Camino Credits

Updated in 2023

Special credit to my Osprey ‘anti-gravity’ 50L backpack (as in 2021 the anti-gravity function finally kicked-in early on and started working for the first time and I never thought about the 10 kg (22 lbs) weight on my back from that point on). You, my faithful friend, kept track of all 71 items faithfully and didn’t lose a thing. I look forward to our next adventure together….

Special thanks to my Black Diamond walking sticks - indestructible & ultralight. I pushed them hard and they pushed right back -propelling me along -they were fantastic.   Every action was dutifully met by an equal and opposite reaction, but I guess that’s physics (thank you Newton for your 3rd law). I calculate a 20% mechanical advantage along with an awesome upper body workout. Stick around and we’ll do something like this again !

Extra special credit and special thanks go to my shoes and socks- Hoka Speedgoat trailrunners & Darn Tough Smart Wool you were! Not a single blister 😘. Hoka, you never once slipped up on all that wet stuff - never once did I have to tell you to ‘get a grip’ !

A special thanks to my feet and all of you who ‘toed’ the line, my knees who quit talking to me (loudly) halfway through the trip,  my hipsters for being in support of the backpack, and my back which didn’t complain all that much about carrying that 10+ kg for over a million five hundred thousand bouncy steps (2021+2023 combined) (BTW, none of you ever had a choice)

Recognition and gratitude to the (very) special individuals I met along the Way with our conversations, to the friends I have made and will remember forever, and to the ‘tribes’ that allowed me to join and share many days walking, talking, laughing, drinking, eating, living closely together and sharing a (significant) portion of our lives.

And to those of you who prayed for me consistently - I absolutely could not of done this without you having ‘my back’. Thank you! More proof that “prayer changes things“

To my family who supported and encouraged these crazy ‘disappearing acts‘ idea early on.  
And to my wife and the ‘five cards’ - one to be opened each week- that were filled with thoughts of encouragement and support and love that kept me going during times of doubt. You did this again in 2023 and they were indispensable source of encouragement. Thank you!

And to God who planted this seed of a long walk some seven years ago, enabled it to happen (and happen again), and is with me every step of the Way reminding me that I am a literal Pilgrim sojourning here on earth for a brief moment in time

“There comes a moment when we all must realize that life is short, and in the end the only thing that really counts is not how others see us, but how God sees us….The greatest surprise in life to me, is the brevity of life”
-Billy Graham

Buen Camino !