Solo Travel Adventures: Safe Travel for Women, Preparing for a Trip, Overcoming Fear, Travel Tips

Uncovering the Magic of the Camino de Santiago with Joy Alway

• Cheryl Esch-Solo Travel Advocate/Travel Coach/Freedom Traveler • Season 2 • Episode 105

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What if you could transform your life by simply walking? Join us as we share an extraordinary conversation with Joy Alway, a seasoned hiker and author, who has journeyed across multiple Camino de Santiago routes. Joy’s epic 1,754-kilometer trek from Le Puy-en-Velay to Santiago and onto the coast at Fisterra and Muxia uncovers the magic and challenges of the Camino. Learn from her firsthand experiences about the French, Portuguese, and Northern routes, and get expert tips on timing your adventure to sidestep Galicia’s unpredictable weather.

Experience the dramatic shift in the Camino experience from the bustling dorms of 2019 to the serene, almost isolated paths of 2020 amidst the pandemic. Joy’s reflections on the physical and emotional challenges of the Northern Route will resonate deeply, as she emphasizes the profound healing power of walking and the fellow pilgrims' camaraderie. Her insights into the simplicity of daily life on the Camino and the generous support from religious hosts offer a heartfelt look into the essence of this historic pilgrimage.

We also dive into Joy’s essential advice for long-distance hiking, from starting slowly and keeping your pack light, to the importance of listening to your body. Hear about her book "Invincible," the cathartic process of writing it, and the inspiring messages it holds. Don’t miss this enriching episode that wraps up with a heartfelt thank you to Joy and a call to action for you, our listeners, to leave a review, share the podcast, and subscribe for more inspiring stories.

Follow my journey on the Camino through Instagram @solotraveladventures50

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Speaker 1:

Hello sister travelers. Well, by the time you are listening to this, I will likely already be on the Camino Now. Last week I did talk about what I did to prepare, what the Camino is and some logistical things, but I thought today might be appropriate to bring back an interview that I did that originally aired in December of 2023 with Joy Alway. She has actually hiked a few of the different pathways of the Camino and she's an author who decided to write about her experience. So I'm hoping today's episode will help you have a better understanding of what it was like on the Camino and I will have stories once I get back, of course. But this is an account by Joy of what she experienced on the Camino and I want to just kind of plug something here.

Speaker 1:

If you ever thought about going on the Camino but you might be a little shy of going solo like I did, or like Joy did in doing it all on your own right, with nobody else, which I hope you consider, because there's so many positive things that come out of you meet so many people on the trail but there is a company that does offer guided Camino tours and I'm not affiliated, but I get a lot of great information from them and it is called Follow the Camino. You can look them up. They also have a Facebook page, but I'd like you to listen in and hope you enjoy a replay of an interview with Joy Alway about her experience on the Camino. Well, hello, joy, thank you so much for being here. Yes, absolutely, and what's even more wonderful is that you're part of my Facebook community group. So, yeah, that's amazing, and you are an author which I can't wait to start talking about.

Speaker 1:

All things Camino, which I know we talked just briefly that you know that's been on my bucket list. Yeah, you get to the Camino and I had actually really was planning a lot of it pre COVID and then, yeah, that happened, and I'm kind of glad that I didn't go this summer, because the summer was pretty busy on the Camino. From what?

Speaker 2:

I've heard.

Speaker 1:

So because everybody was finally, I think, able to make those travel arrangements and get out there. But so tell me first which Camino, because there's several Camino that you can do, but tell us which one you chose. And then, why did you choose to actually walk as we call the way of St James?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah. So I mean, as you say, there are so many. I didn't realize. I mean I walked for the first time in 2019. Okay, yeah, and I I'd never done any long distance hiking before, so I I'd of the way, obviously, but I didn't know there were so many routes. So a friend of mine he said you should start with the French side, because that way you walk through the five most beautiful French villages, which actually I think is a total understatement, because I walked through far more than that, actually, I think it's a total understatement, because I walked through far more than that.

Speaker 2:

So I started looking at Le Puy-en-Velay, so you can go from Le Puy-en-Velay all the way to Saint-Jean-Pierre-de-Port, which is the French side. But then I've started watching YouTube videos and I saw that people carried on, because then you can go on the Camino Frances, which is the typical one that everybody thinks about, you know, with the film, with Martin Sheen and everything. Yeah, ok, walk that to Santiago. But if you prefer, there's a northern route which is meant to go along the northern coast of Spain and you go down to Santiago as well. Then there's another one, one I don't remember if it's you or somebody else on your on your blog who was interested in walking the Portuguese way yeah, so that's from Porto all the way up to Santiago, yeah, and then there are loads of other.

Speaker 2:

I mean, I mean, obviously, traditionally people started at home and they just walked all the way to Santiago as a pilgrimage to see St James, right, but there's a Primitiva now that goes over the mountains that you can do as part of the northern route to take you down to the Camino Frances, down to the Camino Frances, or there are loads of different options. But yeah, so I decided in 2019 to walk from the Puy-en-Velay all the way to Santiago, and then I saw people. They actually carry on and they walk to the coast because at the time, in medieval times, that was considered to be the end of the world. So you can carry on to Fisterra, which means the end of the world, and to Muxia there are two. So I did the whole thing in the end and then I walked back to Santiago. So I did 1754 kilometers the first year, but it was, um, yeah, it was uh, it was a hell of a long time.

Speaker 1:

How long did that take you? How many days?

Speaker 2:

That took me three months.

Speaker 1:

Three months.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, but I know, obviously it depends how long people have, you know, because obviously not, I don't, I didn't have any time time restrictions, but, um, you know, often people will only have like two or three weeks a year. So then what? The way I did it, I kind of um calculated how roughly how many kilometers I walk a day, and so that I ended up I would end up in Santiago around the end of October. Because the problem is that in once you get into, like Galicia, the weather is really, really bad. They have an awful lot of rain, and it doesn't just rain in Galicia, it absolutely chucks it down, um, so you don't really want to go too far into the autumn. Actually, I had a lot, I had, um, some injury problems along the way, so it took me longer than expected.

Speaker 2:

Okay, and I arrived in Santiago after having done Pistera Muxi for the last time, but the last whole month of my Camino I was walking in torrential rain every day. So if you can avoid that, I would recommend it. So you know just. But I mean you can, you can even walk it in the winter, but then obviously there's less accommodation. Yeah, I chose to walk it because.

Speaker 2:

I'd gone through a really hard 10 years. I'd lost my mom in 2007. Then I went through cancer myself in 2009. Then my father got sick in 2015. So I looked after him until he died, and then my husband. Sadly, he'd fallen in love with a perverse narcissist and so she'd been controlling and manipulating him for 10 years. But in 2019, she decided it was time for for them to be together and to get rid of me. So in the space of four months, my whole life fell apart. She literally he announced that he wanted to get divorced in 2019, and in May we were already divorced. You know, we signed the papers. So it was so quick and I was like completely demolished. I was destroyed, and two friends of mine they said you know, joy, a lot of people, when they go through troubles in life, they walk the Camino because it's it's meant to be really healing yeah so they, and because two people said that to me, I thought, yeah, this is a sign.

Speaker 2:

You know, um, and I love walking. So I just thought, yeah, you know, I'll go for it and I I really didn't regret it. It really is a magical path. You know, hiking is great getting back into nature.

Speaker 2:

But there's something very special about the Camino because I think that there are different people, different types of people, who walk it. There are the religious ones, who do it for the spiritual reason, but then there are other people who do it as a sporty challenge. And then there are people who are at a crossroads in life, who have gone through health issues, and they do it as a salutary hike, just to heal, and and it really it's wonderful because it not unlike on a normal hike where you'll just meet other people and say hi and just carry on on the way you. You meet and they actually want to share. Everybody wants to share. So there are kind of three classic questions when you meet someone. It's how heavy is your pack, how are your feet? And the next question is always why did you choose to walk the way? And you all share and you get different perspectives on what you've been through, so you evolve and you grow and and it all really help, really helps you heal. So, um, yes, it's, it's a wonder, it's a wonderful thing to do.

Speaker 2:

As I say, you don't have to do the whole thing in one if you don't have enough time. You know a lot of people. They do like two weeks and they'll stop and they start the following year where they left off and then gradually you make it all the way to Santiago and there are loads of people from America, who come from Canada, even from from Australia. I walk with people from Australia, so it's very international.

Speaker 1:

Yes, I'm so glad you shared because I know that the Caminos are known, like you said, as a pilgrimage, but there are many reasons why people choose to make that journey and do that. I love that you shared that, because everybody's reason will be different. Yeah, just like you know, my reason to go in 2019, which was kind of when I wanted to go as well I think it's changed now. If I go back, you know like so I didn't go.

Speaker 2:

But it was really strange because I walked. I actually walked in 2020 as well. I was very lucky, okay. Um, so in 2019, everybody was still in big dormitories. Um, because that's the cheap way to do it. You know you, you stay in a dormitory and you can be like I'm mean, small ones are like 10, 12 people in a dormitory, but it can go up to like 300. They have partitions, so you don't feel like you're in a factory. The really really important point if you do it, take earplugs, because there's so much noise. You know, with all of the snoring at night, I'm a real problem.

Speaker 2:

Problem, that's a great suggestion yes, yeah, so I had that in 2019 and then in 2020, we were literally that year I walked from vila la plata up to santiago because that was one of the only routes that was still open. Everything else shut down, you know, because of COVID, right, but that was still safe. So, um, and I was desperate that year to carry on walking because I'd started to heal in 2019, but I wasn't fully healed in 2020 and I desperately needed to get back on the path, and we were literally like 10 people that year from the whole of the Camino. So it was, um, that was a totally different experience. And then, obviously, in 2021, everything was still shut and now people are starting to go back, and so it's because, as, as you say, it's become really, really busy.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

The problem is, for example, on the Northern Route there are still a lot of albergue that haven't opened again since COVID All of the pilgrim albergues. They haven't opened. So you're stuck on the Northern Route, you're stuck with normal tourists in other types of hostels. So you know it's it's not so, it's not so fun. But now I was really lucky, I think, to have walked it in 2019, because I think things have drastically changed since then yes, well, on those, I mean, you've done it three times.

Speaker 1:

It sounds like different routes each time. But yeah, I've walked.

Speaker 2:

Yes, I've walked um three camps, but even a little bit more, because, um, when I did the northern route, I carried along because for me that was the most frustrating route. I seriously wouldn't recommend that to anybody. Because you think you're going to. I thought I was going to be walking along the coast, but most of the time you're actually quite a bit inland. Oh, because, if you think about it, it's logical, because pilgrim pilgrims at the time they weren't there to have a good time, you know, they were just there to get straight to Santiago.

Speaker 2:

And it was a dangerous place, you know, because there were robbers and murderers and things, and they were actually pilgrims at the time. They were, they could be killed, you know. So it wasn't. It wasn't like a nice joint jaunt like it is nowadays.

Speaker 2:

I'm really I wasn't expecting. What I wasn't expecting was to meet all of these people. I set out alone and I thought I was just going to be doing a lot of introspection and working on myself and healing. But it didn't work that way at all. I was never, ever alone. Obviously, walking three months, I didn't expect to be with the same group all the time, but so I thought, you know, after a while I'm going to start being alone and it's just not true. You, you walk another day and you meet a whole new group of people. So I think that was the most amazing thing for me. It was to all of the people I met, because I wouldn't have healed so well, I think, if I hadn't been with the other people.

Speaker 2:

Because, as I say, you know, when I was alone I didn't actually all right, perhaps I haven't said this yet, but when I was alone I didn't actually think about anything. I was just like living in the moment. You know everybody talks about. You know you can't control the future and you can't change the past, so just live in the present moment. But I think in real life that's really hard to do because we've all got such a lot going on and we're always really busy, like flying left, right and center, but on the Camino all you have to do is you. You just walk all day long and all you have to worry about is getting a place to stay for the night and some food. So the rest of the time you're just like sharing with these other people or being by yourself.

Speaker 1:

And when I was by myself, I just found I just thought about nothing and I was just like like, yeah, living in the moment, which was really amazing which is, like you said, hard to do because I think we're always thinking about the next thing or what we have to do, our to-do list kind of thing yeah, I think it's a sounds like the Camino is a great way.

Speaker 1:

You know, whatever reason you choose to, just, like you said, be in the present moment. I love that for me. Hiking in general is that way for me. You know, you're just kind of there in the present moment, um, which is a nice break from everything else right exactly.

Speaker 2:

I think another other thing was like I I was kind of expecting it to be a lot more religious than it was. Yeah, because I mean, a lot of the places that you stay they're run by priests or by nuns. Okay, and I was kind of thinking, you know, they're going to be judging everybody, because I mean, I'm spiritual but I'm really not religious and I thought they'd be quite judgmental. But they're not at all. They're really, really welcoming and they're very grounded. They give you really good advice. They'll they'll set up a lot of sharing meetings, so you'll sit around with other pilgrims in a room and you all share your stories and they actually provide really good advice, um, which really helps you. So it's so.

Speaker 2:

That was unexpected yes, I like that yeah, um, but I mean nothing, obviously, that there are injuries, you know, which you don't expect in advance, right, but, and there are ways of getting around that. If I knew, um now, what I, if I'd known at the time what I know now, you know I would have um you that it's really, really important to start slowly. So, just if you can walk eight, ten kilometers a day until your body gets used to carrying a heavy rucksack, um, because we all walk, yeah, in real life, you know, you don't have like, uh, I don't know, right, my, my pack was 13 kilos, so that's considered far too heavy. You know, oh, my time, I should have been carried, carrying like six kilos, according to the um, the camino experts. I just can't. I mean, I repacked the thing like four times before I left and there was no way I could get it down. But I just gone through a really hard time and a lot of people said to me you're not ready, you've lost everything, so you're not ready to, like, you know, discard unnecessary things, right, I mean, we all have like there's, there's, you know, there's the, the basic pack. So it's like two, um, two or three changes of clothes, you know, underwear and then t-shirts.

Speaker 2:

I had a polo as well, because I was walking through two different seasons. I was walking through the summer plus the autumn, okay, so I prepared for that. So I had a pola and uh rain jacket and a poncho, already ready for the rain in and that's really important. A poncho, but don't just choose one of these kind of flag things that fly everywhere. You know, you see people, it's just like a sheet that they put over them, but that's, that's a complete waste of time. Just make sure your poncho has long sleeves and is fits really well over your body and over your pack. Yeah, obviously, with a good um, a good hood. A lot of people they wear actually a cap underneath which keeps the hood, you know.

Speaker 2:

So if you have a cap underneath it, it keeps the hood away from your eyes better oh, which is quite a good tip um gaiters and stuff, but, um, you know, and then everybody will have a little extra, like I have tiny tubes, um, like silicon tubes, um, obviously, of shampoo, but my little bit of luxury is having conditioner as well, which isn't necessary. You know your curly hair right, otherwise everything gets such a mess, you know. But, um, yeah, so it's. But no, it's, um, yeah, so so I, I learned that um well, how Well.

Speaker 1:

How would you recommend preparing physically, maybe for other people?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I mean you'll see a lot of videos. People don't prepare at all because you know, like, for me, you know, it just came out of the blue, so I mean I had done no physical training before I left at all. I mean, obviously, if you can like go out and walk for a month with a pack on your back but I know very few people who actually do that you don't really necessarily need to prepare a lot in advance If you just, like I say, if you start really slowly. The key thing so to start slowly, take lots of breaks If your feet get hot. As soon as you'll feel your feet getting warm, stop, have a 10-15 minute break, take your socks and your shoes off so that your feet can air, and that helps to stop blisters. Um, don't walk too far each day, um too quickly, because people tend if especially if they've only got two or three weeks to walk, they tend to like charge at it as if they're running a marathon and and they get blisters, tendinitis.

Speaker 2:

You see pilgrims along the way and we all go through it, but that we're all strapped up with uh, you know, physio straps and um all right, people limping along and you know, with blisters, but um, it's a bit disgusting, but you can actually pop your blisters and drain them and then put, um, this thing called compi, so it's like a padded plaster and that helps them heal.

Speaker 2:

So, but it's um, if you take things slowly, then you should. You should be fine and you really don't need to to train up that much and keep, just keep your pack as light as you possibly can. Yeah, don't get, don't get too, um, because a lot of people and a lot of um the albergues and the jeep that you'll stay at, they'll criticize your pack. I mean, everybody criticized my pack. You know, if it's over like anything, over like 10 kilos, they're going to criticize it. And at the end of the day, I just got so fed up with everybody. You know I didn't tell other people how to walk their camino and how to run their albergue and I just said at the end you know, just, you know, I don't, I don't give you advice. Um, you know, this is my business. And then then they understood that, yeah, okay, this one, we leave her alone yeah no, you get to, don't get, because they do turn on.

Speaker 2:

That's the only thing that I really didn't like about the camino, because you don't let get that in hiking normally. But they do become very um, concentrated on the importance of having a light, light pack and it's really, you know, that's everybody, their own personal business and we, obviously we don't choose to walk, you know, with a, with a heavy pack. We, if we could like walk with four kilos, you know we would do.

Speaker 1:

But but there are ways around.

Speaker 2:

That too, you, but a lot of people. You don't have to walk with your pack, you can have it shipped on oh yeah, as a service. Um in, I think I've given you a link to one of the the phone app for when, camino, which gives you information about accommodation, um the different routes, um how the up, how how many degrees you gain and lose each day, um, so it's, there's a lot of and there's a link in there to how people can get their packs yeah, yeah, they actually.

Speaker 1:

uh, if you walk the appalachian Trail here in the US, you know I would love to do that.

Speaker 2:

That's one of my dreams. That's on my budget list.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, they get a little judgy too about how heavy your pack is.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, there's like I think that's kind of the same thing, because I've seen people they group into. They kind of have root families as well. You know that, people that they get to walk with and they get to know, oh yeah yeah, similar.

Speaker 1:

Um, yeah, it's like a. It takes most, if you do, you know, a through hike, as they call it. Um, it takes about three months to finish, yeah, so, um, you know, or you can do section hiking. You know you do a section, like you mentioned before. Some people do part of the camino and then they'll come back later, you know, because that's a long time to. You know, in the us we get, yeah, two to three weeks off, maybe, you know, if you're lucky, and so, um, it's a little hard to, unless you're a school teacher. Then maybe you have the summer off and you can, you know, squeeze it in, but um, yeah, it's a little hard to, unless you're a school teacher.

Speaker 1:

Then maybe you have the summer off and you can, you know, squeeze it in. But yeah, it's kind of similar.

Speaker 2:

I walk really slowly, I mean so yeah probably even longer than three months.

Speaker 1:

I think that's the whole point of you know, not only you know just any height, really any, any. Like you're talking about caminos here, like you're doing it in your own timing it's you know it's it's you have your own why of why you're doing it. So, yeah, you know your journey is going to be different than that person walking next to you possibly that day.

Speaker 2:

So you know, I think, just keeping true to you know what you're, your reasoning and purpose absolutely is and that that is another dangerous thing on the camino, because you do meet people, obviously that you you like them, you know, and you want to get to know them better. So there is tendency you can up your speed, you know to, to stay with them. And that's when injuries happen and you get blisters too, because so it's really really important to listen to your body and, um, you know to, to walk at your own speed. And basically there's a kind of camino rule that if you, if somebody else would wants to walk with you, they, the both of you, have to slow down to the slowest person's speed, because otherwise it's not um, you know. So if, if you're starting, if you want to walk with someone, you should start to try and walk with them and you see that they're kind of speeding ahead, it's probably because they don't want to actually be with you. You have to be a little bit.

Speaker 1:

It's all fine, right.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, exactly. There are different tactics to get rid of people. If you don't want to walk with them and you haven't got the nerve to say you know, sorry, we're not on the same wavelength here, yeah, yeah, okay. But you either speed ahead or you slow down and you know those are two tactics to get rid of people. So if you see that's funny.

Speaker 1:

I'll remember that. So what was your favorite part of the walk?

Speaker 2:

Oh, that was.

Speaker 1:

I know that's probably hard to narrow it down.

Speaker 2:

For me it's, it's really easy, it's, um, my favorite because, as you say, as you probably can imagine, you know, you walk through masses of amazing villages and cities and countryside. I mean, the views are absolutely stunning, especially when you go over the pyrenees. That's just incredible, yes, but for me, the really important place for me was a place called the Iron Cross, and that's after Fonsbaden and it's literally just an iron cross. It's like a really long wooden pole with an iron cross at the top, and tradition has it that you take a stone from your homeland and that's meant to represent all of your worries, and you get to the iron cross and you leave the stone at the iron cross and then you walk into your future light-hearted and um, leaving all of your burdens behind you, and so that's obviously for me, it was, it was the symbolism too just absolutely amazing, yeah.

Speaker 2:

So if you do it, don't forget your rock, because I have to bring a rock from Texas not too big, you know, because right having a light pack, that's really important that's funny.

Speaker 1:

Well, do you have any other plans for any other hikes or pilgrimages?

Speaker 2:

um, um, I mean one there. Yes, there are two pilgrimage. Well, yes, two pilgrims I still want to do. I want to do the El Primitivo, which goes over the mountains, um, on the northern coast. So that's definitely something I want to do and I want to do the Portuguese way up to. But I'm'm going to start down the southern, I'm going to walk across southern Portugal, portugal, and then there's a walk called the fisherman's trail that goes up to porto, and then I go walk I guess I actually was reading about that that is so beautiful.

Speaker 2:

Apparently, I've had friends who've walked in. It's absolutely amazing. So so those are the pilgrimages that I want to do, but, um, I mean, I've done, I've started to do. That was my introduction to hiking, but since then, I've done other hikes as well, because I um the following year, um, after the, after 2020, when I walked the, uh, viedla plata, which is another amazing pilgrimage.

Speaker 2:

But if, if you're going to, if you haven't done a pilgrimage before, I would really recommend starting with the camino francés, because that's the traditional one and um, there are lots of albergue along their places to say you really don't have to worry about anything. You don't have to take camping gear or anything like that. You can just um, you know there's and there were lots of restaurants, so it's a really good introduction. I would say the beard love platter. You don't want to do that until you've certainly done one pilgrimage before, because the stages are a lot longer, so you don't have a choice of um cutting your days shorter, um, and it's very, very hot, but I mean that was. That's another kind of thing that's really important to take into account as well when you walk. Yeah, like you were saying, it's so busy nowadays, if you can avoid the summer, that would be really good. So if you either walk in the spring um or the autumn, you know those are the best times of the year to walk the camino.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah but obviously not arriving in Santiago and Galicia when it's pouring down with rain so you said get there before the end of October before the end of October, and then you'll be fine yeah, no, that's great.

Speaker 1:

Um, it sounds like I you found a love for hiking in general.

Speaker 2:

Oh yeah, yes, so then I did um the GR131 over the Canary Islands, which is an absolutely incredible jewel of a hike. Not many people know about it. I was literally the only person uh doing that the year I did it. Um, that, that is incredible hike. It's like over the mountains all the time you go through the center of each island and each island is different. So I did the whole nine uh Canary Islands, so that's just like a really, really beautiful hike to do. And this year I did um the Fife Pilgrim Trail um in Scotland and the Fife uh Coastal Way, which is near St Andrews, so that was really beautiful. And then I walked the Via Alpina over the Swiss Alps this summer. So that's that's an incredible hike as well, yeah, so I mean literally, once you've done one, I think it becomes a little bit like a drug, you know, and just uh, yeah personally, I just want to keep going.

Speaker 2:

So now I've like started, um, I, I spend my whole time when I can, I hike and I write. I write about the adventures that I've had on my hikes.

Speaker 1:

Yes, that's become my new way of life hey, sounds like um, it provided you with the healing you needed. So, yeah, before I get into, you know you mentioned your book and writing um. Just a recommendation. Obviously it sounds like walking the camino is safe for solo.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, absolutely, I mean literally, as I said. I mean I started um solo, yeah, um I and um I thought, um I was going to walk the whole way by myself that there's massive accommodation, um everybody you meet, even the men. Um there's absolutely no sexual tension. You know, like in real life, like opposite sexes, you start to eye each other up straight away, but there's nothing sexual at all, it's just a joining of souls. Everybody mixes, which is incredible. I've never seen that anywhere else. Which is incredible. I've never met that, seen that anywhere else. But despite your age, um religious convictions, color of your skin, there's no racism. There's no um judgment. It's, it's really. And young people will talk to old people there.

Speaker 2:

There are no boundaries yeah it's um, it's really, really wonderful. I've never experienced that anywhere else, but on the Camino, and it's every Camino that I've. It's the same. You know, there's just like you leave all of your prejudices at home and it's uh, there are no arguments about religion or politics, or it's amazing, yeah awesome, um.

Speaker 1:

So you chronicle, um, I guess, what you did on that, that Camino, in your book can you tell us exactly that?

Speaker 2:

book yeah, so it's called Invincible by Joy Alway. It was published by Pegasus Publishers. Okay, and um, it's, it's literally it's the story of my life. So I always wanted to write a book but I felt my life was just too boring, you know, because I grew up in the countryside and nothing really ever happened to me and then suddenly I'd been through, you know, death of both my parents and cancer and this horrible, horrible divorce. So I thought, you know, now you've actually got something to write about, and it was very cathartic. When I got home after the Camino in November, I just thought I, I need to.

Speaker 2:

I did it for different reasons. Um, I wanted my boys to know my side of the story because they they'd gone through it a lot with their father but they didn't actually know what had happened to me. So I wanted them to know my side of the story. Yeah, and then also, I find in life we don't really talk to our parents very much, you know it, when we're growing up, um, I was exactly the same you, you, you take them for granted and they're there to provide a stable home, um, food, you know, um, but I'd never asked them about what they believed or felt or thought about things in life until I actually spent time with my father and I thought I'd like my boys to actually know who I am.

Speaker 2:

So that was another reason why I wrote the book and it really was cathartic. It helped me reprocess everything and um, look at everything, but with from a distance. So then you look at things slightly differently and you understand things better. And then, of course, with all of the editing that goes um into the process and that's that's never ending. So you're always going through the same things over and over again. So now I'm really healed because you know, I didn't only walk the walk, I went through it in real life, but I also dealt with everything again while writing the book.

Speaker 2:

So I hope it's kind of inspirational to people if they read it, because it does show people Well. I hope it shows people that whatever things you go through in life, don't give a, don't give up, and you can cope with anything. You can do anything in life if you just put your mind to it. If you just put your mind to it. You know some of the hypes I've done. I think if I thought about what I was actually really getting myself into, you know the ascents and descents, and how hard it could be. I wouldn't do it. And I think one of the secrets in life is to never let fear govern your life. Of the secrets in life is to never let fear govern your life. You know, um, if it doesn't work out, if you don't like it when you're actually out there, you can always stop and come home. Um, so but go for it.

Speaker 1:

You know, try it yeah and love that yeah, get negative inspiration and truth, yeah, exactly and I wanted to.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I just wanted to kind of get all of that out and I'm very lucky, you know, my book has been published, so and there's a follow-up coming up, hopefully in the new year. Okay, this is um, that.

Speaker 1:

This is the beginning of um, hopefully nice, yeah, you're writing here, see it opened up. Uh, sounds like it's opened up a whole new life for you.

Speaker 2:

Um, exactly both the hiking and the writing and, yeah, that combination and I mean the people who've actually read it so far they they say it's a very special book so is that something they can get on amazon or I know you? Said you can get it on Amazon or through Pegasus Publishers.

Speaker 1:

OK, and I'll make sure I include those links in the show notes. So thank you so much. Yeah, they can find it more easily, but it's called Invincible. Invincible by Joy, by Joy Alway. Yeah, so awesome.

Speaker 1:

Well it's been such a pleasure to have you on. Oh, thank you so much. It's been such fun. All the Camino ideas and advice. I love it because it's going to get me all ramped up, because I really, really want to do the Portuguese way. Um, because of the time frame. Um, I know I can do, uh, from Porto and I can go from Lisbon, but I think, if I do Porto up to Santiago, that I think it's like 12 days or so approximately, depending on how fast or slow you walk.

Speaker 2:

But yeah, I think. Yeah, it's maximum it's between 10 and 14, I think.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, you know, I think that might be doable for me, and all this advice you've given has been wonderful, and anybody else that you know. Maybe that Camino is on your bucket list. Right, we get out there.

Speaker 2:

I mean if anybody, because obviously we don't have all day I could talk about this. But if people have got other questions, you know, just tell them to put them in the comments underneath and I'll willingly answer any questions you know, not just about that but any of the other hikes I've done.

Speaker 1:

Yes, that'd be awesome. Thank you, you'll be, our Camino. Expert right.

Speaker 2:

No, no, no, there are real people who've like way more Caminos than me yeah, yeah, I see. It is a great introduction and, as we've said, you know, it's safe for solo female fighters and it's very international. So for Americans there's really no problem. Everybody speaks English, especially once you get onto the Spanish side. So, yeah, but like you, you said it's very international.

Speaker 1:

I have international listeners, so, yeah, yeah, there are a lot of Koreans.

Speaker 2:

There are a lot of, um, yeah, canadians, australians, yeah, good um, not that many English actually, but uh.

Speaker 2:

I would have thought okay, um, perhaps I should just mention there are a few things that you really do need to if you choose to walk the Camino.

Speaker 2:

Um, you need a credential, which you can get in advance from the um Santiago Cathedral, so I've given you a link for that, if perhaps you can just put that below. And you need that to get cheap accommodation and you're when you get what's called a compostella, which is a certificate when you get to Santiago. But you need to to get those things, you, to get the compostella, you need to walk at least the last hundred kilometres of the Camino. So that's really important to people. They have to do the last hundred kilometres and you have to have that stamped at least once a day at the beginning, and once you get into the last hundred kilometres, you have to stamp it twice. So it's just important for people to know this, because people don't tell you this in advance. So, if you don't know, I've heard of people who don't actually, who aren't allowed to get their compostella because they haven't had their prudential stamped enough during their hike.

Speaker 1:

So those are really important things so it's almost like um, because there's some places, like even in the us, where you have to get a permit to hike a certain height.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I mean for the camino you don't have to have a permit um but it's similar.

Speaker 2:

You have to apply for that yeah, I mean, if, if you want to stay in a hotel, um, you know that's not so important but if you want to stay in the, um, the sheet and the albergue which were, which is especially for pilgrims, yeah, then you need to have, um, okay, um the the credential. So, yeah, it's like a, it's like a pilgrim passport, yeah, and it's a nice souvenir anyway, you know, because you get every place stamped it for you and so when you get home, you've got this, like I mean, I had two because obviously I've been walking so long, but I had two with, like beautiful stamps, yes, and people, you can get it, um, you can get them framed as well. Yeah, it makes a really nice, uh nice souvenir. If you don't want to put it on the wall, yeah, so it's uh, no, it's cool, good advice.

Speaker 1:

Yes, we all like our souvenirs sometimes, right? Yeah I mean to show that we did this and it happened. So thank you for that last little tip there yeah, no, I meant to say it before, but that's really important because, um, if you do do it, yeah you, you can make the cost well, thank you again, it's been a pleasure and um uh, you know we'll, I'll make sure I post some of those links, especially to your book, for those that want to get more in depth about you know, your experience.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I mean literally I say everywhere I've stayed, I talk about my roots. Awesome the diff. There are a couple of people who are actually kind of using it as a guidebook. It's it's not a traditional guidebook, obviously, but yeah, so it's. Yeah, hopefully it's inspirational for people too. You know, if you're planning a hike, it's nice to see how somebody else has done it.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I agree.

Speaker 2:

And I talk about all of the lows and the highs. So hopefully people can learn from my mistakes too and do it slightly better than me. Well, I mean, everybody's going to do it differently, that's all? Yeah, exactly, exactly well.

Speaker 1:

Thank you again, joy, and I appreciate your time and this has been a delight, so it's been gorgeous yeah, thank you very much.

Speaker 1:

Hey, sister travelers, did this podcast inspire and encourage you or move you to get out there and travel? Wonderful. There are three ways you can thank me. First, one is leave a written review for the show on Apple Podcast. Two, share the show with your Sister Travelers, your friends, your family. And three, subscribe to the show so you never miss an episode. And thank you again for listening to the show. Sisters, be fearless, take the leap and get out there and have an adventure.

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Cheryl Esch

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