I am on my way to Santiago de Compostela for this Holy Year 2010.  They are expecting about 250,000 people to make the Camino this year.  The next Holy Year won't occur until 2021!
 
It is exciting to walk in the footsteps of countless pilgrims from medieval times to the present.  I just finished college, so this is a time of transition for me as I think about what I want to do with my life.  I think of this pilgrimage as a way to ask God to lead me where he wants me to be in my life's journey.
 
I've done a lot of reading about the Camino, and I've decided to walk the Camino Frances, the ancient pilgrimage road that begins at St. Jean Pied-de-Port and continues through Burgos and other towns in Northern Spain, all the way to Santiago de Compostela.  The way leads you through towns and countryside, and the landscape is stunning.  At each stop along the way, I add another stamp to my credencial.  In Santiago, I will present my completed credencial to the office for pilgrims, and receive my Compostela, the official document that shows I have completed the Camino.
 
I think I'm ready for my pilgrimage.  I have some good walking shoes and a walking stick.  They say that your pack shouldn't weigh more than twenty pounds, so I had to leave out a lot of stuff I really wanted to bring, especially my books and my thermos.  So I got it down to a couple changes of clothes, a water bottle, a first aid kit, a Swiss army knife, a poncho (when it rains, it rains really hard!), and my sleeping bag.  When you're walking this far, you need to take care of your feet, so I brought along extra socks and some blister medicine that other pilgrims have told me about.
 
I can't wait to start.  Buen camino!