Ryan Roberts - Would I Walk The Camino?

Disclaimer: This is in no way saying that people should follow my advice. I'm just a little guy who wants to have fun.

    After sitting and listening to the stories of the many trips Dr. Redick has taken on the Camino, I wanted to write something about it. But knowing me, there's no way I could possibly walk it. I wanted this to be mostly funny, so I'll get a few of the literal reasons why I can't out of the way.

    I have chronic knee problems. Yes, I'm serious. Because of my swimming career, I've developed swimmer's knee, which is when there's too much tension on a specific tendon that connects the upper calf and lower thigh called the MCL. When it gets irritated, my knees will lock up or become extremely tense, and if overused, can cause swelling and extreme pain. As an example of some of the effects of this, I walked a 5k with my parents. My knees practically killed me, but I managed to crawl over the finish line. The next day, I couldn't walk at all. My knees were so stiff I couldn't move them. And I wouldn't want to be a burden to whatever travel group I was with, so I'd probably not even get on the flight.

    But let's say that Dr. Redick convinced me that I just had to go, and like the weak willed person I am, I got on the flight. And let's also say for the sake of the exercise that I had no knee problems and could physically do it. Well, I am an incredibly lazy and unmotivated creature of habit that hates change. According to "See My Journey on Facebook", Dr. Redick has banned listening to music on the trails because getting motivation from a separate place defeats the purpose of the Camino's wilderness. Feeling the land draining your energy gives you entirely over to the world, but music takes away from that. 

    And while that's a wonderful thing for people on the Camino itself, I can't do anything without a soundtrack. The way that I see music as a motivator is essentially as a way to transform motivation. So, I have this nameless motivation. I can either write my paper that's due soon, write a story I'm working on, or do nothing but stare out the window fantasizing for hours. The song I listen to will determine what I do. Classical, lyric-less music for academic writing, romantic/epic orchestrals for story writing, and catchy pop tunes for staring out the window while watching my characters dance around. For me, the sounds of nature can be relaxing, but having something to transform my motivation into something I can understand is a necessity.

    And ultimately, walking around 800 km on the Camino is something you should want to do. And I don't necessarily want it. I'm not religious, so I have no spiritual motivation. I don't like going outside, so there's no motivation to connect with the Earth. And while I do like getting out of my comfort zone every once in a while, I generally don't like being so far outside of my comfort zone that I can't even see the zone anymore. Walking the Camino as a pilgrim or just as a person is such a wonderful thing, and it should be enjoyed without some weird kid in headphones who's probably being carried by a very tired tour director.

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