What would Brene Brown do?

📰 News

• 17 best women’s hiking boots for rambling and trekking

• Italy’s stunning Dolomites mountains 7-day hiking trail

• Camino Ingles - 38% increase in pilgrim numbers this year (use Google Chrome to translate)

• Be a better tourist! 28 ways to have a fantastic holiday – without infuriating the locals

👍 Recommended Gear I Used This Last Year

This item is a summer MUST HAVE for pilgrims.

I've been hit with heatstroke once before on the Camino, and it makes for a miserable walking experience.

To help combat it, I pack Dioralyte sachets in my bag for hikes during warmer months. The sachets are lightweight and compact, and they add a tasty blackcurrant flavor to my drab, sun warmed bottled water on the Camino.

Simply add a Dioralyte sachet to your water to replace lost electrolytes and help prevent dehydration. You can also add it to your water at the start of the day to protect against salt lost through sweating ☀️.

A box of 20 sachets is $14/15 US (£11.50).

Taking care is crucial when hiking in the heat. These sachets, along with a decent hat, are essential pilgrim items I always pack when hiking in the hot summer sun.

🏡 Camino Accommodation Recommendations - Guest Creator Addition.

This month's Camino Accommodation recommendation comes from the Gerrit, from the Storiestellr YouTube channel who has been walking the Camino Frances and beautifully documenting his journey – I recommend checking out his wonderful videos.

Casa Cantadora – Camino Frances

This albergue is situated in Ambasmestas, which is stage 26 on the Gronze stage breakdown.

(Gerrit): The ascent to O Cebreiro is one of the most challenging stretches on the Camino Frances. Why not tackle the mountain fully rejuvenated by staying at Casa Cantadora, a beautiful new albergue just an hour's walk before the climb begins.

This haven was brought to life two years ago when Knut, the Danish host, meticulously renovated it, infusing Scandinavian interior design influences throughout the space.

The river meanders through the albergue's garden, inviting weary pilgrims to cool their feet in the crisp mountain water or fully immerse themselves in its revitalizing embrace after a long, hot day on the trail – a true baptism of rejuvenation, followed by blissful relaxation on cushions by the water's edge.

Casa Cantadora is the perfect place to recharge and prepare for the days ahead. I highly recommend adding an extra day to truly savour its tranquillity.

A bed for the night is 15 Euros.

The icing on the cake is the delectable vegetarian fare offered for lunch, dinner, and breakfast – a welcome departure from the typical cuisine in the region.

At the heart of this enterprise is Knut, the Viking with a heart of gold, who also leads a beautiful meditation in the dedicated rooftop room after dinner.

I cannot recommend this albergue enough.

New Beginnings

Think back to a time when you started something new, learning a language, joining a gym, or starting a new business. How did you do? Did you knock it out of the park on day one?

Chances are you struggled to find your feet, or maybe even thought about giving up. Brene Brown calls this stage FFT.

F***ing

First 

Time 

These first tentative steps are often uncomfortable as you fumble around in your new environment.

Halfway through editing my Portuguese Camino video, I realised I wanted to be a better filmmaker than I was. It quickly became clear I’d cut my filming short on so many occasions that scenes didn’t make sense. On top of that, I was experimenting with using a voice over for the first time and it was pushing me WAY OUT of my comfort zone. In my mind, publishing the video meant putting my lack of skill on display for the whole world to see – I felt vulnerable and exposed.

Putting aside the thought that the whole world was waiting for my next YouTube video 😂 (spoiler alert, it wasn’t). I wanted to use my Camino creator anxieties to talk to you about starting something new.  

Starting something new can be daunting. Maybe, like me, you see others and think they've got it all sussed out.  But the truth is, starting out can feel shaky for everyone.

How can knowing this help you on your Camino?  

Remind yourself that new beginnings aren’t often pretty, but this doesn’t mean you’re not going to get there.

Messy, imperfect action trumps inaction every time.

Whether it's your first Camino or your fifth, getting lost, blisters, overpacking, or under packing go with the territory. These missteps can be annoying, and sometimes uncomfortable, but they don't mean you're not making progress.

Deep down inside you might want to have it all figured out and ace it first time, but if you break that thought down to its core, you’re basically saying ‘I want to know everything and avoid failure’.

Knowing it all can stop thinking, exploration, and growth. The Camino is an environment that turbo charges growth, why would you want to limit that?  

To fail is to be human.

To experience an FFT moment and doubt yourself is to be like everyone else who has tried something new.

Oh, and it turns out the world didn’t end. I posted the Portuguese video and it’s getting views. Lesson for my next Camino adventure, try filming longer more immersive takes!

Buy Me a Coffee Shout Outs ☕️

I wanted to give a big shout out to two newsletter readers who generously bought me coffees after the last edition.

·         Someone

·         A Yogi on the Camino

A BIG thanks to the coffee-buying heroes! ☕️ Your support fuels this newsletter.