Why Do the Treks
My great desires for beauty, adventure, and connection are the primary reasons for doing these treks.
The beauty comes in the form of architecture of the buildings, history, culture, language and food, all as examples. Walking allows the time for patient observation and appreciation.
The adventure comes alive for me in discovering how humanity expresses itself from country to country. It is also in the not knowing what will happen and the curiosity of how I will change with the experience. Walking serves as the medium.
The connection is the journey of getting to know people from all over the world, appreciating what we share in common and acknowledging our differences. Walking allows the time for relationships to develop and the trek itself provides a common experience to share.
The Scottish treks of 180 miles and Spanish trek of 480 miles will give me great opportunity to explore beauty, adventure, and connection. I have been walking with a weighted backpack 8 miles a day and six days a week in preparation. It will be interesting for me to see how I handle the riggers of the trail physically and psychologically when folks average 12 to 15 miles (and I don't!). I will have to learn to walk my own walk.
