Get On Your Way.

I'm done whining.
I'm done whining about how physically and spiritually difficult the pilgrimage was.
I'm done whining about how difficult reentry into "normal" life has been.
I have one last thing I want to say about pilgrimage: Go.
Everyone should go on some kind of pilgrimage in their life.
Some people stumble into theirs, others plan them intentionally, but you shouldn't let your life pass you by without going on at least one great journey.
Lot's of people travel, and sometimes that travel becomes a pilgrimage, but too often it remains tourism.
Lot's of people go on trips that they think are going to be fun and significant, but they still don't quite become a pilgrim.
So what are some criteria for "setting yourself up" to become a pilgrim?  Here is some advice from my experience:

1. Don't try to be too comfortable;

• I don't mean you have to dress in burlap, or crawl on your knees, or carry a big wooden cross while flagellating yourself with cords, but I think you need to consciously leave some of your worldly comforts at home.
• I do think it should involve walking.  Walking gives you time to soak in the journey.  It connects you with the world you are passing through and unplugs you from the "modern" world of combustion engines and isolating metal boxes.
• Walking also forces you to consider carefully the physical burdens you will bring with you, you can live with less than you think.

2. Be ready for and open to unexpected changes in plan.

• If there is one thing I will do differently on my next pilgrimage (and I'm sure there will be another one) it will be that I will not lock myself into a return date.  I'm going to give myself the grace to slow down if I need to, or speed up if I want to.
• The knowledge that there was a flight out of Madrid with my name on it, that I absolutely had to be on, was one piece of "baggage" I just could not put down.
• Know that you just can't, and probably shouldn't, prepare for every eventuality.  Boy Scouts and Pilgrims are different things.

3. The destination isn't everything, but it is something.

• There is something about a sacred destination like the Cathedral of St. James that helps, but it's not the actual goal that really makes the journey a pilgrimage, it's the sacred company you keep.  It's the presence of other pilgrims: past, present and future, which helps keep you aware of your progress as a pilgrim.  Little reminders: piles of stones, pictures of loved ones, wooden crosses woven into a chain link fence, these remind you that many have traced that path; each with their own story, but sharing a common destination.  That is sacred.
• Sometimes the destination can offer a counterpoint to the sacred journey.  I felt that way about my first few hours in Santiago, the shocking return to a modern city, the tourists and the marketing of the "pilgrim experience" left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth.  Worship in the Pilgrim's Mass the next day, helped ease that wound.
• Don't expect too much from the destination, but don't think it won't matter at all.
• Remember that one of the things pilgrimage teaches you is that the journey is never really over.  It should leave you with a holy hunger for more.

4. Don't wait

• patience is a virtue, but if you're too patient, you will never take the first steps
• there will never be a "perfect time"
• you will never be truly prepared
• part of becoming a pilgrim is to have the faith to walk out of your door.