Two weeks on the Camino, and today we all felt the exhaustion. Mentally more than physically.
Today we walked 12 kilometers to Villafranca de Oca. We have been keeping the same schedule as a British couple, and we started the day off chatting with them over breakfast before hitting the trail.
The walk out of Belorado featured some gorgeous street art, and we took our time, taking photos and soaking it all in.
Both girls napped in the stroller while Sandra and I listened to podcasts for the first hour or so of the walk. It was quiet and relaxing, but we still felt pretty drained. By the afternoon, we were eagerly counting down each step. The 12 kilometers felt like 20.
Walking the Camino with two kids has come with an unexpected pressure to be our best selves all the time. All eyes are on us, quite literally. The girls are in everyone’s trip photos. Usually people ask, and Addie enjoys posing for photos, but not always. The girls have both been incredible on this trip, and they’re allowed to have their moments of frustration or hunger or homesickness. They’d both still cry at home. But here it feels like it gets used as evidence of why children shouldn’t walk the Camino. Twice now we’ve noticed ourselves being videotaped during our tougher moments, so we feel like we have to be “on” all the time, adding to the mental and emotional load of the trip.
We reached Villafranca and the afternoon turned around. We all took naps and then we went for dinner, where we ran into our British friends again. The dinner was the first really good meal that I’ve had in Spain. We didn’t even see Eloise at dinner, as she got passed around the room. Addie played “fine dining” with us and drank her milk from a wine glass.
Tomorrow, our next stop is over 30 kilometers away, so we intend to start the day off with a taxi ride to San Juan de Ortega and then carry on from there.
I understand as any parent or caregiver does. Just do you, thats all you CAN do. Children are their own beings, you have to go with the flow and to heck with those who want to judge. May you have a good dinner and a nice rest.
Another very enjoyable read. You have a style that would transfer very well to a book of your adventure….if you had the time and inclination. One of our many take aways of our Camino is that it is a compressed microcosm of society. You meet an incredible number of incredible people. You meet some that you quickly realize you will not walk along with. You also encounter that judgy segment…you know, those types that see a crying kid on the Camino, take photos so they can show their friends with absolutely uniformed small minded comments about people who travel with a kid. Its their Camino, its their sad life. Let them judge. And, if someone ever caused you headaches, refer them to your various hosts and the many people you are connecting with along the way for Good Parenting/Awesome Happy Kids references. Buen Camino
Everyone regardless of age has good days and bad days on the camino or anywhere else for that matter. You are doing just great and the kids are absolutely fine and if they weren’t you would do something to make sure they were. It’s very obvious that you both put the wellbeing of your kids first and they are well looked after very well. Don’t pay any attention to the judgemental ones. Muy buen camino.
Besides, if you listened to the judgemental ones, I wouldn’t be sitting here each morning, drinking coffee and enjoying your daily blog post. 😉