A Sad Reality

It’s time to dig in. I’ve been pretty blasé about my travels in Spain thus far. But the truth is, I feel anything but. 336 hours soloing the Spanish countryside with nothing but an overweight backpack and smelly toe socks has been remarkably liberating and extraordinarily humbling. But it has also been exhausting, painful and, at times, emotionally harrowing. I’m just going to come right out and say it. Being an American abroad sucks. You are prematurely judged and subsequently treated accordingly by many before you’ve had a chance to redeem what you’ve already unjustly lost. Now, that is not to say that I have not had beautiful experiences with the panorama of international Camino pilgrims whom I’ve met, but I do feel that I have been marginally robbed of the full Camino experience solely because I’m white and American (but mostly because I’m American). What do I mean? Hattie and I had enough iffy initial encounters with certain people along The Way that we almost began introducing ourselves as Canadian. In a small town 9 km outside of Belorado, we were literally chased out of one albergue by the Italian hospitalero because we had failed to say goodbye to her when we couldn’t find her and then received a harsh and unjustified “you Americans” rant before we ran to find shelter from the 45 degree and 15 mph winds only to be refused by the pilgrim shelter because the previous hospitalero had called ahead to prevent us from staying there. I may or may not have cried after that. I don’t want this to be a rant and rave, but I believe it’s a particularly prevalent yet wildly overlooked reality that plagues American travelers and seems to be worsening (cough, cough, Trump, cough). Judgment is inevitable. But judgment before you’ve even had a chance to share who you are as a person is bullsh*t. All I can hope for is a thick skin and un-phased patience as I continue along my Camino. I have to remember that I am not my flag or my skin color. They are a part of me but I am much more than that. A person who writes me off for just those facets of my being has some growing to do. It takes a confident person to walk proudly, and I can’t say I’m quite there yet. But with each step I take towards Santiago, I get a little closer.