As we move on through April, and my August journey to Portugal is drawing closer, I find myself reading and writing more about what’s ahead. My current journal was given to me by a friend who knew about my yearly solo trips. It’s covered in old world maps and throughout there are quotes about travel. A recent one by Glenn Clark spoke to me. It starts with a familiar recommendation: travel light.

“If you wish to travel far and fast, travel light.”

I’ve improved in this area over the past years–but not significantly. I still overpack whether it’s for a weekend at the beach or for extended travel–like Scotland and Ireland in 2022. Even though I knew better, I stuffed that suitcase and it made it harder to maneuver at the airports. Part of my difficulty was planning for time spent between cities and villages—dressing up and going casual, hiking trails and evenings out. In my mind, I wanted to have enough choices for what I could wear. Part of it was my vanity 🙂 I even lugged a curling brush and hair dryer–accompanied by small containers of hair products. I knew we’d take lots of pictures, some would be on this blog, and I wanted to be presentable.

Dinner in Dublin with cousin, Kim McCaskill Sept. 2022

All that “fussiness” about looking good certainly took energy on that trip. Those early mornings when we were in a hurry to catch our tour bus, my overstuffed bag made it hard to locate items. It was difficult to see the one thing I was looking for lost in all the other things. The curling brush blew when I used the European converter and only took up space after that.

I see so many ways that preparing for a journey, this year the Coastal Camino, is very much the same as how we go about everyday life. After moving a couple of times in recent years, the issue of “traveling light” is very applicable when you’re staying home. How much do you really need to live? How often does overpacking, or overstuffing our homes, distract us from focusing on the thing we really want? How much do these items drain our energy–whether it’s in the acquiring or maintaining?

All that is talking about stuff— tangible, physical things. But the second part of the Glenn Clark quote made me look at the other things that we carry that impact us just as much. He continues:

“Take off all your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness, and fears.”

Wow, I hadn’t thought about how we carry these things–whether at home or on a trip, both as we journey through life.

Those things, like the tangible items that clutter our homes or our suitcases, drain our energy. I think that a lot of these emotions, ways of viewing ourselves and others, are set deep inside of us and are so automatic that I don’t see them. They come as running tapes, habitual thoughts, routine behaviors, and vague discomfort that we’ve forgotten how to name.

Now I think about what I need to leave behind when I pack for my August trip: hair dryer, curling brush, extra clothes. And what about the “envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness, and fears”?

That will take more pondering, more searching my heart, deeper observation of my life. And in all that, I pray that God will open my eyes to discovering more of what is essential, what nourishes the Soul. That is the point of pilgrimage, of walking this life journey.

May it be so for you, too.

Connie

Wild Atlantic Way Doolin, Ireland Sept 2022