A shot, a mole and letting go

After I left Pontedeume on day 2, I was welcomed back onto the walk with a steep uphill climb from the moment I stepped out of the hotel. I walked through fields and forests as the sun-scorched. I came across a lot more pelegrinos than any other day. I enjoyed a group of young American teens singing pop songs together and cyclists whizzing past greeting you with "Buen Camino." I came across a little wooden tuck shop in the forest selling bracelets with the iconic Camino shell and bought one. I smiled at how entrepreneurship can be found in the strangest of places! There were also stands with cool boxes of beer, coke, fruit, and cake to help yourself with a money box to make donations. Laminated posters with quotes and poems scattered this leg of the way. One stood out to me. It said, "there's a magnificent waterfall not to be missed, that it was off the beaten track and required a little more time walking, but it is simply unmissable" I felt pulled to follow the words and the waterfall until I got to the end. It said, "that waterfall is the one in your heart; that beauty is in your heart." Tears filled my eyes, the start of feelings surfacing.

The heat was pretty intense that day, and I had annoyingly left my cap somewhere along the way. I'd also banked on it raining most of the walk and didn't take any sun cream. I should have paid attention when it said the weather was unpredictable. That left me with a nicely toasted nose and forehead. Like the day before, I got to my destination quickly and early and decided to continue walking. I began to pay attention to insights that began to surface on this leg of the walk. I was tempted while walking to write it all down, but I didn't want the purpose of this walk to be about getting content for this newsletter. However, there were a few things I distinctly remember. I began to notice how clunky it felt to walk with walking poles, and yet by day 2, I walked smoothly and not just smoothly but also effortlessly. I noticed how I used them when I needed to and didn't when I walked on flat ground. I noticed not just how my body got accustomed to the walking poles but to the weight on my back and the heaviness of my hiking boots and extension of my body, and I say that because this was also the moment I began to let go without knowing, more on that later.

When I arrived in Betanzos, the last stop for the day, I had walked 17.3km. I was exhausted. My body started to feel shivery and flit between warm and cold, the kind when you know the flu or cold is about to hit you. I rested for a little, checked-in with people on the phone to tell them I was still alive and booked myself into the best restaurant in town. I got there at 9 pm (people eat so late in Spain) and indulged in steak and chips, a glass of local red wine, and a complimentary shot from the Colombian waiter of fluorescent green alcohol; he must have seen that I needed it. I got back to my hotel room, and debated whether to stay an extra night to feel a little more human again. When I looked at the weather app, it looked like a beautiful day, and it didn't seem to make sense to stay indoors, especially when day 3 is the longest of the legs. So I put on my big girl pants, read up about what to expect the next day, something that made me feel more prepared about what lay ahead, and began the process of shedding my baggage (literally and figuratively).

I had known you could send your backpack forward from the start, but I wanted to do it 'the proper way' (I meant wtf is even the proper way) until the proper way meant my back and neck were in agony from carrying 8-9kg for two days. So the following day, I set off light as a feather. I started the day off almost instantly walking downhill only to walk back up, the joys, and as I walked into a more secluded and natural area, I found a little mole dead but completely intact. At the time, I didn't think it was a mole until I sent the photo to a friend asking what it was. Who knew those little creatures caused so huge piles of mess. I walked bewildered that I had no idea what a mole looked like; I genuinely thought they were the size of badgers! There was some stunning scenery that day. Beautiful rolling hills of yellow rapeseed adorned the sides of the Camino. I befriended a family of friendly sheep and fed them for a while, and continued walking. Again, I arrived at my initial destination but decided to keep walking and do the longer leg, to stick to the five days. I asked myself throughout the walk why I couldn't stop, knowing I was pushing myself way beyond my capability (a reflection of a similar behaviour in life)

I did, however, stop for a long lunch (yes, I'm justifying it). By about 2:30 pm on the third day, I had reached halfway through the entire Camino walk. But this is when the shit started to hit the fan because I felt an intense burn on my leg. I thought something might have bitten me, so I sat down and undid my boot, pulled down my sock, and lifted my legging to find a huge red rash on my leg that was stinging. A little help from Google and I self-diagnosed Hikers Rash, something that happens when it's hot or you're walking a lot, and well, I had both. It appears when small blood vessels inflamed, and boy did I feel it. I covered it all up, took a breath, and set off again. I began singing and talking out loud, writing a poem for a friend's upcoming wedding, anything to distract myself from the pain. At this point, I was questioning my decision-making skills, maybe dancing in Tulum would have been better, I thought. I mainly walked alone that day.

Many people have since asked me if I was scared at any point to be in the middle of vast parts of dense forest or fields, but I never once felt alone, weirdly enough.

This day began to feel like the hardest of days, and I found my eyes welling up numerous times; I could feel things coming to the surface, only I didn't know what yet, and the dam hadn't broken but it was about to.

Part 3 next week.?

With love and care,

#AuthenticAlex

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Hi there, I'm Alex. If we haven't met before, nice to meet you, and thank you for taking the time to read my newsletter. If you enjoyed it, you can hit subscribe to be notified and if you liked it, feel free to like, share it with someone or add a comment. If you want to see some of my doodles and spoken word poetry, you can find me on?Instagram , or you can also sign up for my?Authentic Alex newsletter . I also just launched a new biz where you can find out how you can journey with me.

About Alex:?At the age of 24 Alex found herself employed as the Head of Training and Development for a Foreign Exchange Company in The City. After experiencing her very own quarter-life crisis, she decided to leave the corporate world and create her own definition of success. On the day she left that job she wrote a post that went viral on LinkedIn.

Since then she’s been named LinkedIn Top Voice UK twice for her mental health and personal growth content and has become an official LinkedIn Learning Instructor. She's also the co-founder of #LinkedInLocal, a global movement creating communities in over 100 countries and 1,000 cities.

She’s best known for blogging under the hashtag #AuthenticAlex where she smashes one stigma at a time and writes about her therapy journey with the aim of inspiring others to transform their traumas into triumphs.

She now helps businesses grow their presence, find their sense of purpose, awaken their creativity and tell their stories. You can find out more about her?here .