Recommendations

Taking into consideration the mere length of the expedition alone, to give a full account of all the practical recommendations for such a journey would have taken up a significant amount of time. Given the abundance of the similar texts available on-line, my intent here is to give you two short recommendations only partially related with the organisation. In fact, they are more concerned with the attitude of a person undertaking a pilgrimage than with how to go about booking or researching what is waiting out there. ;)

Go unprepared! - By saying this I am referring to the amount of preparation done in advance, not to the fact whether one needs to prepare at all. Just to clarify, one does need to do some preparation. However, having said that, I would recommend not to become too focused on or too stressed about the preparation. Consciously leaving certain aspects of the journey unplanned can be a well thought-through move given that it might aid the overall experience. People are often too focused on getting it right, and right according to a certain conception, so as a result they are more likely to miss on the actual and authentic things that happen along the way. Going unprepared could be a part of letting things just happen during a pilgrimage.

Do not try to plan or control – The second recommendation is related more with the realisation stage of the expedition. Personally I have attempted to plan a day or a few days in advance during a big part of the project. Having completed it, I would recommend not to follow my example. Planning and controlling might create expectations, sometimes unnecessary expectations, and distract from the present of what you will be experiencing. I do not suggest not doing any planning at all, however, fully living in the present time has been an invaluable experience for myself and it also can teach you a lot.

 Photo: The Pyrenees