Buon Camino! This is the traditional greeting between pilgrims on the Santiago de Compostela path. (loosely translated: happy trails to you!) I am very excited to be able to share our experiences of the pilgrimage with Furman students, alumni and friends. I hope that this journal allows you to understand a bit more about the motivations and benefits that a pilgrimage can provide- I'll be learning those right along with you!

This is a pre-trip post. Our group will be leaving from airports across the country on May 31 to meet in Madrid on the first of June. However, the pilgrimage has already started. I think the journey started when last November, Ann Quattlebaum turned in her office chair, looked at me and said, "What do you think about the possibility of...?" It got a bit more real when I wrote that first deposit check, and finally became a blunt reality when I took that first physical step of our training schedule. Now I am feeling the flutters of nervousness- what if I can't fit everything I need into a backpack? What if I can't walk 10 miles each day? Will I open enough to the experience that I can be changed? We shall see...