I didn't know about the way until 2011. I was backpacking in New Zealand, in thier winter so it wasn't very crowded at all. In fact there were several times were I was not only the person in a room, but the whole hostel. I had been alone for couple of days, which for the most part I really enjoy. One day I finally had another person in the room. I'm sad to say I can't remember her name( I didn't really journal during that trip either). She had been doing yoga in Bali I believe. We got to chatting and I talked about a hike I had done that day in Wanaka, up a fairly steep track called Roy's Peak. It was stunning and pretty hard. I had said that my favorite thing to do now when I am travelling now is to go hiking, or go running in a city I don't know. She casullay mentioned that in northern spain you could hike from village to village all across the country to coast, staying in places wtih people who were also doing the same thing. When I was back in the states, my sisters' friend's sister had just got back from doing the camino. I found out the name of the trail, and called her up to pick her brain. Finally in our small town, we still have a brick and mortar video shop. While browsing the movies I noticed the Emilio Estevez, Martin sheen film "The Way" and rented it. I loved it, and most of all I loved the idea of the camino. I'm not Catholic, but liked the sense of doing something that people have been doing for hundreds of years. Also the chance to medidate and be a minimalist for awhile. Especially as I am a maxiumist in my day to day life. I made the decision to go, using a $400 bump credit I had to purchase the ticket.
