Feelin' Good!

Today was an easy day... I laugh as I write this because it wasn't really easy just compared to the past two days it was easy. About 22km that covered the area from Najera to Santo Domingo de la Calzada was my route for today. It was pretty gorgeous. I left early again (seems to be my thing to avoid the heat of the day) and arrived at my destination even before the hostel opened at 12. The first 6km were pretty easy because I was still half asleep. I mean I was awake enough to walk but still not 100% present. It's just one foot in front of the other at this point of the day. I came to a cute little town called Azofra and stopped for breakfast. A powerade and a chocolate croissant really hit the spot and I was motivated to keep on chugging along. The next part of the journey was pretty as I walked away from the main road through farms and rolling hills. The patchwork of crops is really beautiful and as you go up and down hills and catch glimpses of different landscapes it's really incredible to look at. It's definitely not something you see everyday.

My blisters are gone and my knee feels almost 100% so it figures something else would start to bother me. I have a pain on the bottom of my foot that is killing me. Walking over rocks for miles and miles hurts so much. When I stepped on a rock in a certain spot on the bottom of my foot, I actually was voicing my pain because it hurt that badly. I tried hikers wool from David the Australian, and a compeed strip from one of the Japanese women but no luck. Not sure what I will try next but I need to figure out something.

Today on my walk the vineyards I passed reminded me of Tabor Hill Winery in Michigan. My friend Bender used to work there when I was in college, and we used to go wine tasting which was so much fun. This thought brought me to the idea of how she lived alone in college and I thought she was so weird needing her "me" time as she put it. She basically lived at my apartment with my roommates and me, but she would be so happy to be able to go back to her apartment at night. I used to think it was just because I scared her with my competitiveness when it came to board games or especially charades and cranium in which I made multiple people cry... I just like winning. However, it wasn't until I lived alone these past two years when I finally understood what she was talking about. I absolutely love being around people but it is so nice to come home and just re-center yourself at the end of a day alone.

Today I was thinking about the huge difference between loneliness and being alone. When you have that alone time you are able to clear your head and think about yourself and what you need. When you are around people all day long you are constantly thinking of others and doing what others want to do which is great... But not all the time. Having that peace and the ability to do as you choose in order to think about your day, your week, what happened in the past or what is coming in the future is exactly what you need (at least I do!) I think a million things pass through my head on a daily basis but I can't stop to think about them because I am doing another million things. It's easy to get caught up in work, family, and others and put yourself on hold. But when you are able to give yourself that alone time- it doesn't mean you are lonely but it means you can actually take time and think about yourself for a change. During this walk I have already thought about a ton- but I have a lot to continue to think about. Some of which I don't know yet, but just by giving myself this time my batteries are being charged and I'm able to give the needed time to those issues or thoughts that are normally put on hold. Most people are not given over a month to walk and to do this, so please know I feel very fortunate. Most people aren't given the opportunity to do a lot of what I have done or will do, and not a day goes by that I don't thank God for all I have been blessed with in my life.
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