Packing

God grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

Courage to change the things I can and Wisdom to know the difference. (Reinhold Niebuhr)

One of the things about packing is that I'm always second guessing myself.  Do I need this?  What am I forgetting?  How do I arrange the items I'm taking?  This time there are three bags...a suitcase and two knapsacks.  One or another of the knapsacks will always be in the suitcase.  They have specific purposes; hydration while cycling, and carrying my electronics while travelling.  I'm thankful for the electronics which carry a pile of books to read, or shows to watch....as long as I don't leave them in the seat pocket of the plane.  Cycling means carrying a helmet, shoes, rain gear, pedals, tools, more electronics - so keeping the weight down in the suitcase is a challenge.  We're renting the bikes and are responsible for minor repairs along the road.  If we have a major repair that's a phone call to an emergency number and (hopefully) help will be on it's way.  There's also clothing for a variety of forms of weather which at the moment isn't looking ideal for cycling in Spain - I thought the rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain, but it looks to me like it's going to fall mainly on us as we walk from St Jean to Roncesvalles on June 7th.  I hope the forecast shifts, but the rain gear still has to come.

There's a lot of other baggage coming along with us, too.  This trip has been in formation for a long time.  I spoke of thinking and talking about the Camino with Sandy in the early days of our relationship.  There have been others we've followed along their own Camino travels - Brian and Ruth McNutt, Jeff Rock and a multitude of friends who have over the years undertaken to travel the Way of St. James.  We've received advice and tips from many pilgrims before us.  I'm thankful for that baggage which will certainly help us along the way.

And, I think, there's baggage that is going to come along whether I need it, want it, or not.  It's the ghosts of a lifetime which tend to appear at the most interesting of times.  The failures, fears, insecurities that each of us have.  Sandy and I travel nicely together.  We enjoy the experiences and the opportunities that come from exploring different cultures and places.  Fine wine and food - which can be consumed without guilt after a day of cycling from one place to another.  The beauty in the subtle, and sometimes blatant, differences of culture, nature and history.  Yet, we all carry with us memories of other times and places.  Not all of which are necessarily warm and fuzzy.  

In the midst of the stark differences of a new place and culture trying to communicate in an unfamiliar language can come moments when this baggage appears.  Sandy can be directionally challenged, for example.  Each time we visited her father we'd walk out of his room and she would turn in the direction opposite the one we needed to go.  I rarely have that problem, often knowing where we need to turn almost intuitively (a GPS sometimes helps here).  I can struggle with being too reserved and reluctant to speak up for the things that I need.  Sandy does that well.  We have an unspoken agreement that if there's an issue with service, or a bill...a corked wine, or poorly cooked meal...Sandy will deal with it.  There are times when I'd rather not carry that sort of baggage with me, but, really, it's "just" who we are.  I'm thankful our strengths and weaknesses (at least most of them) complement each other and work well for us.  Besides part of being on a pilgrimage is the opportunity to consider and change the things we bring along, isn't it?