Day 10, 11, & 12: Permission to Rest

~33 miles (by bus), from Saint-Côme d’Olt to Estaing to Conques

On the Camino, people always say, “listen to your body,” and while some people take that advice, we have met many who keep walking despite clear messages from their body to take a break.

For us, we always said we would take each day as it came and that we were allowed stop at any time. So after 9 days of walking, and when temperatures climbed into the 90s, and the route continued to be extremely challenging—mountainous, rocky, with little shade or places to rest— we decided we needed a break.

On Sunday we took the bus from Saint-Côme d’Olt to Estaing and then stayed a full extra day in Estaing to wait out the heat. The extra day gave us time to visit the cathedral, the castle, and eat at four of the five restaurants in town! By the end of the second day we were feeling ready to move on—our hotel was mediocre (although the small pool was nice in the heat) and there were so many cars driving quickly around the small town that it felt a little overwhelming after so many days in nature. Estaing was beautiful, but two days may have be too many.

Then to keep on schedule (and to not have to change all my bookings) we took the bus to Conques where we stayed in the most amazing B&B yet—La Conquise. We had a view of the village from our window, an amazing host, the most comfortable bed with linen sheets, and a very nice shower (which is not a given in France). The village of Conques is absolutely stunning! It is nestled in a steep river valley and because of the narrow, cobblestone streets most cars are not allowed in the village center, making it a very quiet and peaceful place. I think this is my favorite village I have been to on our journey so far—the scenery, the art, the ambiance. It feels like a fairytale and I wish I we could stay here longer.

As we have walked we have met so many amazing people. We have new Camino friends from Australia, Québec, Germany, France, and the States. Many are doing well and enjoying their time, but many others are nursing injuries—from blisters, to plantar fasciitis, to muscle cramps, to heat exhaustion. A few have decided to call it quits and move on to other adventures. I imagine that’s not an uncommon scenario at this point on the journey from Le Puy, as it is a truly difficult trail. But I hate seeing people sick or in pain, especially when rest could fix what ails them. And in this, I have realized that part of my place on this journey is to give people permission to rest, or stop all together, if that is what’s needed. More than once someone has thanked me for telling them it’s ok to take a day off or to take a bus to their next destination. August and I have been joking that we have become the “permission to rest fairies.”

When I started this walk I was self conscious about my tendency to not finish what I start, and was worried that would happen here, but I’m starting to realize that our past selves can never truly know what our future (present) selves are going through, and we can only ever truly listen to the self existing in the moment. We can hold conflicting ideas and push ourselves to do hard things, while also giving ourselves permission to rest when the time is right, even if it means changing our idea of what success looks like. There is no right answer. Sometimes pushing ourselves to do something very difficult can be extremely rewarding, but it can also lead us to injury or worse. I hope that in giving people permission to rest, I am empowering them to learn to listen to their bodies and honor their journey for what it is in the moment, not some version of it they planned many months ago. The Camino teaches us the lessons we are in need of learning and we don’t know what those are until we begin.