once you get started ...

on May 4 last year, we set off on our first hiking adventure -- following the Camino de Santiago across Spain, from the French border to Santiago de Compostela in gorgeous Galicia. if you'd told me (the more skeptical of the two of us that a 500 mile hike didn't indicate some serious mental instability) a year ago that we'd be gearing up for another long-distance hiking trip, I would have at best disbelieved you. considering the hardships we'd already endured at this point last year, six days into the Camino (namely, sun poisoning and blisters; the sprained ankle was still twenty-some days away), it was inconceivable to me that I might ever consider subjecting my feet, my body, and my mental health to something a fraction as challenging ever again.

and yet here we are. not only booked for a 11-day hike around the Dingle peninsula, but also waxing nostalgic for the Camino. would I want to be day six into the Camino for a second time today? not at this point ... but now the concept of completing the pilgrimage again, and perhaps even adding a couple of days to get to Finisterre, is not laughable. maybe one day, after we've had a chance to undertake some of the world's other great long-distance hikes.

we'll be using this space to provide information about our training, our gear, our lodging, our experiences -- the good and the bad -- on our upcoming trip and all those we haven't yet planned. our aim is to share things that might prove useful for those interested in the hikes we complete. we'll add information about our training as we get to it, and be sure to follow along in July as we make our way through our second big hike, a mere 111-odd miles around one of Ireland's western peninsulas.

if you want to read about our experiences in Spain (with an historical perspective on the places we visited), check out my posts on all the places we visited: http://ericagoestraveling.blogspot.com/p/camino-de-santiago.html. I'll keep up in that vein for our Ireland experiences as well ... at least on topics that I've not already covered!