Walk A Mile In My Shoes

CAMINO FRANCÉS – Day 18: Saturday 26 April 2025 – SAHAGÚN to RELIEGOS (31 [+4] kilometres)

Having walked, long, hard, hot, and solo yesterday, I set off this morning, again with the dawn, on a slightly shorter but still challenging section of the Camino Francés. My overnight stop in Sahagún had worked out well, but as the town tends to fall between other more popular overnight centres, there were significantly fewer pilgrims on the path today than I have witnessed as part of some other early morning processions. It was therefore a real pleasure to (almost literally) bump into a new Camino friend, Aldis Glo from Iceland, shortly after the start of the day’s walk, as we each pondered some confused signage at a junction of paths. This indecision became the event that shaped our day, as we then walked several hours together on an otherwise largely deserted path.

Aldis Glo, as an Icelander, has now become the 28th different nationality of trekker that I have met and conversed with on this walk. I have thanked her for speaking in English (as had all the other 27 nationals), and I can thank her again here for a wonderful day getting to know a little about each other and about life in our respective countries. Come to think of it tonight, I cannot imagine any other ‘walk of life’ where one can get to meet so many different peoples from across the globe, and have so many hours of uninterrupted conversation, as spending a day on the trail with one another. Of course we may all be a self-selecting bunch of global citizens with a love of the outdoors and some shared values, but what an opportunity to learn of alternative cultures and ways of life! I have visited Iceland, many years ago, but I have never before had such time to discuss, for example, the experience of growing up in the Westman Islands, nor to hear a first-hand view on the economics and culture of this most north-westerly of European countries. I hope that I was able to reciprocate with some new information, although in truth many other nations know more about our island than we are ever taught about their homes. We pondered together on the wider value of these chance encounters on the Camino, perhaps as a model for better global understanding and collaboration: walking a mile or two in each other’s shoes might not be such a bad idea in these troubled times.

And so the second half of my Camino Francés walk is now underway, and with a renewed spirit of goodwill. My body is quite tired tonight after two long days of walking in the unrelenting heat of the sun (albeit today with quite a strong and chilly headwind). On balance though, I feel physically stronger, and also more attuned to the vibe of the Camino, than I did at the start of the journey. With a day’s break on the horizon in León I feel ready for the challenges of the second half of this Camino Francés pilgrimage, as the path heads into those far-off hills over the course of next week.

My Blog heading today ‘Walk A Mile In My Shoes’ follows the title of a song written by US singer-songwriter, guitarist and record producer Joe South, that was released in 1970 (with performance credits to Joe South and the Believers). The song concerns racial tolerance and the need for perspective and compassion, and was covered by a multitude of artists in the early 1970’s, including Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Bryan Ferry (on whose 1974 album ‘Another Time, Another Place’ I first came to hear the number). But none of these better the original, and Joe South’s lyrics seem to capture the essence of the Camino spirit:

If I could be you, if you could be me
For just one hour
If we could find a way
To get inside each other’s mind

If you could see you through my eyes
Instead of your ego
I believe you’d be
Surprised to see
That you’ve been blind

Walk a mile in my shoes
Walk a mile in my shoes
And before you abuse, criticize and accuse
Walk a mile in my shoes

Now, your whole world
You see around you
Is just a reflection
And the law of Karma
Says you gonna reap
Just what you sow, yes you will

So unless you’ve lived a life
Of total perfection
You better be careful of every stone
That you should throw, yeah

And yet we spend the day throwing stones
At one another
‘Cause I don’t think or wear my hair
The same way you do

Well, I may be common people
But I’m your brother
And when you strike out and try to hurt me
It’s hurtin’ you, Lord have mercy

Walk a mile in my shoes
Walk a mile in my shoes
Hey, before you abuse, criticize and accuse
Walk a mile in my shoes

There are people on reservations
And out in the ghettos
And brother, there
But for the grace of God
Go you and I, yeah, yeah

Walk a mile in my shoes
Walk a mile in my shoes
Oh, before you abuse, criticize and accuse
Walk a mile in my shoes, yeah

And if I only had the wings
Of a little angel, yeah
Don’t you know I’d fly
To the top of the mountain
And then I’d cry, hey

Walk a mile in my shoes
Walk a mile in my shoes
Hey, before you abuse, criticize and accuse
Better walk a mile in my shoes