I have plans to walk the 490-mile Camino de Santiago this coming September (2018), ending in late October. My husband plans to meet me in Santiago de Compostela and we’ll travel to Portugal to celebrate our 30th anniversary. This post is about my earlier preparations for a month-long trip to Spain and Portugal as I was leaving Oman (after two years) in 2013. I’ll write another post about preparing for the Camino and Portugal this coming summer.
Wednesday, May 15, 2013: On a Wednesday afternoon in Oman, after listening to and double-marking eighteen tedious presentations by John G’s students about the cities in the world they dream of visiting, about how “the life is beautiful” and “Paris/Tokyo/Sydney are so beautiful and nice and I advice {sic} you to go there,” I escape the University of Nizwa early. The temperature on this day is 106 degrees Fahrenheit and even after I drive my tiny turquoise Suzuki Celerio home with the air conditioner cranked up full blast, I feel like burnt toast when I pull into my driveway 30 minutes later. I immediately do as I do every day when I get home: put on my pajamas, turn on all three air-conditioners and all five fans, gobble down two dolmas and a plateful of sliced cheddar cheese with tomato wedges on crackers, and plop down on my couch to read about Barcelona in my bulky Lonely Planet Spain.
Always the queen of wasting time, I eventually force myself to get up and at least make one small step toward packing for my not-imminent-enough departure soon after June 26. I open my red suitcase and start trying on clothes that I think I’d like to wear on my vacation to Spain and Portugal.
Yikes! I know I have gained weight but I didn’t realize how much the bulge around my middle is now emphasized in every tank top and cute knit sleeveless top I own. Since in Oman I always wear baggy long-sleeved shirts, I have been in great denial (though admittedly secretly aware) of how unsightly my body has become. I try on a number of plain tank tops and cute flowing ruffled tops and red tops with colorful embroidery, tops that remind me of flamenco dancing and sangria and azulejos (blue & white painted tiles found everywhere in Portugal) and the striped arches of Cordoba’s Mezquita. The ones that best camouflage the bulges go in the suitcase and the others go in a pile to be shipped back to the USA for hopefully better days.
I have been dreaming of wandering through the Glory Facade of La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona and eating paella by the sea in Valencia, wandering through and marveling at the Alhambra & the Cordoba Mezquita, eating tapas in Seville and drinking wine while under the influence of Spanish guitarists. In these dreams, I look as cute and Spanish as a person of my age and German heritage can look. But. Unless my right knee stops giving me problems and I can go on a full-out exercise regime in the next month, I will sadly need to change my vision.
Oh well. In the meantime, after finishing off marathon sessions of the 3rd season of Downton Abbey and the Christmas special where Matthew Crawley gets killed in a car accident right after his baby boy is born, I distract myself from my sorrows by diving in to Lonely Planet Spain, making asterisks next to places I want to visit in Barcelona and Valencia. Alternately, I lie on my couch in my air-conditioned flat and read Duende: a journey into the heart of Flamenco, by Jason Webster, about the author’s search for “the intense and mysterious emotional state – part ecstasy, part melancholy – that is the essence of Spain’s signature art form: flamenco.” I search on Youtube for Spanish flamenco music and classical Spanish guitar music to add to my iPod Nano. I download Shadow of the Wind, by Carlos Ruiz Zafón, to my Kindle and search in vain for a Kindle version of The Seamstress by Maria Duennas (highly recommended by a fellow blogger). I do a Google search for novels set in Spain or in Portugal and add 22 titles to my Goodreads “to-read” list. I look for a small-group local tour in Andalucia, which I find, and I look on booking.com for low-priced but decent hotels in Barcelona, which don’t seem to exist. I pencil in an itinerary on a calendar and on maps of Spain and Portugal.
Finally, I dream. It’s not much longer now.
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“ANTICIPATION & PREPARATION” INVITATION: I invite you to write a 750-word (or less) post on your own blog about anticipation & preparation for a particular destination (not journeys in general). If you don’t have a blog, I invite you to write in the comments. Include the link in the comments below by Thursday, June 21 at 1:00 p.m. EST. When I write my post in response to this challenge on Friday, June 22, I’ll include your links in that post. My next post will be about my upcoming road trip to Buffalo, New York and Niagara Falls.
This will be an ongoing invitation, on the 4th Friday of each month. Feel free to jump in at any time. 🙂 If you’d like to read more about the topic, see: journeys: anticipation & preparation.
I hope you’ll join in our community. I look forward to reading your posts!
the ~ wander.essence ~ community
I invite you all to settle in and read posts from our wandering community. We only have one this time. I promise, you’ll be inspired!
- Pauline, of Living in Paradise…, writes about her anticipation and preparation for her return to Tenterfield to see an art exhibit and to stay in a magnificent mansion.
Thanks to all of you who wrote posts about anticipation and preparation. 🙂
~ wander.essence ~ 
I had 2 days in Barcelona!!! Just whet my appetite for more, that I never got… I read Duende a few years back and was totally pulled in to the magic he conjured up. The Camino is rapidly getting closer. How’s the exercise routine going while you are on the road trip? Thanks for the link, I’m back home now and a bit lax with blogging at the moment
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Didn’t you love Barcelona? I surely did and would love to go back one day. Duende was magnificent, as was the book The Seamstress.
The Camino is rapidly approaching and I’m now feeling I better get with the program. I just arrived home from my big road trip. We started out hiking so much, and my exercise dwindled during the latter half of the trip, so I need to get back up to speed. It will be such a challenge training during the hot and humid summer months in Virginia. Ugh. The air was so fresh, clear and dry out west, that I now feel like a drowned rat being back home!
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Yes I loved Barcelona and if I could get back without flying I would go in a flash. I must look for the book “seamstress” in the library. Incidentally I have read a couple of Anne patchett books you recommend and loved them.
I’m looking forward to hearing about your recent trip. Hot and humid is not good for exercise but don’t give up
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You will love The Seamstress if you find it. It sometimes goes by another name: The Time In Between. Both titles are the same book. I’m glad you liked the Ann Patchett books.
I’m still settling in from my trip out west, but hopefully I’ll have my first post about it by Friday. A bit of poetry, I hope! 🙂
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I love this, Cathy! It’s so full of colour and so honest. 🙂 🙂 I’m pretty sure you’re a much more slender Cathy now, with the Camino ahead. I’ll never forget the sight of you and that enormous suitcase at Tavira bus station. You’ll be heading for home now, with another suitcase full of memories.
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Thanks so much, Jo. I remember so fondly preparing for that wonderful trip through Spain and Portugal, and I look forward to being back there in September, although it will be such a different experience.
I wish I were a more slender Cathy after my road trip; I only lost a pound or so. We hiked extensively during the first part of the trip, but the hiking turned to long drives during the second half. Although I still walked a lot, it wasn’t to the level of 8-9 miles per day. So I have to get back up to speed now that I’m home. This humidity in Virginia is no fun, and it won’t be fun training. I’d rather stay indoors all summer. The air out west was so dry and fresh, cool or downright cold at night, heating up during the day, but always dry! I loved it!
As for my big suitcase in Tavira, I do remember it well! Haha! You should have seen my car for this road trip. Headed out, I was loaded up with furniture and stuff for Alex, and some smaller stuff for Adam, plus some of the stuff Mike didn’t want to carry on the airplane. Plus of course, I added to the stuff with a few purchases. I’m going to have to learn to cut back a lot for the Camino! I can only bring what I can carry on my back for 490 miles! It will be a challenge! 🙂
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490 miles sounds a long, long way, Cathy! Part of me wishes I was there but I doubt very much I could do it. Glad you’re home safe and it sounds like a fantastic trip. You’ll have plenty to write about. 🙂 🙂
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490 miles sounds like a very long way to me too, Jo, but I guess you just put one foot in front of another, day in and day out, until it’s completed. I like to think of big trips in this way, one step at a time. That way the journey doesn’t seem too overwhelming. I will be walking more and more in the coming months to prepare.
The trip out west was great. I am still feeling drawn to it and last night dreamt all night that I was in a perpetual endless journey through that beautiful landscape! 🙂
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Would the climate suit you better? I don’t suppose there’s any chance of you living there. Mike’s roots are Virginia, aren’t they? Just the rosy glow of recent travel in your mind. It’s a nice feeling. 🙂 🙂 Take care, Cathy!
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Oh, Jo, yes, the climate would definitely suit me better. Mike no longer has any roots here except his sister. He just loves Northern Virginia because of the cultural diversity (I love that too) and because there is so much beautiful nature within short distances. Of course, Sarah lives in Richmond, which is relatively close by. But if both the boys settle permanently in Colorado, we’ll certainly have motivation to move there. The only thing I worry about is that people are flocking there by the thousands, especially young people (many because marijuana has been legalized there). I wonder if they have the resources and infrastructure to support such an influx of people. Water is always in short supply out west. But my mother’s family is originally from Colorado, and I’ve always loved it, so you never know!
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I love the honesty you have in your writing. “… the bulge around my middle ” how I know that one! Always having had a waist (my weight increases always went onto my hips and thighs) I was shocked to acquire the ‘spare tyre’ during the menopause. And, why oh why does losing weight become so difficult as we grow older? Anyway, ’nuff said about that. Love the photos (some of which I recognise) from Spain and Portugal. And I wish you so much luck with the Camino adventure.
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I hate the weight thing. I’m just the opposite of you, Jude. All my weight gain goes to my belly, meaning it isn’t far off in inches from my hips. I guess I have more like a boy figure. It’s so hard to find pants to fit! And losing weight, well it seems impossible, but it was funny how 10 lbs dropped off so easily in Japan. Sadly, I gained it all back within months! Thanks about the Camino. I have a lot to do now to prepare, plus one small trip in between at the end of June. 🙂
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Oh Cathy, the queen of wasting time? I always feel limp after reading your busy posts!
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Haha, so do I! 🙂
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Both countries have long been on my wish list to visit. Your photos make me want to go right now.
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I hope you’ll make it there one day, Carol. I love both countries and can’t wait to go back there in September, although this time it will be a different experience altogether! 🙂
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The place you are called from is also a place I am called to! Oman indeed, although you don’t paint a flattering picture here. Your preparation is reassuring. I’ve been mocked a few times for anal planning, but I find it comforting. I can’t imagine rolling up to a place without some pre-knowledge and pre-booking. Your photos I’m presuming are post facto – and totally enticing. I’m looking forward to the post on preparing for Camino de Santiago – and to writing my own post about preparing for a Central Australian road trip in August.
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That’s so funny you’re called to Oman, Meg. I lived and worked there for two years. I had my struggles with the culture at times, but overall, it was a great experience. I have a very extensive blog about my time there: https://catbirdinoman.wordpress.com/ Since I was there two years, it contains a LOT!
I am a very anal planner, so I can relate. I like to know I have a place to sleep each night, and I like to know what I’m doing rather than having to be indecisive and waste time along the way. Granted, it doesn’t always leave room for surprises. It was funny, on this trip, right before Mike left, we stayed in Flagstaff, AZ. I didn’t have any expectations in Flagstaff, but we discovered three National Monuments, all of which were fabulous. So we did find some surprises along the way.
As for the pictures, they are from that earlier trip in 2013, but of course I won’t have any, unless I decide to use more of the old ones, for the upcoming Camino de Santiago and trip to Portugal.
I can’t wait to read about your upcoming Central Australian trip in August! I also need to play catch up now that I’ve returned home!
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[…] I’m linking to Cathy’s Anticipation & Preparation: Spain and Portugal in 2013 on Wander.essence. It holds many fond memories for […]
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Fantastic piece, Jo. I love this share. It’s how so many of us feel when we’re embarking on a journey, especially one where we’re doing it on our own. I hope you got that coach ticket sorted out. I’m sure you had a great time meeting Meg and Gilly. It looked like you did from the photos! 🙂 I’ll link this up to my June 22 post on anticipation. 🙂
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[…] I was by Cathy at wander.essence. This post was written as a response to Cathy’s current “ANTICIPATION & PREPARATION” invitation for 21st […]
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This is fabulous, Debs. You have me excited about your trip, and I’ll only be coming along vicariously. I can’t wait to read more about it and to see your photos! 🙂
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