Camino Day 37: Portomarin to San Xulius

Day: May 7th, 2022

Distance: 28.3km/17.5 miles

Time: 7 hours (9:00am- 4:00pm)

I got an incredible night of sleep, but this morning I woke up feeling the most sore I have been this entire trip. Such pain and tightness in my butt, thighs, knees, shins. Blisters rubbing and aching.

Chris and I had a coffee and then we headed out into the misty morning. I solo struggled the entire morning. Feeling so sore. Slow. Such little motivation. It was hard to keep going.

At our first (very crowded) breakfast stop, it seemed I wasn’t the only one struggling. Others were feeling it too. At our table we had a small pity/venting party for ourselves.

I got a 2nd wind a couple hours in. I walked fast, powering past groups of high school students. At one point I even broke into a sprint. Not for long, but it felt liberating. Crazy how much you mood and energy levels can change through a day.

I spotted Frances at a restaurant and joined her for a radler. Later in the afternoon, I came across the others. This is what I love about the Camino… seeing all my people at a table together and joining them for a meal and a laugh after some solo walking. It’s never something thats planned. It just happens. Camino magic, baby.

We still had 10km still to go after that late lunch. It was a longggg day. The sun was out, and it was a hot walk. I continued on my own. All afternoon I felt pangs of sadness about it all coming to an end. Only 2 more walking days. 2 more mornings of packing my bag and heading out with no agenda expect walking to the next destination.

In the tiny town of San Xulian, the 6 of us (my Camino fam) had an adorable room for ourselves. 3 bunks- just as it should be on our last night together before reaching Santiago. (Tomorrow Chris and I would be walking ahead- we would do 2 longer 30km days, and the the other 4 would spread the 60km over 3 days. We would meet in Santiago and celebrate together.)

We ate cheese on the patio, drank wine, played cards, had a pilgrim dinner, and laughed as much as usual. It was still light ouside when I crawled into bed at 10:00pm.

This was the night the end hit me.

I cried myself to sleep, bracing for it all to be over. No more shoes lined up at the door. No more laundry hanging up around the room. No more seeing my Camino fam’s radiant faces at random coffee and snack stops throughout the day. No more bunk beds. No more falling asleep the sounds of their breathing (and snoring).

No more waking up to inside jokes and the faces of 5 people who I have come to love so dearly.