I bet you are a hiker, the family member or friend of a hiker.
If you are a family member, loved one or friend of a hiker, you may be here to understand why the heck this person can't shut the heck up and stop talking about hiking, being on the trail or the trail family.
Why do they stare off into space while they sip their coffee or drink?
I wondered the same thing until it hit me.
I was running 8-10 miles a day, had lost 115 pounds and woke up one morning and stood up and couldn't control my legs. WTF was happening. For 4 months I was having weird feelings down both of my legs. I could sneeze or even pass gas and my legs would give way. One day I turned my head to the left to look in a store window and almost fell over when my legs buckled.
I went to the neurologist and they told me I had a spinal stenosis at my 5th lumbar with a bone spur on my disk pointing right at my spinal cord. Well, that explained why when I moved my body around it made my knees buckle.
I ask the doctor if I can still run. He said, "Not if you want to keep walking."
I decided to keep walking and began my hiking journey. I started hiking around the San Francisco Bay Area. There are great trails for walking and hiking. A couple beautiful mountains near my home. My favorite trip became going to Stinson Beach, doing a meditation and turning around and walking up Mount Tamalpais (Mt. Tam). I would walk up as far as I could, turn around and walk back to the beach.
Then I heard about the Camino de Santiago in 2020. I decided I was going to walk across Spain, 800km or 500 miles. I'd never done it before. Why would I do that? Well, I was hooked on hiking.
I finished my first Camino and it had a great impact on my life and my mental health. When I returned home I happened to see the video below on my YouTube feed.
I loved this video. I explained all of the feelings I now had about why I loved hiking so much now.
If you want to understand why your hiker does what they do. You should watch this video.
If you are hiker and haven't seen this video, I believe you will enjoy it and agree with the feelings shared by the hikers in the video. This is an award winning documentary. After watching, let me know what you think in the comments below.
I'll be writing about my Caminos. I have now walked the Camino Frances Route, the Camino Portuguese and the Camino Finisterre in Spain and Portugal. I am currently living in Medellin, Colombia and have done two awesome hikes here so far.
What is your favorite place to hike?
Let us know.