From Devonport to Shanghai - Day 1, Part 1!

Up at 4am, enjoying my last shower at home where there is no need to be concerned with water usage, after my last night at home in my own bed where I have space and warmth. Dad arrived to take me to the airport while I was still there, everything out of my pack, trying to minimize my load. The result: 10kg to last me 2 months... A record as far as international travel goes, and possibly domestic travel too!

I waited in line for around an hour at China Airlines checking in... I was getting ready to drop my pack due to the pain developing in my lower back - hmmmmmmmm I am sure it will be easier if I am walking rather than standing still - I hope!

I have survived my first 3 hours on a flight to China and will hopefully get some WiFi soon so I can post this! Currently we are floating above Alice Springs. It is all feeling somewhat surreal. I guess I was hoping that I would be able to have a moment to breath before I left so that I could 'absorb' this. It doesn't feel right just sitting on a plane and doing nothing, not after a month of not shutting off! I am sure I will embrace this new feeling soon though!

They say that the 'Camino' journey starts well before the pilgrim hits the track, so here are some points I will share:
- Everyone seems to have a horror story about traveling in Europe, and if not personally, then they know someone who has!
- Everyone wants to share this story - and in grave detail too!
- Everyone I tell these above facts to, seem to know of a great positive story!
- Life's simplification lays not in the minimalisation of the things that lay around us, but rather the things we carry with us.
- Mindfulness or being fully present at a particular time will imprint the memory on your mind and it will last... I can still feel the cool of Esther's nose and cheek on my face as she snuggled in at the airport.

It's now 1:30pm on Saturday afternoon, so what better time to sleep! My itinerary is: 7 more hours to Beijing, 5 hour wait there, then 12ish hours to Paris (this is why my flights were cheap!) then I will catch an 8 hour train to St Jean Pied de Port from Charles de Gaulle airport by passing through Bayonne. Am thinking of nice accommodation here then start the pilgrimage on Monday morning (my time). I have booked accommodation on the Pyrenees (the hardest part of the walk) so that I ease myself into it. This is usually 1 days walk, but I will do it in 2. The rest will be remain unbooked in a 'fly by the seat of one's pants' type fashion!

So just one more thing... I am going to try update this as often as possible. As many of you would know, at times, I get a little deep! At the risk of losing my readership, I want to warn you that I may get a little philosophical at times but will also be including details of the trip - people I meet, things i see, places I go to! This is a journal for me and a sign to you I am alive and well! Hope you will all survive my little 'moments'!

.....now, to sleep! Ciao x