. I have superglue but can’t see to fix them 😂

Super glue didn’t work.. tape it is until I can get to a pharmacy for reading glasses tomo 🤞 #

19/08/2025

So sad to see lady S go off this morning 😔 but her ankle was very thankful.. she had a bit of a problem at Aviles bus station and ended up speaking to the bus driver in her best French and telling him that her “ham (she forgot the word for leg!!) was very very sore” 😂 and he let her on the bus to the airport for free but made her sit at the front so he could keep an eye on her 😂

I set off and met up w my mate and no idea about my bed for the night and also no real idea of where I was going.. it was quite liberating in many ways. My friend has decided to go one further and has sent his bag forward to Santiago (at least 8 days away 😳) he has a toothbrush and a spare pair of socks.. he’s planning to wash his clothes and put them back on again 🤷‍♀️ he’s now lying on his bed in a wet shirt telling me that it was a great idea although he has admitted that perhaps bringing a quick dry under armour type shirt may have been more useful at this point than his cotton shirt 😂 I’ve suggested he go sit in the sun in his shirt but lying down is currently required 😂 because we pulled a 28km day today..
possibly the slowest 28km I’ve done but it made for a lovely amble and lots of chats.. and we had the best lunch I’ve had the whole time I’ve been here so that was a huge win..
we set off again for another 10km and found a bar at 5km.. my friend decided to have a beer.. schoolboy error! The last 5 km for him was super tough 😂
Arrived at our destination and the first albergue has room.. hurrah! They got very confused cos he wanted a single room and I wanted a dorm bed and they couldn’t work out why we didn’t want a room together 😂 eventually we worked out that sharing a room was cheaper all round and we now have a private room and shared bathroom with sheets and towels and it’s delightful! We’re having dinner in the hostel so hopefully we’ll meet some nice peeps tonight too..

18/08/2025

Omg we’ve had such a fun day (apart from the badly behaved ankle on Susan’s body but more of that later!). We set off to the beach and what a fabulous beach.. we planned to stay half and hour but somehow 2 hours slipped by!
Susan met some very bad toilets as we left the beach so i didn’t meet them and we had an ice cream to commiserate her dreadful experience.
We set off to walk around the headland but that got curtailed as we couldn’t find the path.. which turned out to be a blessing cos Susan’s ankle was hurting quite a lot by then. So onward to Ribadeo and over the massive bridge on foot.. amazing views!
Sudan treated us to a really swanky hotel and we were both a bit disappointed by the welcome we got.. in part possibly cos we didn’t smell so good but also it’s just not a pilgrim hostel 😂
Susan asked for help to get to the airport and they looked blankly at her so we set off to the tourist info post a super long delish shower. The tourist info people were delightful and Susan is booked on a bus at 8am tomorrow 😔
We headed to a bar to enjoy the town square and check out our photos of the day. Then tried to do some shopping but thankfully failed, had a cookie for a pre dinner snack and the meandered off to find somewhere for dinner.. ended up in a Nepalese Iberian restaurant (who knew such a thing existed!!) with our mate. Had a lush evening and then Susan made me howl with laughter all the way home 😂
We’re packed and ready for our early start and I’m walking with arnie once lady S leaves.. don’t have anywhere booked for tomo night which is scary but I’m sure it’ll be fine 😂🤞🤞✨
Now for a comfy night sleep 💤

Monday	10:00 - 17:00
Tuesday	10:00 - 17:00
Wednesday	13:00 - 17:00
Thursday	10:00 - 17:00
Friday	10:00 - 17:00

Wandering with Purpose

29/08/2025

28/08/2025

27/08/2025

26/08/2025

25/08/2025

24/08/2025

23/08/2025

22/08/2025

21/08/2025

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