Best Laid Plans

by Dennis Brooke | Mesa, AZ

The best-laid schemes of mice and men / Go often awry / And leave us nothing but grief and pain / Instead of promised joy!

– A line from an English translation of “To a Mouse” by Scottish poet Robert Burns

Forty days into a ten-week camino, my wife, Laurie, and I experienced a major setback. We’d spent 35 days on the Chemin du Puy with only minor problems. We even navigated a little-used path through French Basque country to connect the Le Puy route to the Camino del Norte. 

We pride ourselves on being well-prepared when we walk a Camino. In this case, we knew that hiking shoes typically last 500 miles, and we planned to walk double that. In my case, I carried a second set of shoes as my wide feet can be hard to fit. Laurie planned to buy a new pair in Irún, where we’d pick up the Camino del Norte. When she couldn’t find a suitable set there, she opted to continue in the same shoes she’d worn since the beginning of this journey, trusting they still had some miles left in them. 

Unfortunately, a few days down trail, we encountered wet weather, and the water resistance in her shoes failed. During a steep and soggy descent into the coastal town of Deba, she developed serious blisters. Walking the next day was not an option. 

My initial idea was for me to walk and for Laurie to bus ahead and give her blisters more time to hear. She reminded me that we were in this together and that a few days off wouldn’t resolve her footwear problem. 

We put our heads together and decided to catch a train ahead to Bilbao, the largest city on the Camino del Norte. We visited half a dozen shoe stores before finding a suitable pair—a brand she’d worn on our first camino. We stayed in Bilbao for two more days to let her feet heal and to gently break in her new shoes. Bilbao is a great place to explore—even on an extended, unplanned break. Afterwards, we took a return train to Deba and eased back into our camino with a short day of walking.

Our camino plans did go awry and led us through some grief and pain, as Robert Burns had warned his field mouse friend. But the way we handled it together led to joy, a stronger partnership, and an enduring life lesson.

Editor’s note: Dennis & Laurie Brooke are hooked on Caminos and have walked seven to date. They write about their travels at worldrovers.com. Check out their blog for Camino resources and stories.