Monday has arrived, and with it, my epic journey to Lisbon, complete with a pit stop in Bergen! My flight is at 10:00 on Tuesday, which sounds fine on paper—until you realize I’d need to wake up at 04:00 to reach the airport on time. 04:00! That’s not a wake-up time; that’s a “what have I done to deserve this?” time.
So I decided I did not deserve that, and booked a hotel in Bergen and got here today, then I can get up at a far more reasonable time of 06:30 tomorrow. This isn't the existential crisis hour of "What have I done to deserve this?" but more the reluctant acceptance of "I suppose if I absolutely must." It is also in the realm of “can be made a functional human with enough coffee” - if the caffeine gods look favourably on my plight.
All this is just a fancy way of saying I’m now in Bergen, and, well, the die is cast. My packing list? Set in stone. The contents of my backpack? More permanent than a bad tattoo. Sure, I could jettison a few items if I need to—though I’ve never actually done that before because, you know, who doesn't want to haul around a small boulder?
This backpack is the heaviest I’ve hauled on any of my previous caminos, tipping the scales at a delightful 25KG (FSO, From Skin Out) including 3 liters of water. But hey, that’s less than the weight I’ve managed to shed this year! So really, I should be feeling fabulous. Just me, my giant backpack, and enough optimism to rival a motivational poster. Fingers crossed that it will survive the reality of walking the camino. The first leg (hah!) will be ~35km, (Lisbon -> Vila Franca de Xira) so stay tuned.
So, after an absolutely riveting dinner at a cafe run by my friends—because, you know, if they found out i dined somewhere else my continued existence would not be guaranteed—I decided to unleash my inner productivity guru and jot down some important information in my trusty physical notebook. Because, clearly, nothing says “I’m on top of things” quite like pen and paper in the digital age. And now, here I am, lounging in my hotel room trying to think of anything else I can do to prepare for tomorrow’s endeavour.
Introductions. Meet Kjell the polar bear, my enthusiastic mascot for this camino. Donated to me by my niece, she thought he was in desperate need of an adventure, and honestly, who could argue with a bear that’s ready to roam? I’ve never gone on a camino without a trusty sidekick, so leaving Kjell behind was never an option.
You won’t believe the near-miss we had! I accidentally left him on the bus—Kjell was probably seated there, dreaming of seals and snow, while I was racing after the bus like a scene from a comedy show, the only thing missing was the theme from Benny Hill playing in the background. Thankfully, a red traffic light turned into my saving grace! I gave the bus driver a friendly wave, and lo and behold, he opened the door like it was an exclusive VIP club for lost bears.
Kjell had snagged the front-row seat, looking like the happiest polar bear ready to go on tour! I could only imagine the grand adventure he was about to have without me. But let’s be real: that would have left me mascot-less, and with way too many questions from my niece about why her bear was out exploring on his own without her getting any photos.
Talk about a dramatic ‘family’ reunion!
So here we are, me and Kjell, ready to make some epic memories together instead of letting him leave on his own epic, but anonymous, adventure!