Dreaming of Portugal

So, with enough vacation time and not much money, I´ve started dreaming of where I could go and came up with Portugal, not necessarily because of the economy, but because I can walk that section of the Camino (Oporto to Santiago and then Santiago to Finisterre) in the amount of time I have. I still would need some sorta´ miracle to get there, as I´m seriously in need of the funds to pay off my bills, monetary committments, and still have enough to buy a plane ticket and money to travel with. I am starting a new round of looking and applying for work. In my head, I am going late August, early September of this year.

I was looking it up on the internet, at the Camino forum, they have lovely photos of the route, which were inspiring, and now I´m waiting for a guidebook to check it out further. I´ve wanted to go to Portugal for a while. I don´t know if I would have enough time to also go to Fatima, but I´d like to. I need to figure out how I would get to Oporto from the States. I´m trying to get in better shape too. I have this idea in my head that you have to be ready if the opportunity arises. I have most everything I would need already, so that is not really a concern. Just need to pick up a bit of Portuguese and allay my fears of the unknown as much as possible. Sometimes if I think about going, I am a bit sad that it´s not the ruta Francesa, but I have gone 3 times on that route, so even though I am not an outsider, walking any of the alternative routes makes me feel weirdly left out, even though I haven´t even left yet. I realize how much I like the section from Portomarín to Santiago. However, I have yet to walk to Finisterre (or the St. Jean to Roncesvalles section) and I´d like to. It´s true that I may not go, it´s a long shot, but there is enough time for things to change in my life. I keep thinking I must surely be done, and then somehow, maybe I´m not. On my last night in Santiago, I met a man, Miguel, from Germany. In a short period of time he had walked almost all of the routes, every time he had vacation, he´d walk another section. I want to say it was over two years. I met him at the Pilgrim´s dinner at the Parador, he had just walked from Portugal.

I suppose my biggest concerns once I get there will: 1) will there be anyone else walking, and I´m guessing yes, since it´s a Holy Year, and even late in the year, there will be someone and 2) will there be anywhere to stay at night? The guidebook should help with the second.

I still need to fill in the other sections from previous trip(s) on this blog. I love that I can type in Spanish on this computer. Peace, L