Andorra, Spain, Portugal

 After hiking the West Highland Way, we returned to Glasgow to fly to Spain. We realized that we would be in Andorra at the same time as my friend Sophia, so we got to spend a very pleasant afternoon and evening with her there! We took a bus from Barcelona to spend a night in Andorra and then returned to Spain to train to the start of the Camino de Santiago primitivo route.

I had gotten injured (achilles tendonitis) in Scotland due to overuse so so I made the difficult decision not to hike the Camino. This was a huge disappointment to me, as I have wanted to hike the Camino for over a decade and recently completed its sister pilgrimage in Japan (Kumano Kodo) to become a dual pilgrim. I was also excited about the route we chose, as it is less crowded and more naturey than other routes (it is also the original route). A big part of my decision was the upcoming PCT in a matter of weeks, which we had sunk far more time, energy, and money into and could not be postponed or done at a later time as the Camino could. I wanted to give myself the best shot at healing, which ended up paying off! Tyler completed the trail for training, while I met him at the albergues the first two nights. I hiked the third day with him but experienced pain so decided to stay at the donativo albergue in Pola de Allande to volunteer while Tyler finished the Camino. I volunteered there for a week and got to work with some really cool people who I miss and think of often! I got to practice my Spanish, meet people from all over, and had fun doing laundry and cooking (I enjoy these chores). The town was very small, quaint, and picturesque, nestled in the mountains in Asturias.

I met Tyler in Santiago de Compostella at the end of the Camino and we trained to Portugal. We visited several beach towns that are little known amongst foreign tourists. Our favorite was Almograve (not to be confused with the Algarve). We also visited Porto Covo and then bussed back to Lisbon to fly to the US with a layover in Toronto. While the beach towns were cute, I really did not enjoy Portugal at all. I have never met such rude locals in all my time traveling. The only consistently kind people we encountered were immigrants and we were consistently snarked at by locals for just existing??? Not sure what this was about or if this is typical for Portugal but I didn't love it, especially because we made a point to be exceptionally considerate tourists, not visit overcrowded locations, and be polite. We spent an afternoon in Lisbon, not by choice but by a function of the timing of our flight, and it was really not a nice city in my opinion. I was expecting better based on all of the hype around Lisbon but it was very dirty and smelly and locals were rude. I can't say whether or not I would recommend Portugal as a whole because we didn't spend enough time there in enough places, so our experience could have been a fluke. However, I'm wondering if its a country that is overhyped because the people who travel there are allured by the cute cities and haven't been to other places that are much better in my opinion. I also thought it was ironic because I had expected less warmth from locals in Spain based on international stereotypes, but I found the locals to be incredibly kind and welcoming there. 

Overall, I would say Western Europe isn't my cup of tea, which was expected. That's not to say I don't feel incredibly grateful to have had the opportunity to visit these places and I really enjoyed venturing off the beaten path. My favorite part of this trip was the people I got to visit and meet and the generosity and kindness of those who hosted and helped us will always be remembered.

We chose to go on this trip as opposed to some places higher up on our bucket list due to several factors relating to time and circumstance, but now it's time to focus on the destinations that call to me the most!

As of now, I want to prioritize several countries Central Asia, Northern Africa, Middle East, and Pacific Islands. Due to jobs and life goals, some of this may be put on hold for awhile. Additionally, I can feel myself burning out a bit and slowing down when it comes to international travel so my goal is to be highly intentional and go places on larger budgets to be able to make the most of my time off.

Andorra

Spain

Portugal