Back Home Wrap up

Slowly Returning to the Regular Life

Date	Dec 19th, 2022
Total This Camino:	114 miles
Total 2022 Caminos:	438 miles
Total All Caminos:	1734 miles
Total Lodging:	$ 675
Planes:	$810 Rochester -> Munich -> Rochester + $75 checked bag $680 Munich -> Rochester
Total Planes:	$ 1550
Buses / Trains / Taxis:	$13 to airport
Total Buses / Trains / Taxis:	$45
Total Food:	$ 220

Meaningful Moment

I missed everyone back home so much.

Maybe it was the short hours of daylight in Germany, on the order of 9 or 10 hours.

Maybe it was the absolutely exhausting hiking (cold, distances, terrain).

But this was much more of a challenge that I ever envisioned.

However in some sort of coincidence, on the day that I decided to stop, I came across a link to another German camino, the Via Imperii. It runs from Berlin to Leipzig, and it sounds very interesting. But I think I won't do it in December.

I took two days in Munich for sight-seeing, and it did make a difference. When I got back to Munich, I had little left to give. After the two rest days, I started to recover.

My German studies over the past two years came through. I did not discuss the meaning of life or quantum mechanics, but I did get directions, order food, find rooms and all the  other survival skills for a stranger in a strange land.

And the German studies gave me something to mentally challenge myself during the worst of the Covid pandemic, when I couldn't hike.

I still regret missing the 2020 and 2021 hiking years in Europe. My body has changed, and at some points of the Muncher Camino, I began to doubt my ability to continue at this pace. 

I guess only time will tell, altho' being unidirectional, I know what time is going to tell me.

For now, I will plan for more hikes in challenging situations. It's a good way to stay healthy, maybe not so wealthy, but also mentally acute / alert / proficient.

And those are good reasons to hike.

Random Thought of the Day

Still fighting off the jet lag.

I have multiple times now flown from the USA to Europe, and started hiking the next day.

I have yet to return to the USA from Europe (six hours ahead) and not suffer for a week, at least, from jet lag. 

Even today, I had to crash for an hour after morning yoga and lunch.

Speaking of which, I am slowly returning to my life style here.

Both Saturday and Sunday, I got out with the Genesee Valley Hiking Club for some good hiking, admittedly at much shorter distances, typically 4 - 5 miles.

Today (Monday) I made a morning gentle yoga class at the YMCA, and then returned in the evening for a half-hour session of weight training.

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A chocolate English Lab Retriever is a good reason to come home LOL

So I guess that is all the hiking for 2022. It started in June with Deb on the Camino Madrid. Then Carlos, Adriana and I spent four days on the Iveragh Peninsula, County Kerry. They returned to the US, and I finished the hike. And last and whatever, December's Camino Munich.

After two years of Covid, 2022 was a pretty good year after all.

Signing off ...