Have you ever had the stars align so perfectly that they pointed in the direction you had to travel? That happened to me about a month ago when a lovely British woman named Heather Waring (www.waringwell.com) sat down next to me during a mastermind session. We introduced ourselves and I asked her what she did in her business.  Her reply stunned me so much that I responded in an uncharacteristic way. “You’re shitting me!”

Heather leads women on walking adventures, most specifically along the Camino de Santiago de Compostela, or The Way of Saint James, which is a series of pilgrim trails extending over 500 miles in France and Spain. I’ve wanted to walk the Camino for many years but had no idea how to get started. Nor did I have the encouragement I wanted to undertake such a journey.

It all began with a movie called, “The Way,” starring Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez. A friend recommended it to me and I sat down alone one winter’s day to watch it. By the end, I felt such a pull from deep within me to walk the trail. I remember tears welling up as I told my “wasband” about this visceral need. Needless to say, his response was neither positive nor encouraging.

Still, the pull remained. I watched the film again with my sons. I asked if they might consider hiking the trail with me. Both declined. I showed “The Way” to my niece, who is interested in doing the pilgrimage with me (and we’ll likely do that at some point).

Meeting Heather came at a crossroads in my life and made what seemed for a time impossible, suddenly quite possible. In January 2017, I’ll begin my training regimen and will use this vlog/blog post segment of my website to highlight the triumphs and tragedies along the way.

[vimeo 197110994 w=640 h=360]

This series is inspired by a song written by Alan Menken called, “Wherever the Trail May Lead” and sung by Tim McGraw from the Disney movie, “Home on the Range.”

Come with me, and let’s go wander
Far beyond the wild blue yonder,
Out where stars roam free.
Though the journey’s far from breezy,
Stick with me, I’ll make it easy-
You can depend on me.

So come along for the journey. I can’t predict its outcome but I can assure you it will be (mildly) entertaining.

xo