first class peregrino
the domestic minx
32 Comments
and I think I need a Lear jet...
There was a time when I was so fully wrapped in my globe trotting, shot swilling,
jet setting world that I could imagine nothing more delicious than travelling first class, in Lear Jet no less, fuelled not only by the very high fidelity vibe that kept me emotionally and physically aloft, but the promise of accomodating my inevitable excess baggage.
And indeed the thought still does me in.
I am flighty and frivolous and if you wave those first class tickets before me like so much chocolate I will grab them and race you to the exit, my 30 kg hand carry a mere trifle.
I make no excuse, dear readers, for being this creature of luxury and comfort.
Hedonistic and sensual, I want all the good things in life.
Indeed, I want it all and I want it smothered in whipped cream and chocolate!
Lately, however, I have been challenging my own ideals.
I have been turning it all on it's indulgent little head!
And not because I have to, but because I can.
And because I want to.
I have been craving the peregrino vibe, dear readers, pure and simple, and longing to embrace it.
I dare say you were flabbergasted when I said that I was walking The Camino next year. It is likely that you scoffed and quietly mocked my plans, wondering if El Camino was yet another of my hare-brained, wild-card, ill-planned schemes, those ones that unfold Greek tragi-comedy style and then disapear quietly up my sad little bottom.
I can assure you it is not.
As we speak, I am knee deep in the very plans that will find this minxy little arse dragging itself 800 kilometres down the Pyrenees and across the northern tip of Spain, pilgrim style, towards Santiago de Compostella.
Never mind that it is nine months hence. I am nothing if not a control freak and am doing my level best to make sure this little twig finds herself on the shoulders of the mighty stream in good order.
Which is another reason I have assumed this challenge...
It is unashamedly mighty.
It is an invitation to travel in peregrine pilgrim style, testing one's physical, mental and spiritual endurance for 34 days straight for up to 27 km each day.
With the added recommendation of carrying no more than 10% of body weight, it also means this little minx will be carrying no more than 5 kg on her back.
Ah yes, indeed this is where it becomes difficult.
For alas, I am the First Class Traveller, The Flamboyant Fashionista, the Relentless Overpacker and the Excess Baggage Handler.
Yet, undeniably, there can be no margin for error here, dear readers.
One too many products and this Madame X may well find herself cast by the wayside, wallowing in the detritus ditched by the millions of pilgrims that have gone before her.
Ah yes, this very exercise entails a cutting of my cloth, my hair shirt, my peasant garb or whatever looks comfortable and stylish at Paddy Pallin...
For lo, though I walk through the valley of death, there can be no gel mousse, there can be no shine serum, there can be no All Over Body Bronzer Instant Shimmering Moisturizing Cream...
There can be only Me and My Bare Necessities.
And between now and May 2008 you can rest assured I will be determining the value of these very items, sorting the wheat from the chaff, classifying the comings from the goings.
It is fair to say that some sorting has already begun...
These past few days have seen our family plunged headlong into the unparalleled and pristine beauty of the Margaret River wine growing district for some timely escape.
Lengthy hikes along coastal cliffs, endurance tested on the rocky goat tracks of surfers and trekkers, was the order of the day, efforts rewarded heartily by decadent sojourns at several of the multitudinous wineries on the way home.
Considering the intentions of the Camino I sought to embrace the less is more concept with vigour, (not of the wine, dear reader; be fair); attempting to limit my baggage to nought but the bare bones.
And I can assure you, dear reader, that such a challenge was more than difficult.
Knowing that one is staying somewhere spacious and elegant, a holiday home fitted with every convenience and luxury tempts the relentless overpacker to indulge in such wanton abandon that spartan choices are almost cruel, especially for one so opportunistic of excess baggage.
Yet this time, however, to your surprise, and indeed mine, I succumbed not to the temptation; daring, double-daring myself to take only what I could carry on my back.
Camino style.
And it was a revelation.
Despite a most prudent pruning and picking process, garments were returned unworn, products returned unused.
I feel almost blessed in my lightness of spirit.
But confusion remains, however, over what I have since acquired...
Alas, a dozen bottles of Mad Fish 2004 Carnelian, or indeed it's Spanish counterpart, might never fit in my backpack...
Where's that Lear Jet?
Where's my porter?
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Reader Comments (32)
You're a braver man than I, Gunga Din.
I am not made of the stuff for such a journey, but I am enthralled by your determination and moxie. You're a woman of many facets. Endlessly fascinating and surprising.
I am fully confident in your ability to peel away the excess, but promise me you will revel in it upon your return!
xoxo
M
oh adventurous minx, i'm sure your pilgrimage will be the journey of a lifetime. i personally find women of the rugged realm without make-up, hair in tails, and sweaty to be much sexier than the typical fashion magnifico. after all, humans are animals.
Okay, so my comment for this post is somewhere else. Perhaps your writing so enthralls me that I become distracted. Comments button at top of post. Right.
Gawd....I don't know what to say
I am a hedonist as well - but ever since I read The Pilgrimage by Coelho I have been wanting to take the road to Santiago. It'll add yet another dimension to your already multi-faceted personality
Not only brave, darling Margot, but filled with bravado!!
I do like me a little adventure!
And I feel anxious to test the comfort zone!!
Having said this, after 34 days of excess peeled, we are planning to rest and recuperate on my favourite island, Santorini...
There will be revelling and I feel we will have earned it...!!
xox
I am beginning to work the bohemian charm of "Il Peregrino" into the universal fashion consciousness, Raffi.
I do agree; there is something deliciously and earthily sexy about the communion with nature and spirit and I do think such women to be incredibly attractive in the purest and most natural way.
xox
I will find it dear Kellypea and return it to it's rightful spot here on this page....
Enthralling sounds nice..
xox
Indeed Thinista,
I'm sure those very words will be uttered, no doubt whimpered, with constancy from my lips...en route...for 34 days..over 800 km...
Gawd...
xox
Hedonist/Bohemian Peregrino/Pilgrim.
It is a delicious combination, is it not dearest Magus?
One needs the facets, the dimensions, to add volume to the deep well of life lived and enjoyed.
Sometimes one has to upset the status quo to do that, I think..
I do think you should take the journey, darling.
In fact, I can see you doing it..
xox
The elusive Kellypea comment:
Congrats on returning home with things unworn and products unused. It is a bit freeing, isn't it? I'm not one to rough it much, although I have in younger years. I'm not quite over my fixation on grand hotels...I'll think of you next summer on your trek as I languish in a villa shopping for local produce and cooking the local fare. One doesn't have to wear boots to cook...well, not hiking boots, anyway. And I wouldn't be able to hike barefoot, which is how I cook.
Ah Kellypea,
I will never be over my romance with grand hotels. I'm just sharing the love, throwing a little of my minx around. Refugios and albergues throughout Northern Spain will be depending on it, I'm certain...
I must say, it is extraordinarily liberating freeing oneself of the superfluous. A little scary at first, but decidedly emancipating...
Of course, in pursuit of this emancipation from worldly goods, I've managed to add another pair of boots to my collection...Hiking boots, the newest addition at Number 37...
I need this pilgrimage more than I realize...
xox
You never cease to fascinate and astound me, Minx. What an adventure! I can't wait to read your journal, el peregrino.
Ah yes, Eddie, there must be a journal!!
I do hope it will reveal a story of spiritual enlightenment and self discovery in the face of physical and mental challenge...and not a cruel and cautionary tale...
xox
dearest minx... even i... squatly pedestrian, coach flying thing that i am,,, could never brave that walk... not because of the walk itself mind you ... but i cannot sleep without the television,, i must have coffee at my permanent disposal... and well,, i am pretty damn attached to my computer... i await the key moments of your journey with bated breathe... but i am pleased i was offered no invitation to accompany....
Alas, darling Paisley,
My bondage is similar...so attached am I to the strings I tie so lovingly around my neck.
I shall not forsake my vino tinto, however!! I'm sure there will be a little of that to soothe my journeying - and they do make a damned good cup of coffee in Espana!!
xox
OMG. I agree with paisley on the whole "could never brave that walk AND I cannot sleep without the television AND I must have coffee at my permanent disposal. AND I would DIE without wireless internet connection or my MAC
BUT.... I can ONLY fly 1st class, and stay in obscenely ridiculous hotels with lavish thread counts and kick ass room service!!
I cannot wait to hear / LIVE the experience through your words.
Good grief! methinks the corset must remain in the closet!
5 bikinis and 2 pairs of shorts is all you will need lovely minx - and I'm sure that will take up noooooo room at all. Indeed you could wear them all at once and still looks stylish I'm sure!
Being fluent in spanish, a girl whose grandparents are from spain and portugal, in good physical condition with no attachment to earthy material possessions. I have only one question for you....
Don't you think you will be needing your own private yoga instructor along on the trek?
I admire your goal of the long walk and admire even more your reward of santorini...good luck my friend I will be with you every step of the way in my thoughts...xoxo kk
I am imagining Minx in simple pilgrim garb, walking barefoot to a shrine, with devotional fervour in her eyes. After you soul is cleansed, dear Minx, it would be a sensual pleasure to wash your dainty, but rather soiled feet.