The Way

I just saw the movie “The Way”, written and directed by Emilio Estevez, which stars his father, Martin Sheen.  It was an interesting movie about a father, Tom (Martin Sheen) who goes to St. Jean Pied de Port, France to bring home the body of his only child who died on his pilgrimage on the Camino de Santiago (The Way of Saint James).  Father and son hadn’t gotten along for a number of years.  The son (Emilio Estevez) said their differences were the difference between the life we live and the life we choose.  The father decides to make the journey of the Camino De Santiago and sprinkles his son’s ashes along the journey at various sites.  The movie provided unexpected experiences that are learned about what it is to be a citizen of the world.  This movie probably won’t be in big box movie theaters.  I saw it at The Little Art.

I have wanted to take a walking journey for some time.   Alan and I have walked parts of the Appalachian Trail, but never for more than two days at a time.  The Camino De Santiago, starting at St. Jean Pied de Port, France to Santiago de Compostela, Spain is about 500 miles.  The walking is not difficult because most stages are fairly flat, but the difficulty is walking continuously for 10, 20, 30 or more days.  

In the movie, people walked for all different reasons and this is what I have read.  Some walk for religious reasons, family, health, and to contemplate their life,

Alan will investigate various walking journeys we can take, perhaps to build ourselves up for The Way of Saint James.  We need to do it in the next few years while we have health and stamina.  Alan likes the idea of walking around England because there are various places to stay so you don’t have to carry bedding with you.  Part of the challenge of the journey is the back pack you carry and its weight.

We have backpacked on Isle Royale National Park in Lake Superior for 4 days 3 nights and it was a challenge to make the pack light enough for me to carry.  I weighed every item and got rid of items that were too heavy.  On that trip we also carried all of our food and water.  We prepared for it by taking several daylong hikes ahead of time and carried our packs.

The hardest part of a long trip will be leaving my dogs.  Magnum is finishing up his second obedience class and his third agility class.  He’s doing better with meeting strangers.  He is shy with some and not with others, which is probably okay.   He is great with other dogs and very sweet with people.

Go see the movie “The Way” and get inspired.