June 09 What and Why

After losing my partner of 39+ years at the young age of 56, Charlene was my everything in life. My soul mate and mother of our 2 children and the one person I could and did share everything with.  

The past three and a half years since her diagnosis of metastatic colorectal cancer, we had been on a journey together of reality....by that I mean, every day was a reality check. Is this really happening to us and why. And during that time, what could "I" (me Chris) do to prepare for the worst case outcome. It was the worst yet best time of our lives together.  

The pain or hurt of loosing a soul mate, mother, sibling, aunt, cousin, daughter/sister in law is a lot to handle. Harder for some, but painful for everyone that knew Char.

After Char's passing, I asked my boys Kory & Ryan about solo backpacking and their thoughts. "It's a lot of work, but worth doing if you’re thinking about it."

It's not easy being home alone after 39+ years, so I've decided to take my loneliness out into the world.

Lots of places I want to go to, S.E. Asia, Peru, Europe, Patagonia, etc. But then I was reminded by a close friend of a trek I read about years ago that traverses Northern Spain. Done for various spiritual/reflective/personal reasons, thousands trek it every year called the Camino de Santiago. Multiple treks within Spain and Portugal all starting from different cities all ending at Santiago de Compostela in Western Spain, ranging from 100km to 800+km.

As Spain and Portugal was supposed to be our next European destination, I feel honored and blessed to be able to trek with Char in reflection and honor of who she was and will always be in my heart. I'm taking her ashes and the fingerprints tattooed on my chest along for the ride. 

The path I've chosen is not the longest Camino, but it is the most physical and terrain demanding at 300km, and traverses through the Northern mountains of Spain. This Camino is called The Primitivo, also called "Original Way" The perfect trek to do for a Reflection/Self-Discovery, Challenge & Wellbeing adventure. It will be a 2 week hike doing 22-32 km per day, with a 22 lb backpack over a mountain range, staying at Albergue's (hostels) along the way.

I am sorry for not sharing this information with everyone sooner, as I really didn’t want to be explaining what I’m doing to a bunch of different people several times. I just wanted to organize it and go. It really has only been three weeks since the decision to go and it was either do it now or do it in late September and I need to do it sooner than later. Thank you for understanding.

My flight back is for July 2, but if the opportunity arises I may stay later.

I will use this page to share my location, some pictures and possibly some thoughts.