Josh Walks 500 Miles Across Spain! (Camino De Santiago)

You know that feeling when you’re stuck in your own routine and you’d do almost anything for a clean reset? That’s the heart of this conversation as we get back behind the mic and unpack a six-week trip that included Paris, a wedding in Germany, and a 31-day, nearly 500-mile Camino de Santiago walk across Spain with zero rest days. It’s the kind of journey most of us have heard about in passing, but rarely get the honest, practical details on what it’s actually like day to day. 

We talk through the Camino Francés in plain language: what albergues are really like, how pilgrim meals and small-town cafes keep walkers going, and why “Buen Camino” turns strangers into a moving community. We also get specific about Camino planning: booking beds ahead versus trusting the process, how mileage decisions affect your experience, and what happens when you’re committed to a schedule and your body starts pushing back. If you’ve ever Googled “Camino de Santiago packing list,” “Camino de Santiago cost,” or “how hard is the Camino,” you’ll get real-world answers here. 

Then we get into the gritty parts and the meaningful parts. Foot care becomes survival when blisters show up on the sides of your heels, and we share what helped most: socks, Vaseline, Compeed, trekking poles, and recovery habits like elevating your feet. We also talk about the people you meet when no one cares what you do for a living, only who you are and why you’re walking. That openness leads to powerful moments like the Iron Cross ritual of leaving a stone behind, and even a fun twist with geocaching that adds “hidden treasure” energy to an ancient pilgrimage route. 

We wrap with what it feels like to come home, why “Camino blues” is a real thing, and how living for a month out of a backpack changes your relationship with stuff, time, and self-worth. If this story sparks something in you, subscribe, share it with a friend who needs a reset, and leave a review with the question you want us to answer next.

Transcript

Blister Cold Open And Return

SPEAKER_03 0:00

So whereabouts were the blisters on your actual feet themselves.

SPEAKER_00 0:02

We're talking about the side of my heels. Oh. So not the back of my heel, but on the outside, the outside uh part of my heels in both spots. They were probably they were probably the size of a half dollar coin. They were huge. Do you love to travel?

SPEAKER_03 0:27

Do you love road trips?

SPEAKER_00 0:28

Do you love finding hidden treasures in towns all over the USA? Hi, I'm Joshua.

SPEAKER_03 0:33

And I'm Craig, welcome to Nutritions of our Town. It's a podcast that explores unique and charming towns scattered throughout the United States.

SPEAKER_00 0:39

Guided by our love for location-based games like geocaching, join us as we venture to some of the country's most intriguing destinations, uncovering hidden gems and local secrets along the way.

SPEAKER_03 0:48

On today's episode, first and foremost, Joshua, I must say, you know, you didn't forget the actual intro. It's been so long, but we're back. That's right, we're back. And we're going to Spain. We're going to Spain. Well, well, you went to Spain. I went to Spain and I did not go to Spain.

SPEAKER_00 1:03

Oh, we're back, Greg. Can you believe it? Well, as promised, we didn't ghost the listeners. We certainly did not ghost the patrons. The patrons are a little behind the scenes. And actually, the patrons are probably no half the stuff we're going to talk about. The patrons still listen because you know it's it's been a little bit. I've had some time to process. It's been over a month since I have been back from Spain. Yeah. And boy, what a journey it was. And we're going to talk about it today. Even though this podcast is usually about the US of A. That's all right. It's travel.

SPEAKER_01 1:40

Let's travel.

SPEAKER_00 1:42

I'm from the USA, so that works.

SPEAKER_03 1:44

But not just that, Josh, as well. You've got a lot of people who you're listening now that not only want to know your travels, but also maybe think to themselves in their end, I've never heard of this Camino walk. I would love to do something like this. I would love to put something this m epic on my bucket list at some point in time. So let's see what Josh has to say about it. And then they may decide to research it more and look into it further. And actually have put this. Because I'll be honest with you, Josh, personally, I had never ever heard of this trip until you brought it up with me and said, Craig, I'm gone on a trip. And I go, what are you talking about? And you said that I I looked and went, What's what are you talking about? See, so that's what I mean, Josh. Today itself, this episode is all about educating people outside the good old US of A, because you know, there's a big world out there, mate.

SPEAKER_00 2:29

And this this uh this path, the Camino de Santiago, it's an international experience. People from all over the world. Yeah. And I did meet a lot of Americans on it. Um, and we'll talk about all that. And I would say most people I've talked to about this journey that I took, after I explain it to them and tell them all about it, most of them say, Oh my gosh, that sounds amazing. I would love to do something like that someday. So hopefully this is informative, entertaining, and inspiring. And yeah, I have a lot to share. Actually, not enough time to share all the amazing things that happen. So this is just a little plug for a Patreon.

Marty McFly Parade Upgrade

SPEAKER_00 3:10

I did four podcast episodes directly from the trail, and I I actually recorded them as I was out there, as I was actually experiencing that.

SPEAKER_03 3:20

You heard the Camino trial birds in the background.

SPEAKER_00 3:23

Yeah, and you could hear my feet, my feet moving and walking. Wow. As as I was uh describing everything I was seeing, experiencing, and um, yeah. So if you were not a patron, um, they're all up there. There's four four episodes, they're like each 20 minutes each. And if you want to go a little bit more in depth into this topic, um, that would be a great place to do it as well.

SPEAKER_03 3:45

Absolutely. Absolutely. Well, let's not waste any more time, Josh. We're gonna hold your delays and upgrades because I do believe personally your delays and upgrades are this whole episode.

SPEAKER_00 3:56

Yes, yes. Although I do have an upgrade uh that happened last night that I do want to share. Yeah. Oh yeah. Oh, we'll we'll share away. Don't leave us hanging out. Okay, okay, okay. You know my love for the back, the back to the future, right? Oh, yeah. The back to the now you sound like an old man with the face, right? Yes, exactly. Well, my friend Andy from RentDelorean.com, he called me a week ago and he's like, Hey, um, I'm gonna be in the the Lakeville panel prog parade. And I would love to have a Marty next to me because he's always doc.

SPEAKER_01 4:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:34

And it's it's basically like a car show. There were 600 like classic cars, and and the DeLorean is considered a classic car. I think any car in that show that was made in 1992 or older was considered a classic car. So it was so much fun to ride as Marty McFly last night in that parade. That car, the DeLorean Time Machine, is a star. People love it, even if they don't know the movie, they see it and they and the Gallwing doors were open, and my you know the hover, my legs were hanging out with a hoverboard attached, and I was shouting to people, you know, this is heavy. And then I was saying stuff like, Who's the president? And then I had a I had an answer when somebody said Trump, I would go, from NBC's the apprentice?

SPEAKER_03 5:25

That's funny, too funny. Yeah, I like it, mate. I like it.

SPEAKER_00 5:28

Well done. Well done. So yeah, I got to be Marty McFly uh yesterday. So that was uh that was an upgrade for this week.

Quail Eggs And Homestead Life

SPEAKER_03 5:34

That is that sounds like how about you?

SPEAKER_00 5:35

What what's your upgrades?

SPEAKER_03 5:36

Well, my uh upgrades for the last, I'm gonna say, you know, the last two months basically is that uh I'm in really deep dive into this home setting right now. And the patrons know all about it too, because you know, um, there's more and more quail on uh in in the mix, Josh. As well, I've got 40 more eggs, four-zero more eggs in the incubator as we speak. And even like for the patrons as well, they've got a little guessing game going on on the Patreon as well for uh how many are actually gonna hatch and come through. So uh keep an eye out for that because that's going to be uh this weekend coming. This weekend coming, there they're due to hatch out. So there you go. Uh I've got another new incubator arrived today as we speak as well. Uh so another one's in the mix, so that's another 40 as well. So uh I could be doing 80 at a time now. Wow. Um, people ask me though, Josh, just quickly. They ask me, and this is a bit of education, why quail? Well, why quail? Yeah, they're the fastest growing poultry. Like they're really quick to grow. So from the hatching itself to full-on laying eggs if they're hens or to processing if they're roosters, is six to eight weeks. So in six to eight weeks' time, we're getting eggs coming through, or or you know, I butcher them itself and we've got meat coming through that way too. So they are a small breed. Um, so the coop space is very small and tiny as well. And um, I personally love the I like the look of them. I think they're a great looking bird. And um, yeah, they I love the different, all the different colours that come out and hatching day, Josh, I'll be honest with you. I spent hours. It is I I literally, if it's if it's uh nine, ten o'clock in the morning, Josh, I've got a beer in my hand, I've got a seat next to the incubator, and I'm sitting there watching.

SPEAKER_00 7:14

Like it's wow, the ultimate farmer, the ultimate homesteader.

SPEAKER_03 7:20

Mate, that's that's that's me and it, that's me in the eggshell, not a nutshell.

SPEAKER_00 7:23

So yeah, that's what it is. So it's amazing. It has been really fun watching your YouTube channel and your social media as you are experiencing and growing your homestead and the challenges of it and the and the joys of it.

The Death Spiral Chili Disaster

SPEAKER_00 7:39

You have a little farm stand where it's a little business now, and you can people, you can get hot sauce from C uh from Shelby uh homestead. You get hot sauce delivered to you. So yeah, it's been a lot of fun watching your journey, but there was something with this last week was that was not so enjoyable for you. Well, for me, for everyone else, it was by the looks of things. Honestly, I felt bad for you. Honestly, I was worried about you. I was like, somebody check Craig's heart because I think he might be dying.

SPEAKER_03 8:11

Yeah, and you're not the first to say that. I'll tell you now. I've I've had I've had three other people separate people say if they were watching, because we we did a video, Josh, and it was a it was a hot chili challenge. And you personally know me, I don't do hot foods. I I can't even eat a jalapeno, for goodness sake, you know what I mean? So um, we did a hot chili challenge. Now, this hot chili itself is the second hottest commercial chili that you can actually uh grow yourself, and it's called a death spiral. You're looking at 1.4 million scovil units on this itself, which is half the hottest chili, but it's it's uh I think it's probably 0.4 um 0.4 of a million hotter than the third, or the song anyway. Anyway, I did it for the views, I did it for the video. Um, you know, I thought to myself, how can how bad can it be? Well, it was bad. So basically, I was live. We were live on TikTok, and also I filmed it separately as well, so I could do a little edit and do it on YouTube too. Um, and so yeah, people were watching the people said to me that if they were watching it live, yeah, they would have been calling 911 for me.

SPEAKER_00 9:16

I watched it live and I was worried. I was like, I was like texting people. I was like, can we make sure Craig's still okay? Because he went to the shower, you like left, and I was and I was like, somebody needs to check on him.

SPEAKER_03 9:27

Just quickly, if you haven't watched it yet, you the the camera doesn't go into the shower with me, so don't worry. The camera switched off at that point in time, and that's you were gone.

SPEAKER_00 9:35

You were gone. I was worried about you. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 9:38

The worst, the worst pace part about it all, Josh, um, apart from four or five hours later, when I was laying naked on the bathroom floor in absolute agony with my stomach. Oh my god. Um I've never felt that sort of pain before in my life in my stomach itself. It felt like I had an operation, my my stomach was being cut out. It was that bad. And that happened not once, but three times over the space of uh you know three hours. Um every 20 minutes, sort of 20-minute break, and then it'd come back again. So um, but for me, Josh, four days I couldn't taste really anything apart from this flowery flavor in my mouth, and it was disgusting. So I I couldn't enjoy a morning coffee the next day or the day after, I couldn't enjoy a beer, I couldn't enjoy any food until now. It's four days later. I'm just getting my taste buds back.

SPEAKER_00 10:25

So it's like you intentionally poisoned yourself. Kind of. Like it's like it's like literally like poison it. And I wonder if it's you know, everybody has a different sort of um tolerance for heat. Yes, yeah, absolutely. And I almost wonder if it's almost like an allergic reaction. Like, you know what I mean? Some people maybe, you know, it it's like you're actually it's hot, but you're actually the reason you're reacting so much is because you're acting your body's actually allergic to it. I don't know.

SPEAKER_03 10:54

I'm not allergic, I don't think I've been allergic to anything at all, but that's a possibility because uh spiral, maybe and you know, everyone changed everyone reacts differently because of my partner Jennifer, she was right next to me as well. I mean, yes, it was hurting her, she was in pain, but again, apart from the fact that she's a woman and can handle pain a lot better than men, I firmly believe that. Um, especially after this as well. If put it this way, if men were given birth, then uh there'd be one child families. Um but yeah, she's she sat there, sit back. I mean, yeah, she had tears down her face going down her face, whatever, and it was burning her mouth, but she was sitting there eating ice cream like it was, you know, another Sunday afternoon.

SPEAKER_00 11:32

Yeah, she was pretty calm. I mean, it was clearly was impacting her. She had like one lone tear. One day, and you had tears, drool.

SPEAKER_03 11:42

I had tears out my paws, I had tears out my nostrils, I had tears out my earls. So wow. Okay. Anyway, just before we move on, Josh, if you haven't seen the video, go to my YouTube channel, uh, or Shelby Homestead YouTube channel. All the links are in the description. Moving on now, Josh, let's get into the duck's guts, mate. I know you

What The Camino De Santiago Is

SPEAKER_03 12:02

missed me saying that. This is all about you doing the Camino de Santiago. Is that right?

SPEAKER_00 12:08

You said it right. Camino de Santiago. De Santiago. And let me just say right now, I don't speak Spanish. Yeah, I am going to probably pronounce places and things incorrectly. Yeah. Forgive me. I did it the whole time I was there. So if you were a Spanish speaker, I'm apologizing right now. Yeah, I never even took Spanish in high school, but I made my way through it. I surprising enough, I could I made was able to communicate somewhat. And I learned a little bit of Spanish.

SPEAKER_03 12:39

So nice. Now, Josh, you weren't you were not, I'll repeat, you were not over there for geocaching. I mean, you've traveled all over the world for geocaching. You've you I've seen you in in Asia and Japan and you've seen videos over there. I've seen you uh several times now in Germany with uh Daniel Flieger and through Europe and stuff as well. But never did you go to Spain, and then this one you went for four weeks, mate.

SPEAKER_00 12:59

Four weeks. I went, I did the hike for four weeks, but I was actually the I was actually six weeks from when I left to when I came back. Wow. Because I I had a a week leading up to it because I flew into Paris and I'd never been to Paris before. And then I had Daniel Flieger's wedding in Germany, so I took another week a week to to do that as well. So um, so I was gone for a total of six weeks, but yeah, but the walk took exactly 31 days, Craig. I I couldn't have planned it better. Started May 1st, started May 1st, walked into Santiago and May 31st.

SPEAKER_03 13:37

Now, did you sing the song, Josh? Did you sing the song as you did your 500th mile?

SPEAKER_00 13:44

Oh, yeah, I sang that song the whole way. What song are we referring to? 500 miles and I would walk 500 more. Just to be, by the way, yeah. If you've ever listened to the lyrics of that song, that is the most romantic song. Oh, it is. It really is. That that song is basically saying, I love you so much that I would walk, I would walk 500 miles for you because I just want to be with you. I'd walk with you to Santiago and back. Because that's exactly it was exactly almost 500 miles.

SPEAKER_03 14:19

Yeah, yeah. No, I absolutely an ideal 500 miles in 31 days. So roughly what was the average for you walking in if that's if that's the case then.

SPEAKER_00 14:28

Yeah, I averaged 16.3 miles a day. 6-0. Six six, no, sixteen. Oh, I was gonna say sixteen, yeah. Yeah, sixteen. Yeah, not sixty, sixteen, sixteen point three. But but if you think about that, a half marathon is 13.1. So I walked well over a half marathon every day. Every single day. And and Craig, I didn't I didn't take one rest day, which is kind of a little bit unheard of. Everybody else I talked to had taken a rest day. And I can explain why I didn't take a rest day. And it's also a little bit of a regret that I have about the Camino, is that I really wish I would have spent a little bit more time, especially in some of these bigger towns. Um, but I can talk a little bit more about that later.

SPEAKER_03 15:11

Well, what what made you think? I mean, as I said before, Josh, when you came to me and you said to me, Craig, I'm gonna take some time off and I'm gonna do this this walk, this trail, I had no clue. I'd never heard of it before. But so what made you actually hear of this this walk or when did you hear about this walk?

SPEAKER_00 15:26

Yeah, the first time I ever heard of it was actually geocaching, FTF Geocacher magazine. Oh our friend Keith has walked walked the Camino a couple times. And I think that I I read some articles about him walking the Camino. So I think that was the first time it was locked in my brain. And then our friend Annie Love, the lackey, oh yeah from HQ, yeah, she has walked it, I think at least twice in her flip-flop, in her flip-flops, I think. She's a flip-flop person. I know you call him thongs, thongs, but yeah, walking her walking in thongs in America is a different sort of look, but anyway. Exactly. Um, so that was like the second time I heard about it. And then, and then you know how the TikTok algorithm is. Oh, yeah. I started getting Camino videos, and then as you like the videos, you start getting more of them and more of them. And it just I found myself, Craig, kind of getting a little bit emotional hearing the stories of these people that took a month out of their life, or even there's there's shorter Caminos, there's several several versions of it, and that just how um meaningful and important it was, how it kind of helped them reset their minds, uh, reset their body. It was uh often for some people it's a spiritual sort of journey or pilgrimage. And uh, you know, Craig, we talk, we you know, um we're we're personal friends, we don't just talk on this podcast. The only time I talk to Craig. No. Uh so the last last few years, you know, my life's in a little bit of a transition. I'm I'm I'm a young empty nester, and when people you know go through life transitions, it's I think it's just a good time to like to kind of be able to stop and be able to re-reset. I had six weeks of vacation um uh accumulated from work, and and you can't get more than six weeks. So if you don't if you don't use it, you start losing days. Yeah, yeah. And I just thought, what would it be like to take all my video all at once and just be able to shut my laptop, yeah, turn turn off all social media, decide to not post a video after I've been posting a video every week for 15 years, every Sunday I have not missed. What would it be like to just focus on on my me, my mental health? You know, you've talked a lot about mental health, uh, the my spirit, and just really see what the Camino has for me. So um, so I decided I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna give it, I'm gonna give it a whirl. Hopefully I'll make it. I'm here and I'm here to tell the story.

SPEAKER_03 17:58

And now, Josh, you did only part of that trial as well, didn't you? You didn't do the whole trial. The whole trial isn't 500 miles, the whole trial is like more than that, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00 18:08

Well, it depends where you start because there's there are Caminos that can start start in France, there are Camos that start in in Germany. There's I think there they they can start from really far away. Yeah, but the the one I did was the Fran the French way, which is from Saint Jean, Saint Jean, France, to Santiago. And this is considered, I think I've I said this in a previous episode, this is considered the sort of the OG, the original. Oh, the original. So for people that are when you say this is the whole this is the full version, this is what people do consider the full version from Saint Jean all the way to um to Santiago. But there's a there's a Portugal way that goes from Porto north and where you have the ocean on your uh on your left side the whole time. There's one that comes from the north. Um, if you've looked up a map, there's several ones, but they the key is that they all land in Santiago because this is an original ancient pilgrimage where people would take a pilgrimage to go to Santiago to see the the bones of St. James the Apostle and to hug his statue, which I actually got to do. And you have to see the bones, at least the tomb of the bones. I didn't actually see the bones. I'm just trusting that they were in there. Um, but yeah, so the history behind it, it's a spirit, it's a spiritual journey um to to visit visit and visit Santiago where to pay respects to the apostle St. James. But I'll say this a lot of we a lot of people do the Camino for lots of different reasons. Some type for some it's religious mental health, some people just do it for a physical challenge.

SPEAKER_03 19:40

I was gonna say exercise. That's you know exactly and to say that they've done it as well, to say that they've worked that that length of time in the in that period of time as well. That's cool. Mate, for those patrons out there who didn't not patrons, sorry, the the non-patrons, I should say, who didn't uh get all your little snippet pieces uh as you went along, the average day of you walking. So you

Sleeping, Eating, And Daily Rhythm

SPEAKER_03 20:01

get up, firstly, first and foremost, where where do you sleep overnight in these places?

SPEAKER_00 20:06

Yeah, it's really set up really well because um on the Camino there are several hostels, uh, but they're very special hostels, they're called albergues, and these are hostels that are intended and design only for pilgrims walking the walking the Camino. And so they're set up for just that. There's also hotels as well, but these albergues are are literally hostels. You're typically in a room with between uh four other people to I had I had one place where there was literally a hundred people on that floor, it was huge, it was like an old monastery, and you basically it's a straight up bunk bed. A lot of these places have pilgrim meals, so you go and they have these meals that are prepared just for the pilgrims. And the amazing thing, it's a really Craig, it's a really affordable trip if you can get there. Wow, the average the average bed for uh one of these albergas is 1515 euros a night. And then usually the the meal, which is like a three-course meal, is usually maybe another 10 euros. So it's like you're only spending like 25 euros a night, which is equivalent to about 30 bucks for your meal and your stead.

SPEAKER_01 21:19

Your step. Wow.

SPEAKER_00 21:20

Now, now, you know, some people that you know, you say hostile, it kind of freaks them out a little bit. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You're like, I don't know, I want to be with these strangers, or is it you know, think people think, is it safe?

SPEAKER_03 21:31

And you think about the American movies as well. So yeah, right.

SPEAKER_00 21:35

But it's an albergue, which is different than a hostile, you know, it's not like uh, you know, a frat house with you know 20 somethings that are just partying, and it's not like that. You got to understand, people that that would decide to do something like this, these are people that are wanting to get meaning out of it. They're people that are reflective, and a lot of people that are in these hostels, hostels slash alberges, are people that have never really experienced uh Hostile before, you know, and so yeah. So you go into these situations, everybody's in the same boat. It was and it was actually a really kind of a fear and worry of mine because um the snoring, I was like, Am I gonna get some sleep? Am I gonna snore and everybody's gonna be mad at me? Um, you know? Uh so so I had a lot of fear about that, but it actually ended up being not an issue because again, everybody's in the same boat, you know.

SPEAKER_03 22:23

Exactly. But so you you wake up in the morning in this hostel, etc. Do you have uh do you have breakfast there?

SPEAKER_00 22:28

Or some places had breakfast uh as a part of staying there, other places you kind of get up early. Like right now, people are out there, it's really hot. So people are getting up at five in the morning to get going before the sun gets up. And then and then you go, you're walking to all these little towns and all these little villages, and every little town and village has a little cafe in it. Yeah, these little these little towns, their whole economy is the Camino. I mean, these towns, these towns, other than the big places like Pampalona or Burgos or Lyon or stuff like that, which are bigger cities, they're they survive because they have thousands and thousands of people walking through their wow through their little towns every single day. So there's there's delicious, amazing breakfast. The best orange juice I've ever had in my life, Craig. Freshly squeezed. It was it was the best because they had really good oranges. Yeah, amazing or they had these um uh breakfasts called tortillas, which when you when we think tortilla, we think that the thing that you put in tacos and you you make a burrito, you make a burrito out of it. This is this is more like an egg bake where there's like okay, there's like um cheese and potatoes and sometimes ham baked in like almost like a like a pie, like a pie with a crust on top. Oh no. So imagine a breakfast pot pie. Yeah, so good. So that's you know, that's what we sometimes have for breakfast. Of course, there's coffee everywhere. Yeah, yeah. So you get up and it's just amazing to be like, this is all I have to do today. I have to walk, yeah, I have to eat, yeah, and I have to talk to amazing people from all over the world that are doing the same thing as I am doing. And then I just you just rinse and repeat. And let's say a lot of times we were walking in a wine country, the wine was flowing. Like sometimes in the middle of the middle of the day, the wine was flowing. Uh, and the wine was quite good as you're walking in wine country. You could get a whole bottle of wine for six euros. Wow. Um, so yeah, the wine was flowing several locations, depending on who you're with at night.

Camino Friends And Buen Camino

SPEAKER_03 24:25

I was gonna say, yeah, so you you get up, you have your breakfast, etc. as well. Did you walk with the same people uh a few days in a row or a few weeks, or you know, that sort of thing as well? Or was it very, very much like new people every single day? Because, you know, let's be honest, some people can't keep up with others on the walk.

SPEAKER_00 24:41

Yes, true. It's really fascinating. That's maybe one of the most fascinating things about it, because everybody kind of starts this journey, almost everybody, unless you have a partner, or some people go with groups, which honestly I would not recommend. Um, everybody, most people start this journey alone. And so, like you're walking, you start alone, and then all of a sudden you walk past somebody, or somebody walks past you, and and the ever what everybody says, this is the phrase everybody says, buen camino, buen camino, every which means good walk. Good walk. Okay, and you know everybody, you know they're a pilgrim because everybody has a scallop shell on their backpack. That signifies that signifies that you are walking, you're a pilgrim, you're walking to Santiago. So when you see that scallop shell, you know, hey, we're doing the same, we're doing the same thing. So to answer your question, you will you will talk to people for as short as two seconds because it's just like a quick buen camino. Yeah, you'll walk with people um for a couple hours, yeah. You'll walk with people for a whole day. Um, there are people that I walked with for three days because you just you just hit it off. Yeah and uh and you're just like you you're like, oh my gosh, I have I have a lot in common with this person. I think our minds work the same way. Like for example, you I don't I know you're not a Star Trek person, but it's like you know, Spock when he puts his hand on somebody, does a mind meld. It's like for some people, you're like, you're like having a mind meld, and you're like you're like starting thinking the same way. Yeah, it you make these you make these incredible connections with people in such a short amount of time, and you just cut through all the I was gonna say I was gonna swear on our podcast. I know you cut through all the bull. Yeah, you cut through all the bull and you just get to the essence of of who the person is. Yes, and I know we're gonna talk a little bit about that, a little bit more about you know, people you meet and stuff like that later in the podcast. Um, but yeah, um, and it's kind of sad too because you'll be walking with somebody for two two days or whatever, and then you have to say goodbye because they have to stay and like maybe they're staying in the in a Alberta in that town, and you're walking forward a little farther. Oh, yeah, and then you're like, well, and you and you walk away, and you sometimes you think, okay, I might never see this person again.

SPEAKER_01 26:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:51

And then all of a sudden down the path, like you're in Santiago, or you're like, it's like 10 days later, and all of a sudden you see them again, and it's just like a beautiful, it's like this beautiful reunion. You're like, oh my gosh, we're back together. So it's it's really um, yeah, it's really fascinating that way.

SPEAKER_03 27:07

So when you plan this trip, Josh, do you actually know exactly where you're gonna stay each night? Do you plan that and book it? Or do you literally just walk until you you think I've had enough walking for the day and I'll find somewhere to stay now?

SPEAKER_00 27:18

Everybody does it a little bit differently. Okay, it kind of really depends on your personality and it also depends on how you want to like challenge yourself. Because some people really don't want to book anything because they want just they want to trust the process, yeah. They want to kind of almost like you know, using spiritual language, like live live by faith, right? Yeah, allow because a really famous saying on the Camino is the Camino provides. So if you need something, you're gonna get it, it'll provide it'll it'll it'll it'll show up. And that and there's a lot of truth to that. I can think of many examples where the Camino provided me something that I needed in a moment. Um I have a couple good stories about that. But um to answer your question, now I forgot your question.

SPEAKER_03 28:00

Uh just in regards to booking, like pre-booking. Oh, yes, yeah, sorry.

SPEAKER_00 28:04

Yeah, yes. So I did it in the month of May. So the month of May and September are the busiest times for the French boy. Because the temperatures, yeah, the temperatures are perfect. So we're we're dealing with spring, everything is in bloom, and Fahrenheit, you know, the temperatures are between 65 and 75. It's like perfect. So the Camino is very busy, and so I a little tip if you're deciding to do the Camino, book book your first night in Saint June, book Ron Savales, the second night, and book the third night, which is uh usually Zubri. And then and then you can kind of decide as you go because it it's those first three nights, you gotta remember everybody starts at the same place, so it's like it gets real, it's and as people walk, it people get spread out a little bit. Yeah, but I was I was figuring out very early that it was really um people were showing up at albergues and they were full. And if you show up in Alberga and they're full, and then you're like the next town's not for three more miles, and you're really tired, um, or you have to wake up really early, because there's also municipals. So these are municipals are albergas that are run by the city or the government, and those are only first come, first serve.

SPEAKER_01 29:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:18

So some people get up very early and kind of rush through their walk to make sure they got a bed. I didn't want to do that. No, I didn't want I didn't want to worry about that. So I was maybe a little unconventional, but I was booked probably at one point, 18, 19 days ahead. Oh, wow. Okay. Like, like I was like literally going through there's apps. I was literally going through booking.com and I was just booking, booking, booking, booking. All and so the plus in that, Craig, is that I knew I didn't have to rush. I didn't have to rush to get there, which was good. So I could just enjoy the day, enjoy the walk. The bad side about that is if I get bad blisters or if I'm really tired or something happens to me, yeah, if I miss, if I want to stay somewhere twice, I screwed up the rest of my exact money.

SPEAKER_01 30:04

Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 30:04

So so you I told you I didn't take a rest day. And that was the reason why, because I had to kind of stay on schedule with my my accommodations.

SPEAKER_03 30:14

No, that's fair

Booking Beds And Mileage Strategy

SPEAKER_03 30:15

enough. Because I know when it comes to traveling in general, Josh, um, I'm not talking about the walking, you know, me with my van life. I recall that you know, a lot of people were asking me, Craig, do you book places ahead? I'm like, no, I just drive until I get tired and I'm on the way to my next big trip, wherever it might be, and I'll find a place. If I don't find a place the first first place, then I'll go to the next one, I'll go to the next one. Difference being I was in a vehicle, not on foot. And so if you're tired on foot, it's like wow. Also, Josh, did you roughly know how how many miles per day that you wanted to actually cover as well? Because that's the other thing, too. Some people think to themselves, you know what, I'm really fit, then they get there and go, Oh, this is harder than what I thought. Or the opposite way around, they think, you know, oh no, I won't be able to walk that far. And all of a sudden, you're like, oh wow, I'm I'm I could have walked you know twice this.

SPEAKER_00 30:57

Yeah. Well, I uh Craig, you know, I did some training beforehand. So I did about a month, a month of training, and when I say training, I literally put my pack on filled with what I was gonna have with the current weight, using my trekking poles, and then going out to the woods and not just walking, you know, flat. I was walking up hills and stuff like that. So, you know, I've trained for a marathon before, and you when you train for a marathon, you never actually run the marathon length in the training, you save that for us. But I wanted to make sure that I could walk at least 12 miles with that pack on. Um the first day from Saint-Gean into Ron Savalas, you literally start in France and you walk over the Pyrenees Mountains. If you want that video, it is by the way, already out. You can see a little bit what it's like. It's absolutely gorgeous. Yeah, but you're literally walking up for for 12 miles.

SPEAKER_01 31:49

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 31:49

And everybody says, if you can do that day, especially on the first day, you can do almost anything on the Camino. So that was challenging. Um, it wasn't quite as challenging because I trained, trained a bit, but as you, I mean, as you go, you get stronger. You know, you the first the first week your muscles are sore, but then you hit that second week and you're like, okay, like I my body is now used to waking up and walking, walking um, you know, 15 miles a day. Or 16.3, actually. So so I I tried to be I tried to manage my mileage a little shorter earlier. Yes. Just because I knew I was gonna get stronger. The longest day of walking was probably 24 miles. Oh wow. That was tough. That was really tough. Especially on midway, I had a real we'll probably get to it, I had a real problem with blisters that really were extremely painful that almost had made me have to take a break day.

SPEAKER_03 32:48

Well, you're talking about your your backpack, and people don't understand if they if if they don't, you know, this is not like a normal trip, Josh. We're not talking, you know, where yeah, you got carry-on luggage and you've got a suitcase, and then someone brings your suitcase for you. You literally have just what's in your backpack and in your backpack alone. So two questions for you. Firstly, first and foremost, obviously you weighed your backpack. Yeah. Um, was there was there anything in the backpack you thought to yourself, oh, I do not need this at the end of. I'm talking about the end of the trip. You think to yourself, that was that was silly of me to pack that. And I'm talking about for other people who would think might be doing this too. You know, something that you know, I didn't use that at all. And then on the other hand of the scale, too, something that you you use so often that was your I class it as like the MVP of uh of your pack. So give us those two things. One thing you didn't use at all and you didn't need it need at all, and then one thing you use so much you loved it.

SPEAKER_00 33:42

I really wanted to be as minimalist as possible because there is something actually quite freeing to to say, I got everything I need to like live or serve survive, other than food, obviously for six weeks. So I really wanted to um be wise about what I packed. The standard is is that you should not carry more than 10% of your body weight. Okay. So I was I I'm roughly one 180. So I I carried about 16, and that was perfect. I never felt like at no time did I ever think this is too heavy. And actually, it started after carrying it for a month, I almost felt naked without it. Oh, really? Yeah, you know, like I you kind of get this, but you kind of get this emotional attachment to this, and it kind of wraps, you know, it wraps around your brain. It kind of hugs you, yeah, gives me a hug the whole way. I loved my pack. And actually, I got my pack at REI and and they the pack that I got was actually they said it's designed for the Camino, just the most designed. It was uh yeah, I really loved my pack and I missed it. Strong yet lightweight. Yes. So to answer

Training, Packing, And Gear That Matters

SPEAKER_00 34:50

your question.

SPEAKER_03 34:50

Yeah, what what's what what inside your pack that you like and you didn't like?

SPEAKER_00 34:54

I so being that being said, I think I used everything in my pack. I I I can't think of very many things that I didn't use. Um I I brought a c one luxury, which was a Kindle, because I wanted to, because I wasn't on social media, I didn't um I didn't really have anything any entertainment. I didn't wasn't gonna bring a bunch of, but I wanted to do some reading, I wanted to read some books, so that ended up being like a great thing. But um sadly, I lost it. Oh wow, I lost it three days into my journey. Oh no, I know I lost you just leave it behind or something. I left it behind at a at a place, and I know exactly the good thing is, and then here's some advice I got travel insurance for this trip because anything could happen to you. I mean, you're out there in the wilderness. There's people that have had to get airlifted out of place, you know, that's that's thousands and thousands of dollars. So I did a like a $300 um insurance policy, which also covers lost items. So I got the money back. I got the money back. Oh nice. So so things that I didn't really need and I ended up losing anyway was the Kindle Kindle. I because actually I started reading reading the Kindle books on my phone anyway. So yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 36:09

See, the Camino provides, yeah. Providing insurance money, yeah, yeah, yeah, and you know, and lost some weight for you in your backpack too. So that's true. So if that's the case, then Josh, what did you love the most? And you thought to yourself, you know what, this would be the number one thing. If people come to me and say, Josh, what do I need to pack? What is it? What's what are you selling them to pack?

SPEAKER_00 36:29

Well, uh the feet care is essential. Like, like if I wanted, if I needed to bring something more, I would have brought more focus on foot care because the blisters, yeah, it was the most excruciating, humongous blisters I've ever about in the third week. Uh so I wish I would have I wish I would have brought um some some things to clean it with. I wish I would have brought a pin to to pop them out. I wish I I wish I would have brought um more compede, which is like like it's a bandage that's like imitates skin to cover it. Oh yes, yes. So I know I don't answer your question, but I wish, but in that same question is is footwear is really high quality socks. Yeah. Wool, merino wool socks, um, Vaseline. I every morning I Vaseline Vaseline my feet in between my toes. I didn't get any blisters between my toes because um because I really took care of that. And then and then some of one of my socks, pair pairs of socks were uh toe socks, which separate your toes, so they're not your toes are not rubbing. And so a good pair of my my hokas were champs, my hoka shoes were champs. Yeah. Um, so that's that's the big thing. But the two other things that that I were so important to me were hiking poles. I've never experienced hiking poles before. I practiced with them when I left. Some people don't like them, but I tell you, going up the hills and also going downhills, because there was some steep, steep going out and like keeping your balance. There are people that can really take horrible falls going downhills, and those hiking poles really helped help with that.

SPEAKER_03 38:09

We think about too, Josh, as well. If you're getting lethargic to some degree, um, you know, if it's later in the day and you're going down a hill like that too, you want to keep your wits about you. And so those hiking poles uh would would help that with your balance.

SPEAKER_00 38:20

Oh, totally. And they imitate even even on your straightaways, they imitate like evolutionary where like you're almost walking on, you're like walking a force. Exactly. Yeah, it gets to feel natural. Yes. So especially over the pure that first day over the Pyrenees Mountains. I don't know what I would have done without hiking poles. Um, one fun thing that I'm so glad I brought was the snoring management to be able to block out snoring. So in dust, so my here's my strategy industrial foam earplugs. But that's that's not enough because you can still hear people snoring through them. Oh, you can't. So I got one of those headband, those headbands that have Bluetooth speakers in them. Oh, yeah. Where the the speakers are flat, so you can lay lay on them. Yes, and then I blasted white noise through the ear the earplugs. Yeah, so not only did I have the block with the earplugs, but I had the white nose blasting into the earplugs. I couldn't hear it. One snore. I slept like a baby. Yeah, but they probably heard me snore. No, actually, I took I took care of that. I took care of that. I won't get too personal, but I took care of it. Nice, nice took care of it, Craig.

Foot Care, Snoring Hacks, And Blisters

SPEAKER_03 39:28

Well, let's let's go into the actual physical component then, because I mean, doing some research for this and to ask you a few questions, Josh, uh I did see that a lot of people do talk about the blisters. So, whereabouts were the blisters on your actual feet themselves were talking about the side of my heels.

SPEAKER_00 39:41

Oh, so not the back of my heel, but on the outside, the outside uh part of my heels in both spots. They were probably they were probably the size of a half dollar coin. They were they were huge, yeah, and they hurt so bad. And they sneak up on you because it's just these when you're going hunt you know so many miles a day, it's just like this micro rubbing that you don't even notice till all of a sudden you're just like, Well, I am in excruciating pain.

SPEAKER_03 40:11

Wow, wow.

SPEAKER_00 40:12

So I would wake up some mornings really asking myself, can I even walk today?

SPEAKER_03 40:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 40:17

And I just, you know, I pump the ibuprofen. And and uh very American of you. Yeah, and the poles actually helped too, because the poles took a take a little bit of weight off of it, yeah. And you kind of have to adjust the way you walk, and or there's some days I just I had to go really slow too. Um it wasn't a race, but and then the compede was it's so funny, Craig. Compede, this is the brand, it's the bandage that is like skin. I was walking in this little town on a Sunday morning, all of a sudden I saw a big flag, and this big flag said compede, and there was like a photo booth, and they were handing out three compete to the pilgrims, and then they're like, Will you take a picture for social media? And it's like, whoever is in charge of the marketing department at Compede, brilliant. It's like you you could not find better people that need that that product than than the Camino provides exactly free free free.

SPEAKER_03 41:19

Although those those bandages are not cheap. No, no, not at all, not at all. But uh Josh, you were saying before how things as well got uh a little bit better for as you throughout the days and throughout the weeks itself. So what in your mind physically, we're talking about the physical component now. What did actually change? So you on day one and you're walking up and that down and then down the other side as well, from there to the very last day of you walking, what physically what had changed with you? Do you think? Yeah, I lost and and and emotionally too and mentally.

SPEAKER_00 41:49

Yeah, for sure. I lost 10 pounds, which um which like I'm kind of surprised I didn't lose more, but when you're walking that much, you don't care what you're consuming.

SPEAKER_03 42:01

You don't care, you're already thin though. That's the thing, you're already in shape.

SPEAKER_00 42:06

So well, you but you need your body, is just I mean, it's 45,000 steps a day. Yeah, your your body is just like needing, you know. So I mean, nothing hit better than a Coca-Cola. Like, there were some days, Craig. There's some days, and I'm not talking about zero, man. I it was like the real deal. Nothing hits more like going to those cafes, they they fill your glass with ice with a lemon in it, and you're hit just down a Coca-Cola. I did that like three or four times a day sometimes. Uh so yeah, I didn't care. I just ate, I ate, I ate, but I still lost, and I still lost 10 pounds. I wasn't there to lose weight, but I no, but um, but I had the the my I look at my legs. I don't know if you see if you saw the picture of me, I was like, whoa, if you saw the picture of me at the very end, I was in shorts. You don't really like the people that watch the videos, they don't see me in shorts, but I was like, you have to wear shorts because it's hot. Yeah, and I looked at my leg, I was like, whoa, my legs were like defined, and like yeah, you got you got the chicken, you got the chicken breast for the cutoff muscles, might be yeah. So just the leg, the leg and glute strength, it was just like you there was no way you do that 31 days in a row. There it's just like and I was worried about I had trouble with my hips, but everything got stronger every day. It was just things got stronger and stronger and stronger.

SPEAKER_03 43:25

So um did you have any issues with cramping with from like from sweating and stuff like that too at all? Or because I mean you said before what do you call it, a Coca-Cola did it for you. Some people would would want like something with electrolytes, you know, like a gateway or something.

SPEAKER_00 43:40

I mean, I drink water, I drink water too. Josh, Josh, Josh wants a Josh wants, just give me a Coke. Give me a Coca-Cola. Um anything any issues with cramping and stuff too. Never had a cramp. No, never had a cramp, but I did um but I did there there was times I've really had to stretch out, especially the first again, the first week. week. I mean your body's getting used to it. So I had to see I had to stretch it out. And I was obviously I woke up. I woke up sore. But with the with the um you know the healing the feet the feet swell. So if you're gonna go on this the recommendation is that you you um buy your shoes a half size up because your feet your feet will swell and that's so true. So if you you know I would I would at the end of the day I would I had a a pillow like oh that's something I shouldn't have brought I had an inflatable pillow everywhere I went there was a pillow I didn't need I didn't need a phone so I would put my so elevating my feet elevating feet was was a really uh important thing to to recover.

SPEAKER_03 44:45

Nice nice there you go see all these tips uh Josh they're coming out now at any point in time though when you and again we're still saying physical as well any point in time you thought to yourself I think I I'm done or or you think to yourself you know I just want to stop for today um and go from there if you didn't it will at what point roughly what sort of days what what day were you in like in the middle or the more at the end at what point in time were you were you that sort of thing?

SPEAKER_00 45:11

I think it was I think it was day six maybe I was walking early on I was walking into the city of Burgos and the rain I mean this is spring so oh of course so storms would blast in yeah and then they would blast out. And you didn't have an umbrella no some people did bring an umbrella really yeah some people did bring an umbrella um but I didn't but rain gear is essential a poncho or a really good raincoat and then of course of course you have to cover your your pack too because you don't want everything your bag to get wet wet yeah but I was walking into Burgos I was probably three or four miles before I got into the city and torrential rain sleet it was so cold I had never been so wet in my life and I was out there alone yeah you know I I had a later start to the day so there was not a lot of people there. Yeah and it rained solid hard for three hours straight wow not three I'm sorry not three hours straight for those three miles. Oh so that was and it was the one time I was thinking what what the H E double hockey hockey sticks am I doing out here I lit I was like and there were people that would drive by me I was by the side of the road people that would drive by me and they would say get in get they waited get in try to help me and I was like no I was like I gotta walk the whole I gotta walk the whole thing yeah I'm not gonna I'm not gonna skip anything I'm gonna walk the whole 500 miles yeah like temptation get in and I just remember and I remember thinking what am I doing what am I doing out here why am I out here and I didn't want to quit but I did want to but I asked myself like really what what I literally thought what am I doing out here in the middle of Spain in the pouring rain it was miserable I was so cold I ended up in a McDonald's and you just imagine Josh standing in the lobby of McDonald's and I'm dripping and there's like a a person comes out with a little mop and goes and just following me following me around and I'm like I'm so sorry and they're like I was just it was yeah I was it was pathetic and I was I was pathetic.

Rain Misery And Who Can Do It

SPEAKER_00 47:33

Well Josh you and I can appear on Shark Tank because so I was just thinking about as well wouldn't it be cool if someone invented a um uh an umbrella that was also a uh walking one of the walking poles too that right you flick out the bottom of the walkie pole there you go there's the umbrella's gone too see look at that look at that if you're listening and you make a you know a million bucks out of it give me a couple of bucks um anyway Josh so that's really good um so what about you know someone like me for instance you know you know I'm a bigger guy you know um I'm not I'm not into endurance you know that sort of thing too I can't I can't you know run a half mile you know that sort of thing I'm not into running it's all about walking but someone who's reasonably healthy or someone who's unfit you know what's this trail for who could do this sort of trail I'm gonna say anybody could do it really really yes because it's not a race yeah um you could do it you could do it in quickly there were people Craig that were like ultra marathon runners and they would run it run the Camino run the Camino run yes so you had that and then you had other people that really took their time I mean I met people I I think I met somebody in their 90s that was doing it and they were literally walking so like snail slow pace but it wasn't a race no and so I saw bigger people saw people ultra marathonners um there was there was one guy I met and he had a shirt bigger guy he had a shirt that said sloth sloth hiking team and it was like and he was lit and his whole thing was like his whole thing was like it's not a race and he didn't walk he didn't walk as many you know you don't have to walk 16 miles a day each to their own all different yeah all different body types different in this yeah it's and it's really set up nicely because there's water all along the way there was oh and here's the thing it's everybody's Camino not everybody carries their pack so they have they have mule mule services where you can leave your pack put a little on the tag right this is the alberga that I'm staying and they'll pick pick up your pack and they'll take it to take it to your albergue and then when you show up it's it's waiting there for you. So you don't have to there's no wrong way to do the Camino there's some people that bike parts of it there's some people that that do a week of it and then they go home and then they come back and they do another week. So they do it in sections they don't have to do it all in yeah all in one one shot you know so so there's a lot

People Stories And Camino Families

SPEAKER_00 50:24

of ways to do it. There's no really wrong way to do it.

SPEAKER_03 50:26

It's their Camino it's how whatever they want it to be so but yeah all different ages body types I was gonna say speaking of people then Josh as well you you spoke before just quickly earlier in regards to you know you you sometimes you you you uh what do you call it um mold with someone you know you have the same sort of mind melt a mind melt you started with someone startup exactly um give us give us uh one or two of uh examples of the people that you may encounter the people that you encounter I should say when you're doing this trial too that you that's really stick out in your mind.

SPEAKER_00 50:59

Yeah so this is the really special part about it because you learn a lot about yourself through the eyes of others I think and it's like every person that you encounter it's like they have a little something in there in their story or about them that is for you and you have something inside you in your experience for them. It's like a little it's like a treasure speaking of geocaching it's like everybody has a little treasure in them that you can give to them and them to you um just despite their age or gender or um or where they're from or what they do. And what's really cool is that you're experiencing I think the true essence of a person because really yeah you can talk about what you do and like your job and all that stuff but really I was experiencing people experiencing me for just me. They didn't know I was the geocaching vlogger. They didn't know I was a uh you know a public speaker that speaks to young people about character they don't know I'm a dad that's now an empty nester they don't they don't know any they just they're just meeting you for you.

SPEAKER_03 52:16

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 52:16

And so for have to have people meet you for you and not have to you know judge you or not judge you because people but like you know what I mean I do um it's easy to easy to like because what's the you know you meet people in the regular world what do you do you know it always goes about what you do what you do where you from exactly you get to explore more like who you are or why are you why are you walking this you know and so people can go deep very quickly. Yeah which is really cool.

SPEAKER_03 52:47

And I just yeah it saves a lot of time too what's that it saves a lot of time when people actually go you don't worry about the roof raff you don't worry about you know talking about the bits and pieces of someone's life you just say what it is.

SPEAKER_00 52:59

Now Josh I will bring up one one uh I think it was a guy that you told me about uh personally um that he was walking the trail but not for himself it was an older uh yeah yeah there was a there was an older gentleman that he really wanted his wife wanted to walk the Camino but she passed away and so this is it's quite common for people to walk for somebody else and I met not I met more than one person that was was spreading the ashes of their loved one along the way of the Camino which is actually the plot of there's a movie called The Way which is I highly recommend it. It's it's uh Emilio Esteves is actually the one that put put it together and his and his father I'm blanking on his father's name he stars in it but basically that that that movie is about uh Emilo Estefes goes and he hikes a Camino he dies on the first day on the Pyrenees Mountains and his and his dad goes to get his ashes but then takes his pack and he walks the Camino for him and spreads his ashes along the way. So there were there were real life examples of people that were doing that doing that. So they were not just walking the Camino for them but were walking it for somebody else or a lot of people were process in between jobs and they were processing like what is their purpose in life you know uh some people were walking because of somebody that had died in their life or a relationship or some sort of transition. So it was really fun to enter the story of other people through through the Camino and and and a really common thing was that people would start forming like Camino families and you would encounter these people that they would they would meet very early on and then they would just almost stay together the whole time. Or like yeah or like one person would leave and then the the few people would continue and then another person would join their family and they see and so that was really really common that people would establish what they call Camino families. I don't know I don't think I was ever a part of a Camino family but I was like adopt like kind of adopted into them because because what would happen is I would maybe be with a group of people and then and then all of a sudden like they would I was just walking so fast because I was never taking a break day so I would get ahead of I would get ahead of people. Yeah and so but then it would be interesting because I'd be ahead of people that had taken breaks and then there would be new Camino families or whatever that I would be a part of. So but the cool thing the cool thing is that eventually it got to geocaching right because they would be and you know and so it's Craig you know how fun it is yeah I think all geocachers know how fun it is to introduce people to geocaching geocaching or reintroduce people to geocaching yeah and just be like oh by the way yeah there's one coming up here do you want to find it with me and just to see the fun yes in people's eyes yeah um to experience that um that was really it was really fun to introduce and to go geocaching with like new people and have them experience and then be a part like part of they'd want to be a part of the vlog oh yes that um or I would ask them to be a part of the vlog I don't know if they wanted to be a part of it. I wanted I wanted them to be a part of it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 56:11

Well before we uh move ahead and talk about geocaching Josh because that's all I've got uh or almost all we've got left on here too when we are running out of time I I wanted one more question from you sir and this is a what a you know I do feel a lot of listeners especially uh especially patrons because you know they do care about uh about you Josh too and a lot of people reached out to us uh on our last episode and said like Josh I hope you find what you're looking for etc emotionally for yourself too so mate all I say is this and that is did you did I yes yes so let's see um I want to be as open as I can on this podcast yeah um but I think what I was describing with um having people experience you for just you was something I really and just appreciate you and care for you um with anything and not really knowing anything much else about you like because I think it for me I think it's really easy for me to find my worth my self-worth in what I do right in my job or the things I'm good at and to have people appreciate you for anything just for you and not what you do is a was an important reminder and lesson for me.

SPEAKER_00 57:30

And I just felt really loved and I really cared for yeah um and the Camino sort of is I'm gonna get I'm not gonna get religious but I'm gonna get spiritual. Yeah absolutely there's a when you experience this walk I I I believe that there's there's there's a spiritual world and a spiritual realm that we can't necessarily see um but I believe it's there and the Camino because it's a place where people are really in a reflective space yes and there's a lot of love and there's a lot of care and people are looking out for each other the the the veil the line the line between the spiritual realm and the physical world I think on the Camino is really thin and you can access and you can feel that love and and if if I want to just like sum it all that summarize it like what I feel in the spiritual realm is like it's all love right yes yeah and so it feels so thin you're in this beautiful place. Craig the there's there especially where when I went there's wildflowers everywhere and it's just like it's like you and the people around you it's like this is where you bel you feel so you belong among these beautiful wildflowers. It's like heaven um and and yeah you just it's just a place a beautiful place where where you don't have to really the worries of the world are are melted away.

SPEAKER_03 58:59

Yeah I was gonna say that I was gonna say one one thing as well you you've talked about the people quite a lot Josh and you are a people person by nature as well but is there anything or any time at which point in time you you weren't around anyone you was just you it that that thin line of veil you just spoke about in regards to the spiritual world and you felt this is what I'm here for this is what I and you actually you heard your inner voice your inner peace came through that happened sir.

SPEAKER_00 59:28

Yes so there's a famous place about two thirds through the Camino it is called it's the Iron Cross. So there's this iron cross and at this iron cross there are thousands of stones that people have left there and the whole idea is that you are supposed to carry a stone from the beginning and then you're supposed to leave it there. And the stone is supposed to represent some sort of something you need to let go of and some sort of bur burden or something like this. So I my mother gave me a stone she didn't even know about this. It was a glass stone she gave it to me she goes this is grandpa's stone take it with you and she didn't even know that this whole stone thing was a part of it and I looked I was like okay this is my stone yeah carry it the whole way two thirds get to the iron cross I'm there alone I knew I had to experience it alone and um yeah the stone represented something initially something for me that I needed to let go but when I let go that stone at that cross it broke me like it was it was um what I needed in that moment I got yeah um and it felt very spiritual it was very emotional and and also you're surrounded by other people that are experiencing kind of the same thing too so it's heavy but it's also like this lightness yeah and um and that was like yeah a really powerful moment and I was like it surprised me I knew it was a it was a meaning even in the way the movie that's a place where he I think he lay lays a lot of the ashes of his son. So it's obviously a very whole it's a holy place a place where you you know that veil between the spiritual it's like you feel like it's just ripped open apart.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:12

Yeah exactly ripped open and yeah it was it was really meaningful and yeah I don't want to get too personal uh uh for what it meant to me but it was it gave me it gave me a uh it was solidified this was the right thing to do yes and it was important and um it was a moment that I was supposed to have there and Craig that iron cross get this bring it to geocaching which I think we're gonna transition into yeah we are it was it was a virtual it was a virtual virtual wow the the iron cross it was Keith Keith Petrus from FDF Geocacher Bank oh yes it's his virtual and he placed it there and the funny fun fact is that he had never um he had never he had been there before yeah but he never visited his own virtual yes so I believe I don't know if he was on your the geocaching podcast I think maybe it was the geocaching podcast and he said he was gonna go visit it but then he had something come up and he never made it um but yeah it was really Keith thank you so much it we I got it was awesome to get that smiley and there was an adventure lab stage there too so after I all the tears were shed I I got my smileys I got my I was about to say Josh you know I'm so I am I am so deeply happy for you that uh you got what you needed and you as I'm gonna say it again I've never been there but by the sounds of it the commander does provide and so uh it provided you your peace it provided you what you needed and uh now to end it on a more positive note let's talk about geocaching so you say before about the the uh that virtual would you would you think that virtual would have been your number one cache like with location or because we we all know what what geocaching is like for a lot of us most of us love it for the locations yes um some people like for the you know the numbers and all that stuff too but most people like it for locations would you say that was your number one location of your trip or um I don't know if it's number one location it was certainly the most meaningful location.

Iron Cross Moment And Geocaching Highlights

SPEAKER_00 1:03:07

Yes yeah um and yes the best geocaches on the Camino were virtuals and they're usually in the bigger cities where there was some really amazing thing like amazing cathedral or amazing building or there was some great piece of history. So I think the best geocaches yes were were virtual caches um through the cities and so but there was also physical caches all the way along the way in the all literally steps from the path. But they weren't they weren't every it wasn't a power trial per se was it no no and you got to realize a lot of them too I mean I mean Spain geocaching's everywhere I mean there they weren't amazing there were a couple really cool ones like that I open literally pulled up out of a brick out of the side of a major church that was behind that so there were some good ones but there were like often like uh on both sides of the trail there were like rock walls and a lot of the geocaches were hidden in rock walls. Oh no many of them were like obviously replaced by other geocachers. Yeah um so it wasn't there weren't super yeah the physical geocaching wasn't amazing but it was really yeah it was an amazing way to to have fun with people and um a really special person that I that I walked with for um for a good few days um they you'll you'll see them on the video but it it was like it was a really special way to like connect with with another human being around something that I was really passionate about. And then also like you know the kindred spirit of like coming to life on camera to have somebody else to like meet me on my level and come to life with me.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:50

I mean you couldn't ask for a better gift for me than to experience geocaching through uh a little a fresh pair of eyes but to get just as excited about it as I was to to meet me at my geocaching vlogger um level level uh that was a gift and amazing meet you at that level I know and you're gonna and you all are gonna get to see it um I don't know how many episodes right now I'm working on episode like three or oh well I have some pre-episodes but like three or five but you'll get to see because you'll get to see that that geocaching vlogger um level with this special person that was just really uh really cool it was really it was really cool makes me smile all I can think about Josh when you said about uh some of them actually being replaced as well if you think about someone like our good friend uh and patron as well Scott Burks because he loves he loves replacing he doesn't like missing out on the numbers so he likes to replace them I can just imagine someone like Scott Burks with uh you know a pack full of uh empty containers in his backpack like his pill bottles with his log sheets in his backpack as well just in case he has to replace any on the way yeah yeah yeah yeah that's too funny mate uh one last thing before we wrap it up as well uh you've done you've done this whole trial you even did the before and after in regards to the the free France thing and then the Germany with uh with Daniel, by the way.

Camino Blues, Minimalism, And Coming Home

SPEAKER_03 1:06:03

Congratulations, Daniel, mate, if you're listening. Well done, mate. Yeah, well done. Um coming home, Josh. So you've on the plane home now. What was it was it like? Coming home itself, was it uh was it like oh I can't wait to get home, you know, because obviously you missed Goliath, etc. as well. Or was it or is it more of a like, oh, oh, it's done. It's over. I've been thinking because you'd been thinking about this trip now for months and planning for months. You had, and all of a sudden we know we everyone knows what it's like. You go, oh yeah, I did 31 days of walking. People go, that's a long time. But it as soon as it's over, you go, it didn't feel that long. It was quite quick, you know, that sort of thing, too. So coming home for you. So what was it like coming home for you as opposed to did you want to be back there or were you happy to be home?

SPEAKER_00 1:06:49

I thought obviously when you're away from your own bed for six weeks, oh yeah, and you miss you miss your dog, you know, there's a certain party party that's like, I want to be home. Yeah, but I honestly like you usually when I come home from trips, Craig, it's like it feels good. I was like, I'm oh that was a good trick, trip, but I want to be home. If I'm completely honest with you, I right now still I mean, I'm a month, I'm a month out. I'm experiencing, I'm experiencing it's pretty common Camino blues. I mean, I wish it was longer. I wish I was back there. Yeah, it's really it's been tricky to try to, it's not it's otherworldly. Kind of like kind of like um there's an old Star Trek episode. I'm gonna bring Star Trek back again, okay? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Next generation where Captain Picard goes into a coma he goes into a coma, okay, by some sort of alien being, yeah, and he lives a whole lifetime in this coma where he becomes an old man, he has children, and then he dies, and then he wakes up. But for him, it's like he experienced a whole lifetime. Being in the Camino is like this bubble where it's like you're experiencing this whole other life, and it seems really quick, but it also feels when you're out there, it feels like I'm living a lifetime. Yes, so there's a sense of like missing that other life that you were out there. And uh I had a nightmare, Craig, probably halfway where I got sucked home, and I remember in the nightmare, in the nightmare, I was like, I didn't finish it, I didn't finish it. That just told me like how much I was enjoying it and how amazing, amazing it was. And then even there was a part where we were having an end of end of the year celebration for work, and one of my coworkers was like, Hey, we could we can have you zoom in and you could be like at the event, kind of. And oh yeah and I was like, and I was like, I care about these people, but I I don't want it, I don't want anything to take me out of it. Yes, so it's it's tough like the Camino blues is a real thing. I'm not I'm not depressed, but no, no, no, no.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:55

But it's like it's like I miss it, I miss the simple life of of walking and and one thing I will say, Josh, as well, I've experienced this, and that is, and I am current I am this type of person now full time, and that's a minimalist sort of style. You you live 31 days, Josh, with literally just a backpack, you know, and some and some money to buy food and and drink, and that's pretty much it, and somewhere to stay. Um do you feel like now your home, you know, do you look at your garage, for instance? I don't know, I haven't seen your garage, but if you look at your garage and go, you know, I don't need all that stuff.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:30

Oh, yeah, totally. Like, right, you know, you've been to my house, Craig. I have a I have a five-bedroom house, and yeah, I have a dog and my son's home. But you know what I mean. I yeah, you don't you realize you don't need that much. You don't I'm grateful, I'm grateful for the things I have, but like yeah, to be able to live simply like that, you don't really need that much.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:55

So I I feel Josh, I feel in the next six months or so you're gonna be uh trimming down when I when the the the uh the items are in your household or something. Right, still you'll still you'll still need that snowblower for for winter come uh Minnesota just saying. For sure, for sure, for sure.

Patreon Thanks And How To Reach Us

SPEAKER_03 1:10:10

Mate, we did keep up with our patrons as we promised as well. Uh both yourself, uh you kept up better than I did, I do believe, but that's because I'm just on a homestead. Um, but we both did. And so we are very appreciative of our patrons as well. So if you're listening to this and you're not a patron, Josh, how can they become a patron from there?

SPEAKER_00 1:10:26

Yes, if you've been enjoying this podcast, we really appreciate your support.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:31

Um the support of our patrons kept us going even while while we were quiet for three months. And I just want to thank the patrons to that stick with us, even though we had to take a little bit of a break, which I think was good, a good idea.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:45

But if you're listening to this, you want to you want a little bit more, you want a little golden nugget, and ultimately you want to support this podcast. We do not have any sponsors unless compete, unless you're listening. Uh consider joining us at Patreon. So it's patreon.com backslash treasures of our town.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:06

Otherwise, Josh, how can people find us or contact us as well?

SPEAKER_00 1:11:09

Uh, feel free to reach out to us at treasurespodcast at gmail.com, or you can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, or our Buzz Sprout site. Just search Treasures of Our Town in Google. You'll find us there.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:21

Exactly. So that's it for our show today. Please subscribe, rate, review on your favorite podcast again.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:25

And as always, Josh, mayor travels always lead you to the most unexpected and amazing hidden gems around the world. See you next time, Buen Camito. I thought you guys have to go to the city.