Hello Everyone,

This is my first post for my Camino de Santiago trek on the Camino Via de la Plata, starting in Seville, Spain, to Santiago, Spain. It will be approximately 630 miles, depending on which Camino I will take once I get to the town of Zamora. At that point I will either connect with the Camino Francis that I just completed in June, or take one of two alternate Caminos that turn west and then to Santiago. One of those Caminos travels through part of Portugal and goes through some very steep mountain climbs. I will decide once I get to Zamora.

This morning as I was getting ready to leave for the airport to start my trek in Spain, I began to question my decision on not bringing my Wheelie hiking cart. My decision was based on the unknown of the terrain on the Camino Villa de la Plata. I had found the steep rocky and rutted trails on the Camino Francis challenging at times, and felt any terrain that was worse would definitely be easier with a backpack. I had packed my backpack fairly light, but I was concerned with the extra water weight I would have to carry because the current hot conditions. If I had any back issues carrying a backpack, the extra weight might make it worse.

I had been watching the weather in Seville and it had been over a hundred degrees for weeks and I would definitely have to carry extra water. On the Camino Francis there are almost always water fountains within a few mile stretch, but on the Plata, water can be very difficult to find. There was also a little worrisome news that a man trekking the Plata had died from heat stroke last week. So, I decided to pack the Wheelie!
My day leaving started off with some issues and I had to remind myself to just take it as it comes and consider it part of my trek experience. It’s obviously easy to say and harder at times to do.

Traffic was bad and I got to the airport much later than expected, especially with today’s TSA security process at the airport. The security lines were huge and I was sure I’d miss my flight. But wait a minute! As I showed the TSA security officer my ticket I was told I had a pre-screening pass noted on the ticket and I wouldn’t have to take off my shoes or get the full body scam. Wow! My bags still had to go through the X-ray machine and that cause a problem! Apparently my wet bean burrito stuff into the top of the backpack showed up as an anomaly, and off the line went my backpack. Then of course I had to wait and watch all those people behind me go through until TSA could get someone to go through my whole bag!

As it turned out I easily made my flight, or I would have only been there ten minutes before departure, because the flight was late. I asked for an aisle seat and by luck I ended up with an aisle luxury coach seat with huge extra leg room. It was a nice flight and I was very impressed with Lufthansa service.
My first stopover was in Munich, Germany, and then on to Barcelona. When I got off the plane in Barcelona I couldn’t find the Wheelie I had checked in. About a panicky hour later I finally found someone that told me it might have gone to the special baggage offload. Sure enough, there it was! Phew!

I wasn’t sure if I could arraign transportation to Seville on the same day, so I booked a little one room cabina at the closest location near the airport as I wasn’t sure if I was going to take a train or plane. It was on the beach and looked nice on the Internet and I just booked it at the last minute. As it turns out it is a motorcamp with RVs and tents, and the little cabinas. It’s not bad, and clean, but right under the takeoff flight path of the airport. All part of the adventure!

Tomorrow I have decided to take the high speed AVE train to Seville. It’s about five and a half hours, and actually a bit more costly than the one and a half hour flight. But I would rather have a chance to sit and enjoy the scenery rather than stand in line through security again and sit on a cramped plane. I definitely wouldn’t have brought a burrito this time.
Best wishes, Ted
The Mediterranean

The beach a few steps from my cabina

My cabina