It just dawned on me that today is the 8 year anniversary of my pilgrimage across Spain to Santiago De Compestello. It is incredible to think that at this time eight years ago I just spent a terrifying day in the Pyrrenees in a storm, walked 20km's straight up in the freezing rain and fog, and then stumbled 7kms down the mountain to a monastary and arrived drenched to the bone with blistering feet and bleeding from having lost most of the skin on my tighs due to chaff. It was a day that at the time I thought I could not survive. I knew no-one, couldn't speak Spanish and had arrived from France with no spanish currency and was miles from a bank.
Looking back it is amazing to realise that I managed to get up the next day and with blisters, horrific chaff and a pulled groin muscle - I kept on walking. I was to tempted to give up right then
and there, but 11 June was my Dad's birthday and as I was walking in his memory I knew I had to keep going. The next five weeks or 800km's have pretty much defined my life, as by proving to myself that I have it in me to walk across a country I now know that I can finish anything I put my mind to!
The journey I have been on to raise the funds to record my album has been a pilgrimage in many ways. I have often travelled alone and then been joined by incredible companions along the way. There have been days when I felt I couldn't take another step and weeks where I have felt like I am flying with excitment. And now that I find myself so close to the finish line I feel like I want to slow down and enjoy every step and give thanks for every moment and person who has helped me reach this point. Eight years ago I walked across a county and eight years later I feel like I have walked to a dream and am really only at the beginning of it!
