One Month+ Later Date 30 Sept 2026  Total All Caminos: 2450 miles Total Lodging: $ 935 Total Airplane(s) / Trvl Insrnc: $ 1580 / $ 199 Total Transportation  (Deb & I) : $ 357 Total Food: $ 1038 Wrap-up It's six weeks back and things are settling down. I completed my US Coast Guard Auxiliary Crewman qualifications for the season. I have fully stepped into the staff officer positions of flotilla and division Recreational Boating Services Outreach. I am back in my German language studies at the Rochester Institute of Technology and the Oasis Adult Education Center. This is all for my upcoming trip, preparations underway, to Germany. I plan to hike along the Baltic Sea from Lubeck to Stettin, Poland by following the European Long-Distance Trail, the E9. I made contact with the Veterans Outreach Center in Rochester NY about a volunteer position. It sounds promising. Deb and I have just finished a week-long trip to Colonial Williamsburg. The experience o...

Back 13 Days Date 31Aug 2026  Total All Caminos: 2450 miles Total Lodging: $ 935 Total Airplane(s) / Trvl Insrnc: $ 1580 / $ 199 Total Transportation  (Deb & I) : $ 357 Total Food: $ 1038 Post-Camino Crash This may be the worst camino crash that I have had since I started walking the Camino de Santiago in 2014. All the things in life that gave me pleasure before my service at Ribadiso still give me pleasure. But those activities do not bring fulfillment. Waking up is a drag when my day is more completing a set of self-improvement checklists than doing something for someone else.  Case in point: Being a US Coast Guard Auxiliary Search and Rescue Crewman is both exciting and tranquil. Most times I am simply enjoying being on the waters of Lake Ontario and Irondequoit Bay, under blue skies with white clouds forming on the horizon. It settles the soul. These days with the high price of gas and fewer boaters out, few and far between are the ti...

Day 27: From Madrid to Rochester Date 18 Aug 2026 (Tuesday) Weather Total All Caminos: 2450 miles Lodging (Deb & I): Total Lodging: $ 935 Airplane(s): Total Airplane(s) / Trvl Insrnc: $ 1580 / $ 199 Buses / Trains / Taxis & Rides (Deb & I): € 40 Taxi to arpt Total Transportation  (Deb & I) : $ 402 Food (Deb & I): € 10 bkfst Madrid arpt $ 22 meal Atlanta arpt Total Food: $ 1212 Random Thought of the Day Feeling nice to be almost back home. Currently in Atlanta's Jackson Airport. Queue is ready to board for the final flight to Rochester. On the Road / Notable memories 6:30 a.m. Taxi to Barajas arpt, Madrid 7:00 a.m. Arrive Madrid Barajas arpt. 8:00 a.m. Baggage checked, through security, through immigration check and at the gate. 9:00 a.m. Boarding.  10:00 a.m. Take-off. 1:00 p.m. After an 8 and 1/2 hour flight we have cleared immigration. 2:00 p.m. Made it through customs, bags rechecked, through TSA and in Terminal B fo...

Madrid :  Day 26 Meaningful Moment I was texting my granddaughter this morning just to check in, and I had this thought that what I said to her kind of really sums up what this different kind of Camino has been about.  "I won't say that we had a blast, but I can definitely say that we had a most rewarding experience. I would say a spiritual experience, of course people tend to define that in many, many ways. I'm sure that I can say for both Deb and I that it was very rewarding to spend 2 weeks in service, as it gave us a very different perspective on the Camino de Santiago." Date 17 Aug 2026 (Monday) Weather High: 100f. All sun again! Would be tough to live here. Total All Caminos: 2450 miles Lodging (Deb & I): $125 Zinc 1 @Calle 10 Arenal / 2 nights Total Lodging: $ 935 Airplane(s): Total Airplane(s) / Trvl Insrnc: $ 1580 / $ 199 Buses / Trains / Taxis & Rides (Deb & I): Total Transportation  (Deb & I) : $ 357 Food (Deb ...