The Long and Winding Blog Post

OK, it's been two months since I posted, I know, but the fact of the matter is this blog is about my trip in June, and well, it's not June yet. I felt like the six people on the planet who actually read this wouldn't kill me if I didn't update this blog exactly every two weeks.

So, maybe now is a good time to fill you in on the itinerary. The early part of June is busy for me at work: we have Board Meetings, so on Monday the 13th, I'll do my duty in front of the Audit Committee, reviewing the University's tax returns, then the following morning I'll do it all again, with Financial Statements, Budget Variances and the Proposed 2012 budget thrown in for good measure. That afternoon, I'm doing a 2-hour seminar for aspiring musicians and performers (read: waiters and waitresses) on campus on how to run and manage your own business from a financial perspective.

Then on the morning of the 15th, I get on a plane. LAX to New York, New York to Barcelona, Barcelona to the somewhat small but enchanting town of San Sebastian, nestled between the French Border and the Atlantic; I arrive the evening of the 16th of June, and if all goes well, I'll beat my folks to town by about four hours. The next morning we have to be across the border (a 1 mile walk) and at the train station on the French side in time to catch a 7:30 train. I just bought these train tickets last week. This puts us at the jumping off point for the pilgrimage, St. Jean Pied-du-Port at 9:30am on the 17th of June, or roughly 36 hours after leave the States. Yeah right.

After that comes 32 glorious and probably grueling days of walking, culminating in my kissing the feet of a statue of someone important (a pilgrim? Saint James? who knows) in Santiago de Compostela 500 miles, 90-some-odd meals, innumerable blisters and random roadside bathroom breaks later. The 18th of July, I will be resting. That will be a good day. Then the morning of the 19th it's back on plane (Santiago - Madrid - New York - LA) to go to work the morning of the 20th.

I may be sick on the morning of the 20th. Just saying.

I've still been experimenting with GPS for the pilgrimage, and come to the conclusion that I like my iPhone better than any of the other GPS gadgets I've tried. This presents two problems: data and battery. I've just about resigned myself to spending some bucks on an international data plan for the month I'm gone so that the GPS can pull down maps. The $150 or so this will cost me doesn't seem overly onerous, because every GPS I've tried will require me to cart AA batteries to keep it powered, whereas the iPhone does not.

But, the iPhone won't last all day with the GPS running, so I'm testing out a solar charger that hangs off my backpack and will hopefully keep the iPhone juiced enough to make it through the day, or for the occasional "OMG is that a mountain lion?" phone call. How do you say "OMG" in Spanish?

Beyond that, I'm happy to say that training, I think, is going well. I've bought the backpack I plan to use on the trek, and the folks and I have been walking on the weekends (when it's not raining) appropriately weighted. When I first tried the backpack, I thought "Oh, this isn't bad at all." Then I put stuff in it. Yeah...

Turns out that having 20-30lbs. on your back does interesting things to your center of gravity.

And, I managed to puncture my water container thingy first time out. Of course.

I've also inherited a pair of Dad's boots that were too big for him. I love them, but I've also decided that if you walk 12 to 17 miles with 25lbs on your back, your feet are going to hurt. I now have a new appreciation for my friend Loyd, who convinced me to spring for the whirlpool tub when we were remodeling my bathroom.

I'm still walking every day at work with my pack, and this week I picked up running about three miles in the evening as well. I don't seem to be dropping weight, but maybe I will pick up some muscle where I need it and shed some fat. One can hope, right?

Mom and Dad have been more consistent than I at getting in miles, but I'm pushing them to shift from flat, sea-level hikes along the beach to inland, hilly hikes that I think will reflect more the terrain we have to deal with. That last sentence should have read..."I think will reflect more the terrain with which we have to deal."

Beyond that, not much to report. Spring is trying to sprung in Southern California, even if the last couple of weeks have been quite wet. I'm working on selling a couple of cars and generally unencumbering my life in preparation for the trek. Thanks for tuning in. Till the next installment!

Of cars, technology, and the first in a series of personal Waterloos

I have the car bug again. A good friend and coworker of mine finally bit the bullet and traded in his boring, awful, and environmentally-evil appliance, I mean, Toyota Camry Hybrid for a BMW convertible. I'd like to think that months upon months of tireless effort on my part finally convinced him, but really, the car speaks for itself. Drive one, and you're hooked.

Anyway, the minute he emailed me that he was at the friendly neighborhood dealership test driving, I hustled over to see what was up. This is bad, because it gave me the car bug. Well, OK, I was probably just in remission from the car bug, not really cured, but it's back. The fact that my 1980 528i is partially disassembled in my garage, the 540 started leaking coolant, and the 323 has been throwing check engine codes like an Olympic shot-putter did not help my automotive disposition. But, what to do? Nine cars is simply too many. The eight I have now I can justify. Don't believe me? Here goes:

The 1966 Coronet I inherited and is sentimental, it's been in the family since new. The 1970 BMW 2002 is just cool; I've owned it for seven years, and it's pretty unique. Plus, it was cheap. The 1980 528i is just a classy old German sedan. Do I need it? No, but I want it, and it also was cheap. The other 1980 528i, well, that's for parts. Or to sell, or give away to the right person. And it was also cheap. Good candidate for downsizing. The 1999 323i is the gas mileage car, plus I think Mom would kill me if I got rid of it. We're emotionally attached to it as it's the one we picked up in Germany. The 2001 540i 6-speed is my "I have to take people somewhere" car. It's bigger, faster, and more comfortable than the 3, plus it has a V8 and a 6-speed, therefore your argument is invalid. The 2009 135i Convertible is my convertible, and every time in my life I've not had a convertible in the fleet has been short-lived and unhappy. Deal with it. Finally, the truck is for when I need to go to Home Depot, Youth Group trips, make a run to the rental property, or haul some mountain bikes.

See, I need all my vehicles. Well, I can't buy another new car until sometime in 2012, because the next car will involve a trip to Germany, and this year's vacation is spoken for (hence the purpose of this blog). Maybe I can defer this dilemma for a bit.

I have been agonizing over what to do about technology on the Camino. Mom is adamant that her pilgrimage will be technology-free. No phone, no computer, no interwebs, no iPod, no nothing that does not involve pen and paper, and possibly carrier pigeon. I subtly reminded her that she might be grateful for a cellphone if, say, a mountain lion or a bear were to decide we'd make a nice snack. This earned me the patented look of death.

I am planning to take my cellphone, which is also my iPod, and my laptop. Logic is this: The Camino is 480 miles. At 3 mph, that's 160 hours of walking. For my sanity, I will need to disengage from my fellow walkers on occasion (no offense...), especially if I have to go without a morning cup of coffee on occasion. Plus, I'm hoping my iPhone can also serve as my GPS for logging our walking route for the day, and the laptop is needed, not because I plan to spend time on email or the internet (in fact, I don't at all. I'm fully bought in to the retreat-from-the-world aspect of this adventure), but because I do want to blog about the day's trek each night, and upload pictures, and our route.

Therein lies my dilemma: I'm not sure my iPhone can do the route logging without incurring large amounts of data charges. I am NOT into a $1,000 phone bill. So, if anyone has any suggestions about what kind of GPS to take/use or if the iPhone will work, please let me know! I'm also not thrilled about the laptop, but an iPad won't let me dock/upload/whatever and is clunky for typing. Plus, it's not technically my iPad so I will feel terrible if something happened to it, like Mom hitting the bear with it because she doesn't have a cellphone to call for help.

And now(cue ABBA song intro), Waterloo #1. Every day at lunch, I leave my well-heated and air-conditioned office in the administration building of Pepperdine and hike up to a water tower above the Drescher Graduate Campus. It's 3.5 miles round-trip, with an elevation change of about 800 feet, and I can do it in pretty much an hour flat. The last couple of weeks, I've added doing this walk with a 25-lb. pack. The logic is this: I'm going to walk 480 miles with a pack, I'd better get used to it.

Man, that 25 pounds makes a huge difference. Ugh.

Unfortunately, the holidays were not kind to my waistline. My Waterloo is that I have a SERIOUS sweet tooth. Between Thanksgiving and New Year's I put on 10 pounds, which means that ideally I need to lose 25lbs (or a REALLY HEAVY backpack) before June 15, when I leave for Spain.

Here's what's hard about it: I seem to have ZERO self-discipline when it comes to eating and exercise. The hour at lunch is no problem. I also need to be doing another hour at home at night. That's more difficult to motivate myself, but the real challenge is doing that and being careful about eating. When I'm moving that much, I tend to snack, which effectively negates any advantage to the extra exercising. And frankly, the most frustrating things is that I can't seem to do anything about it (re-read that sentence on self-discipline) and then I get discouraged, and it all becomes a vicious repeating cycle.

Then, to top it all off, my cat jumps up on my lap and starts kneading my stomach, as if scolding me, just like he's doing now.

In all seriousness, that's the hardest thing about this whole journey - the mental fight to prepare for the actual physical undertaking. Prayers, encouragement, and suggestions appreciated. Was that more info. than you wanted? Maybe, but the point of this blog, and this journey is to be real, and open. Till next time...thanks for tuning in!