I think I'll go for a walk outside now... Walk, walk, walk, walk. I cannot believe how little I realized I actually walk at home. I know it is not the norm for people to walk 20km-30km a day, but I probably don't walk more than 4km a day at home. It's kind of sad. I love to joke and ask people, "Hey, what're you doing tomorrow?!" Most of the time people don't get the joke and will answer something like, "Oh, I think we will try to walk about 25km and make it to Azofra tomorrow..." Then I normally respond, "Oh, okay... I was joking... get it, like what else does anyone really have to do except walk..." Well, it's funny to me. April 10: Torres del Río to Logroño Journal Entry-------------------- Tuesday April 10th, ... read more

You are not in Spain; This is Basque Country! April 4: Zubiri to Pamplona Today was the day that we arrived at our first big city along the route, Pamplona. I remember the walk fondly as I spend most of my day walking with Sara. This is the day that Sara and I's relationship really blossomed. Sara is a wonderful young woman from Sweden who has a heart of gold and the funniest personality. She truly is her own person with a wild character that is hard not to like. We instantly clicked even though we are two very different people. Approaching Pamplona I noticed a lot of signs and graffiti everywhere saying, "You are in Basque Country!" "This is not Spain" "Freedom for the Basque!" I know that it can be a rather touchy subject ... read more

The Things that We´re Most Scared of, Are the Things that Could Set us Free Leaving Roncesvalles March 31 I woke up around 0500 to the noise of others getting ready for their day. Almost all of the people in the albergue are starting their walk from Roncesvalles. I attempted to go back to sleep because I figured I was not walking today and could sneak in another hour or so of rest. I was wrong! I was shaken awake around 0645 by a man that works at the albergue. I threw myself out of my bunk and packed up my belongings and headed out into the dark streets. I walked just a small distance to the nearest cafe where I asked the man working there to call a cab for me. While I waited I ... read more

The only thing worse than having things go wrong, is having everything go as planned Right now Spain is in a rough spot. With unemployment in Spain rising consistantly over the past half year, more people then ever are out of work. It is said that one in five people do not have a job, bringing the total figure to nearly 5 million unemployed. The percentage is said to be around 23% which is more than twice the EU average. It is odd because at first glance, they do not seem to be suffering. However, looking hard at the surroundings, it becomes easy to spot. While there have always been people begging in the streets, the things I have seen in the past week have painted a bigger picture for me. The man begging outside of ... read more

Oh Barcelona! Beautiful Barcelona and embarassing Americans abroad... March 20th Barcelona is a charming Mediterranean city literally bursting at it's seams with European urban style, art, architecture, and most importantly, delicious Catalan cuisine. The capital of Catalonia, Barcelona ranks in as Spain's second largest city after Madrid. It is not hard to see why it is one of the most populous urban areas in all of the European Union... Lee start packing. My flight to Barcelona started with 50 16year olds in the airport talking so loudly that I could not hear what the lady was announcing over the intercom. I asked if there were any upgrades available for fear of having to sit near them. Fortunately, I did not. The flight was okay, and I think I only had one or ten visions of us ... read more