After 16 years of dreading family vacations, I have finally figured out how to enjoy one. Go hiking a lot. I don’t guess I ever thought about WHY I found a week with my family so stressful before now. The truth is I need some alone time, and everyone else wants to spend ALL DAY together. I love my family, I really do, but I just cannot spend every waking minute with them. Not happily anyway.
On previous vacations I got chided as a poor sport if I wanted to do something different from the group. This year, everyone knew I was training for the camino, and so when I got up in the morning and announced that I was headed out to hike a 5 mile trail with 1000 feet of elevation gain, they just rolled their eyes. I invited them to come, but surprisingly, no one accepted- LOL. We do this trip every other year and this is the first year I have ever jumped in the car at the end of the vacation and said to my husband- “Wow, that was really fun! I’m so glad I got to spend the week with my family.” The next time I go, I may not be training for the Camino, but I assure you that I will be training for SOMETHING.
Another fun thing I did was to visit a family I stayed with while I was selling books door-to-door 30 years ago. It was so lovely to see them again. They live in North Carolina which is 9 hours from my house, but only 3.5 hours from where we were vacationing. So I took off and visited them one day. The drive was gorgeous as well.
I also got to watch my niece practice the piano- she lives 500 miles away in Houston and attends a fine arts high school. She is an amazing pianist, and while I’ve seen videos, I had never seen her play in person. I was impressed!
And of course I trained for the camino, and even more importantly, I tested out my equipment. My backpack is absolutely AMAZING. I have been training with a weighted vest, and its frankly uncomfortable. The same amount of weight in my backpack feels so much lighter. My nephew, who was in the army, gave me some tips on how to load it and where to put various items and NOT put them. The side pockets are not for water bottles apparently. He also told me I could ease tired hips by adjusting the straps to transfer some of the weight to my shoulders, and then back again.
My hiking sandals also performed well. I do not plan to hike in them; I’m bringing them for evenings and to wear in the shower. I did hike a short steep trail with them and they are very comfortable. If I have to wear them because of a blister from my other shoes, I think they’ll be fine. The trail shoes I bought (Altras) also feel and perform great, but I’ve been wearing them for a month, so I already knew that. They’re very wide in the toe box. Since I have wide feet, the feeling of being able to wiggle my toes inside of my shoes is new to me. They also have zero drop- your heel is at the same level as the ball of your foot, just like when you are barefoot. I absolutely love them and this will not be my last pair.
Sleeveless shirts aren’t a great idea with my backpack. I got some chafing from my backpack shoulder straps after a few miles. The hiking pants that seemed to fit just fine at home were too loose once I started hiking. I couldn’t put anything in my pockets (like my phone) without them sagging and me having to tug them up again. Weight loss on the Camino is pretty common, so I’m going to need a smaller pair. They were effective for preventing poison ivy rashes though! Does poison ivy grow in Spain?
My GPS watch holds a charge for nearly a week- until you try to use it on a long trail in an area with spotty phone service. Then it runs down really quickly. Also when it says it has low battery, you have about 8 minutes to save your workout before it disappears without a trace. My phone battery won’t stand up to gps usage all day, but I wasn’t really planning on using it anyway. I considered taking the smartwatch, but its probably not going to Spain now.
This week I reminded myself just how much I adore hiking. I love it. I love the quiet of the woods, and the softness of the dirt in the forest. I love the sound of the streams, and seeing the ferns growing beside the trail. I love seeing the animal tracks in the mud and the trail uncurling before me. I talked my husband into another hiking trip next month. Retirement- its the bomb.
Favorite retirement thing this week- I no longer feel like every minute of my time needs to be used productively. Is it efficient to spend 7 hours in a car for a 3 hour visit with friends? Nope, it isn’t. But I’m so glad I have time to do things like that!
mushrooms on a log
fog on the surface of the Toccoa River after a rain
My happy place
