97 - Kelli Field - Kelli is back to discuss her new novel set on the Camino, “The Grief of Goodbye”, and her adventures of living on and walking the Camino Francés

***Bonus - Meet Kelli at our upcoming Santiago de Compostela Bookclub meeting on Saturday , October 14th at 8:00pm CEST.  Get information to register for the call here:
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100092678497699

Kelli Field is back at The Camino Cafe Podcast and we had so much to catch up on as we walked through the charming old town of Santiago de Compostela.  This discussion is a soulful exchange about living on the Camino Francés, her new novel,  “The Grief of Goodbye” which is set on the Camino, and life lessons she has learned from both walking and meeting with pilgrims daily.

We'll chat about the transformative power of the Camino, as told through the eyes of Kelli's protagonist Tess, a cancer patient who puts her treatment on hold to walk the revered path with her daughter. Kelli’s storytelling seamlessly weaves universal themes,  the rich tapestry of Spain, and stories that may resonate from our own life or from pilgrims we met along the Camino.

Kelli and Jeff’s life on the Camino de Santiago provides an extraordinary perspective, living at marker 59, they witness a procession of pilgrims on their transformative journey. Each day, up to 3000 pilgrims pass by their home, each carrying their own stories of resilience and transformation. Kelli and Jeff are channeling the Camino's positivity into their plans for the 2024 season, creating a haven for pilgrims, complete with a stationary food truck and cabins.

Here’s the link to the first interview we did with Kelli and Jeff a few years ago:
Season 1 Ep 33  Septemeber 20, 2021
Kelli and Jeff Dream come true
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aQeHSn9VtQ&t=9s

Finally, Kelli shares her personal experience with the Camino's challenges and how it taught her the beauty of surrender and the power of patience.  The fear of the unknown is a common sentiment among pilgrims preparing for the Camino, but as Kelly reveals, the real lessons and feedback often come after the journey. We round off the episode in the square in front of the Cathedral in Santiago de Compostela, swapping stories and reflecting on the profound impact of Kelly's book and the Camino itself. So, join us in this soulful exchange about life, love, and lessons from the Camino de Santiago.

To connect with Kelli:
https://linktr.ee/authorkellifield

Watch this interview and more at The Camino Cafe Podcast on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6VN9ze3z61n6tRLtDXWuQw

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The Camino Cafe's intro and outro song with thanks to fellow Pilgrim, Jackson Maloney. Original Song - "Finnis Terre" - written and performed by Jackson Maloney - Singer, Musician, and Songwriter. Connect with Jackson: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3fdQsSqq9pDSwKcWlnBHKR

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:03

Hey everyone, welcome to the Camino Cafe Podcast. Well, today I'm trying something new and you see, look who's behind me Kelly Field. Kelly, welcome to Santiago, thanks. So, kelly and I well, we've walked around Santiago a lot together and we're starting a new segment called Two Pilgrims Walking- and that's what we're doing. We're just two pilgrims walking around Santiago, because that's what we do best as pilgrims, right as we walk and we talk, yeah.

Speaker 1: 0:30

We did our first interview and now we're back because we have so much to talk about, and the first thing we're going to talk about is our new book club.

Speaker 2: 0:39

So Johnny Walker Santiago sent me a couple of books and they were awesome, A few to sort of spark my interest in local expat riders in Spain and I sent him a message and said we should have a book club. And that's really how it started and he realized we should have a Camino book club.

Speaker 1: 0:59

Yeah, so yeah, it's hard to believe that there wasn't an international Camino book club, because as soon as you told me about it, I thought why didn't I think of this?

Speaker 2: 1:09

Well, you, were the second person I messaged and said, oh my gosh, lee, we should do this, and you were all in, so thank you so much for all of that and it really. Yes, it was an idea that came to me, but it's really been a big effort with Lee, and so I think it was just a perfect synchronicity. Yeah, it really has been it's been so much fun.

Speaker 1: 1:31

We've had two meetings so far and it just so happens that this gal next to me she's our featured book next month, so we'll talk more about that in a moment. But we're standing in Santiago. I should have mentioned. We are on site and right now we've been doing a little flower shopping and kind of see there behind me and it is a gorgeous day here in Santiago. So the book club we've had two meetings. We've had people from all around the world come, yeah, from 23 time zones, yeah. So, wow, it's been so much fun. And we had Carrie the first month and then we had Rebecca and yeah, so our next meeting October 14th. There we go. She's the main organizer, she does the newsletter.

Speaker 1: 2:11

So October 14th we'll be talking about Kelly's book and we'll talk more about Kelly's book coming up. Stay tuned, all right? So we're just walking down one of the most beautiful streets of Santiago and we thought we'd talk a little bit about her book. So Reef of Goodbye. It's a fantastic book. Kelly Absolutely adored the book. So give us just a little synopsis of what it's about?

Speaker 2: 2:33

Sure, it's about Tess. She's an executive and she gets a terminal diagnosis and she, at the exact same time she learns that her daughter is, you know, kind of spiraling into self-destruction with drugs and alcohol, and so she makes a really heartbreaking decision to delay her cancer treatment and bring her daughter to Spain and to walk the community to Santiago in an effort to kind of change the course of her daughter's life and also to try to get closer to her. So it's a tear-jerker for sure. If you want a story that'll make you cry, that's, I mean you can.

Speaker 1: 3:13

So all the emotions came up as I was reading it and the thing I kept thinking you know it is a contemporary fiction book but it's set on the Camino as the backdrop and you know, I could see myself in some of the characters. I could see some of the pilgrims that I've walked with over the years and some of these characters. So I think there's so much that's relatable that your characters face and I just wondered, like, how did you come up with this idea?

Speaker 2: 3:42

Well, I mean, I think all of us who have walked meet people along the way. Of course you know there's people have said, oh my gosh, tess is you and I brought a lot of her. Obviously you write what you know, but she's definitely not me. I met a lot of people along the way who were either struggling from a serious illness. I met people with teenagers. I brought my teenager on the Camino and I think that it's just a. It's a story that, for me, I really needed to explore generational family trauma, how families deal with grief, grief and loss. And then I liked the sort of cultural side of it. I had the different cultures and how they each deal with grief and loss and how different it is and also how it's just part of the human condition and in many ways it's the same. Yeah.

Speaker 1: 4:41

Well, I absolutely love that you've been getting such great feedback about the book and how exciting it is that you are right on the Camino path where you and Jeff live, which we'll talk more about in a moment. But you've literally been having people come to your doorstep that know you live there because of your great blog and happiness cafe food truck and they are asking to buy your book right then and there on Saturday. What does that feel like? I mean, you've gone from handing out stamps and serving people food and now they're coming and saying, hey, can I buy your book?

Speaker 2: 5:13

Yeah, it's been. It's been interesting because it's been sort of a gear shift. I feel like I'm. Historically, my job has been to help other people and to facilitate their caminos and it, and now to be a part of other people's caminos, be of my book and I think as well it's. You know, you always hope, as a writer, to inspire people and to make them feel, and I've had people you know come up who've read the book and, you know, been pretty cheerful about it.

Speaker 2: 5:46

Yeah so it's just it, just. It warms my heart to know that that folks are reading this story and and that it's making a difference to people and and resonating one of the things I really loved about your book is that it's not your typical Camino book.

Speaker 1: 6:01

right there's? It's not a memoir of hey, we started in St John and then we arrived in the growing and then we da, da, da, da, da, da, da da. Right, yeah, and so I think you really captured a story of many things actually happen on the Camino. See, can you speak to that a little bit?

Speaker 2: 6:17

Well, I think that there's. You know, there's a whole host of folks that find love on the Camino. Yes, and when they're not looking for it, and also healing, and I think that those are big themes in this story. It's not just about grief and loss, it's it's about healing and it's really about love and the different forms that love takes.

Speaker 1: 6:38

Absolutely, and you think how many people do walk because of some type of grief? You? Know, some type of loss where there's a job loss, a loss due to health or end of a marriage.

Speaker 2: 6:48

And so.

Speaker 1: 6:49

I think many pilgrims will really relate to the universal stories that are in this book and and find some surprises. Yeah you know things that maybe they didn't expect. So yeah, hey. So hey, if you want to learn more about the book, buy it right. But to come to our book club, october 14. Yes, absolutely, look, I remembered, yeah.

Speaker 2: 7:07

I'll be there.

Speaker 1: 7:08

Yeah, great, we were just talking about our new book club, the Santiago de Compostela book club, and it is an international book made up of pilgrims from all around the world. I think what was the last count of how many countries?

Speaker 2: 7:18

I think it was 40 countries.

Speaker 1: 7:22

Yes, so for membership, yeah so if you want to join, what do they need to do? If they want to come to the meeting when we're Discussing our next book in October, what do they need to do?

Speaker 2: 7:32

They can join, they can like the Facebook page. We have a Facebook page, the Santiago de Compostela book club Facebook page. And then also there's a group and if you join the group and subscribe to the newsletter, every month you'll get About two weeks before the meeting. You'll get the newsletter with the links All about the book, all about the author and interesting bookish. You know content that that goes into more about. You know new Camino books, what what Camino writers and authors are doing, and Also the list of our previous streets. So excellent.

Speaker 1: 8:08

Yeah, let's walk a little bit forward. I was just gonna say you know, did you ever think that you were gonna become a Camino book writer? No, you were first a pilgrim what's?

Speaker 2: 8:18

your first year you walked. I walked in 2017. Okay, and no, I, even when I was walking. You know, I was writing this book in my head when I was walking, yeah, and I came home and furiously wrote down everything that I had been thinking about over a month and a half. Yeah, I did took about eight weeks, wow, and and then I was sort of you know, what do you do with it then? Yeah, so it's taken some time, obviously, to publish it and and to get it ready for for everyone to read, but, but I'm super excited to have this story out in the world and and to have folks reading it and and hearing what they think about it. You know how each like, as Lee alluded to earlier, how does the story land? How do the characters land? You know, how did it make you feel? That's what I'm most interested in.

Speaker 1: 9:06

Yeah, I think that's me so excited at the club to kind of see what everybody's thinking. So, yeah, yeah. So now, kelly, you and your husband, jeff, you live literally on the Camino, francis, and I'll give everybody the Camino marker number 59, 59 so 59. You live on my own marker 59, on the most popular route, yes, the most walked route of all of our Caminos. What does it feel like right now, coming into Santiago versus actually being out on the route? You know you're coming here and you're seeing programs that have finished walking today. Yeah, what do you feel do you each time you come here? We visit a lot. You come into Santiago all the time. Yeah, yeah, does it still? Do you still feel something when you come and you see the cathedral behind us? Mm-hmm.

Speaker 2: 9:53

I, I do. I would say you know there's an energy in Santiago that you don't find anywhere else and there's also that you know. You walk into the square in front of the cathedral and you see pilgrims walking in and you, you see the look on their face and you remember how you felt. You know, especially that first time, how you felt. But I still cry every time I do it when I walk in from the Camino. Do you really? Yeah, I do yeah.

Speaker 1: 10:20

Okay, well, we're gonna walk over there right now. We'll see how she feels. Okay, kelly. Well, we are pretty far from the 59th kilometer by your house right now as a matter of fact, for those pilgrims that have walked here, you know we're on the Camino Francis and we're on this last few steps. So Kelly and I are gonna take the last few steps and I think we're gonna have lots of pilgrims behind us. We have pilgrims in front of us, kelly, probably some of these folks you saw a few days ago.

Speaker 2: 10:44

Yeah, they were probably walking by our house. Yeah, yeah, right outside the gate we we have, you know, anywhere between 1500 and 3000 pilgrims who walk by, depending on the day of the week and a day.

Speaker 2: 11:00

Yeah, in a day. In a day, yeah, wow, what does that feel like? You know, I always say that the Camino is a river of positivity. Yeah, and I don't, you, don't you? Yes, you see people walking by that are potentially in pain, they're struggling and all of that. But we have a, we have a bench outside our gate and folks sit down and Rest there and it's just wonderful to see their faces and to say hello and and to interact with pilgrims as they're, as they're going through transformation.

Speaker 1: 11:32

No kidding. Yeah, they're on the home stretch. You know they're coming by your house, so I imagine they're pretty excited. I mean, I remember when I walked near your house I I couldn't wait to get. Yeah, so the last time we did something for the podcast, I think it was gosh last spring we came out Uh-huh, and lots of stuff has changed since the last time we were out at the lavender farm. Yes, so give us an update. What are you and Jeff up to right now?

Speaker 2: 11:59

So right now we are preparing for Walking season in 2024. Yep, beginning in March. So the food truck will now be a stationary building, oh, yeah, oh. But I do love that food truck. It'll be inside of it, okay, um, and a new pilgrim laundry room is going in. Some bathrooms are going in, yeah, and then, uh, we'll be breaking ground on three of the Cabins that we're building so that pilgrims can come and stay out in the lavender.

Speaker 1: 12:32

Wow, so that's the idea, yeah.

Speaker 2: 12:34

We wanted to peaceful sort of haven for folks to just rest and relax, and and, uh, and eat food, you know, more farm to table type food.

Speaker 2: 12:43

We had housed pilgrims in tents during covid, when the albergues were closed. We had, you know, we noticed that pilgrims were sleeping on the street and, uh, we were concerned about them, obviously, and we know what that feels like to not be able to find a bed, and so we got a bunch of tents from, uh, decathlon and Lugo and pitch them in the yard and and people came that summer, that summer of 2021, and and, uh, it was a fantastic summer, and so that, really, you know, I, I cooked and fed folks for free, and and that's how the food truck was born. Oh, I didn't know that. Yes, that's how the food truck was born. Um, but the that's we really originally had thought, well, we'll allow people to camp, um, because camping is so, you know, such a scarce commodity on the camp, and what we ended up doing is we ended up saying, okay, so we'll allow people to camp, but we'll also Build some cabins as well.

Speaker 2: 13:39

So I mean this gritty is very rainy. Yes, yeah, not everybody wants to be in a tent Tell us a little bit about what your dream is.

Speaker 1: 13:45

As far as I know, you've already planned. You know exactly what the casitas are going to look like, so maybe just give everyone an idea of what your dream includes right now?

Speaker 2: 13:53

Sure, so you know we want to have eight casitas small casitas, stone casitas and we want to serve allergen-friendly gluten-free. You know vegetarian food that people really love to eat. You know a lot of people look at vegetarian food and they're like ugh. But just really interesting options, menu options that you can't find elsewhere on the Camino.

Speaker 1: 14:24

Oh, that's right. I mean by the time, especially if you've started pretty far down the road saying sa-ja-n or maybe leon. Yeah, You're hungry for vegetables. Yes, You're tired, you know I'm sorry, but you're a little tired of the pilgrim salad.

Speaker 2: 14:38

Yes.

Speaker 1: 14:39

You know what you're getting and I think when people get to your food truck I mean, you're already well known for that and you know, kelly, you've had your blog, that you've been writing since the very first. I write about the time you and Jeff arrived in.

Speaker 2: 14:49

Valencia or no? Actually before, when I got home from the Camino and I asked, I told Jeff, I think we should move to Spain. I started the blog right about that.

Speaker 1: 14:59

Okay.

Speaker 2: 15:01

Sort of just chronically. What were we thinking? What were we doing? We had no idea what we were doing and how. You know, it was six months later, six months of blog posts before we landed in Valencia, Wow, yeah.

Speaker 1: 15:13

So, looking back at yourself, you know, if you were to go back and talk to the guy that walked that first Camino, I mean, did you ever imagine you'd be living in Spain because of this Camino that you went on?

Speaker 2: 15:27

No.

Speaker 1: 15:27

No.

Speaker 2: 15:28

You know it's interesting. You asked me earlier about how you feel. You know, how does it feel to be in Santiago, and I will say that you know, every time I come here I have that same feeling. I had the first time I walked in and it was that feeling of being connected to this place, this country, and I never lost that. So when you ask about you know, did I ever think I would be living here? Absolutely not, yeah, but at the same time I think it feels so natural to be living here, but I have to pinch myself every day.

Speaker 1: 16:04

So what would you tell yourself? You know, because it's a big move to you know, leave the country that you were born in and to make a decision to come and walk in a country because you like the pilgrim path. You know that you like being a pilgrim and all of a sudden you've got to tell friends and family I'm taking off and I'm moving across the globe to this place. What would you tell that girl who probably I would imagine you had? Did you have some fear?

Speaker 2: 16:31

I think I wasn't smart enough to have some fear.

Speaker 2: 16:34

I mean. So you know, they say ignorance is bliss. Yeah, you know, my husband and I have talked about it since then many times and we've always said if we had known everything, all the hurdles and all the setbacks and all the trials and tribulations, maybe we wouldn't have done it. So it's better that you don't know. It was better not to read all the blogs and all the books and all of that, and I'm saying this from a person who's written a blog that lists all of those things.

Speaker 2: 17:05

But you know you've got to experience them on your own.

Speaker 1: 17:08

Yeah, you're right, you know, because I think it seems like we are in a situation online that you basically could almost walk the Camino virtually. Yes, there are so many books about from point to point to point, but nothing can replace actually walking, and it seems to me that, no matter how many tips I have, it's always something different that challenges me. What would you say has been your biggest challenge? Walking a?

Speaker 2: 17:32

Camino. Oh, the biggest challenge I think the first. Certainly the first time was not the attempt, because I got here and I didn't really know enough to be afraid. I think the biggest challenge that first time was I think it was kind of getting past myself and allowing myself to really feel the difficult things. What do you mean? Well, I mean, I think, the Camino. Once you hit the Masetta, all your masks are gone.

Speaker 1: 18:08

Everything's fallen away.

Speaker 2: 18:10

The essence of who you are is pretty much exposed, and I think it's at that moment you sort of have a choice right. You can kind of quickly try to paper over those things, or you can go all in, and I think that was probably the biggest challenge for me was to really just say okay, I surrender to all of this. And what a payoff in the end.

Speaker 1: 18:35

And I would imagine, Kelly, knowing you, you had a big career in the US, you know and to release that control and to surrender to this Camino after running very large departments, you know, doing a really challenging job for many, many years this was a big deal for you to let go, I would imagine.

Speaker 2: 18:59

Yeah, I think you're absolutely right. The letting go, the surrender is now seems so easy because I had to do it so many times, but I didn't have muscle memory for surrender at that point.

Speaker 2: 19:13

So, yeah, yeah so, but it's amazing the gifts that come with doing that. You know we spend so much time I'm absolutely guilty of this trying to control everything because we believe that we know. If we do, if we know what the outcome is. Yes, yes, Part of what the Camino teaches you is there's beauty in not knowing, and so that surrender is where that gift lies, Wow.

Speaker 1: 19:42

And you certainly had to do that this year, right, there's been so many challenges with, you know, trying to get all the approvals and working through the process. You know the government here takes it very seriously when you're wanting to own an Albert Day, and for good reason, and you really had to jump through some hoops and I think it was that willingness I mean, I certainly saw this in you personally and I think many of your readers have seen this in your blog that you never really, you know, you just kind of went with the flow and I think you saw lessons you've learned on the Camino to not give up, yeah, persevere.

Speaker 2: 20:18

And also, you know, it's sort of like learning how to float on your back when you're swimming. Ooh Right, you can swim and swim, and swim, and swim and swim, and eventually you'll get tired and you'll sink to the bottom. But if you surrender and you just float on your back and you say, okay, today's been a rough day, we're just gonna wait, gonna wait and see what happens, and this year has been, you're exactly right, a lot of waiting and see, wait to see what happens, wait and see what happens.

Speaker 1: 20:43

I mean your book your first Camino book was published. You've been working on this and it has been a year of go, go, go, go go. And then I love this description of floating on your back. You know, I think you and I've talked a lot about how we were raised in the United States and how we both have been go-getters our whole life, and learning to float on our backs maybe wasn't something we were complimenting for no, no, I don't think.

Speaker 2: 21:09

I think we're rewarded in the US for striving, and striving needs to take the form of a furious action, and I think what's? If I've learned anything in Spain, it's taught me that sometimes, inaction is the best action you can take Inaction is the best action.

Speaker 2: 21:32

If that isn't true, yeah, yeah, and you know I really lamented, we were struggling with our permissions, which are we've got all of them now, but in March and April, when things didn't get approved and we were really sort of disheartened a bit, you know, I don't think I understood how time consuming publishing a book was going to be. And it's ended up being a blessing that I didn't have to go out and make waffles and smoothies every morning for pilgrims. You know I got to stamp their passports and I got to talk to them about the book and that's been, that's a priceless gift.

Speaker 1: 22:09

Yeah, everything just really works out and I feel like that's something on the piano, right. We worry about what should I pack? You know, make sure you don't forget something. You know all the things we think that we can plan for and somehow it always works out.

Speaker 2: 22:23

Yeah, yeah, and I think we. You know it's funny. I had a friend who said we pack our beers, and I know that on my first Camino and I'm sure you were the same. You don't know what's going to happen, so you worry about your gear. That was the biggest thing. I worried about my gear and I overpacked, and you know, by Ron Sismat, by us.

Speaker 2: 22:41

I had to donate to that table that they have the monastery as did you know, a million other people were doing the same thing. But I think that, yeah, we pack our fears and we do it not just on the Camino, we do it in so many other areas of our lives.

Speaker 1: 22:59

Well, how we walk our Camino is how we live our lives. I think and that's part of the transformation, because, after you walk the Camino, I at least I can speak for myself I've learned to live a little bit differently. Yes, okay, kelly. So we're standing in one of my favorite spots, in front of the cathedral, and that is where folks are taking their selfies or getting their portraits, and they're busy. And now, when you're in the stand, you're getting all this great feedback about the book. You're having people tell you how much it resonates, how much it's telling them to think right, because it challenges them as well, you know, because the book might not go the way they expected. This is sparing some conversation, I feel like.

Speaker 2: 23:38

I know I feel like it's just like walking into the square here. It's just the beginning. You know, you begin it. Yeah, it's funny on the Camino you just like with any major project, but certainly publishing a book You're walking, you're heading toward a goal, you're just trying to get to the goal. That's what you're focused on, and certainly I was focused on publishing this book. But now I realize that, just like with the Camino, where the lessons often come after the Camino and an opportunity to reflect, I feel the same way with this book. The lessons, the feedback from folks. They're getting things that I had even intended or something that really resonated with them, that I hadn't seen before, and I just love that.

Speaker 1: 24:27

I can't imagine what that must feel like. That must feel so rewarding to think about those long hours you were writing a book.

Speaker 1: 24:34

all the work that went into publishing. That was no easy task. That was quite a challenge for itself. I'm so glad Now. You know we just heard some cheering. Hopefully you guys can hear us. But if you look behind us you can see there's pilgrims everywhere coming in and I'm just going to let everybody see Kelly. That's great, but you know, one of the things I was thinking about, kelly, is you know what pilgrims might be walking in that have faced the same challenges as the characters in your book?

Speaker 2: 25:04

Yeah, you know how many people in this square have suffered a grief and loss, or how many parents are struggling to reach a child?

Speaker 1: 25:13

that is lost.

Speaker 2: 25:15

And I think about you know how many are single parents now due to a loss? So, yeah, that's why I think I'm so excited when I come here as I see Tess, I see Pam, I see Javier and Mateo and even John. You know folks who walk in here. Often their spouse flies in from their home country to meet them and to be there to celebrate with them. And, yeah, this square is filled with all the characters in my book.

Speaker 1: 25:45

Yeah, all the characters in the book, right, and I'm always touched because I look around the square and I think you know, I don't know if this is the first Camino or the tenth, I don't know but sometimes I just want to walk up and say watch out, you might end up living here.

Speaker 2: 25:59

you know Exactly exactly Because there's a lot of folks that walk multiple Caminos 10, 20, 50. But I think that there's something that happens to us when we get here that we never shake. You know, it's like it's tattooed on our hearts, you know.

Speaker 1: 26:20

Yeah, literally this Camino is tattooed on our hearts and I think about all the possibility of everyone that we're looking at right here. They might be our next Camino author, yes, the next Camino movie maker. They might go home and get engaged. They might go home and end a relationship that needs to be ended for whatever reason, but the possibilities are endless for everyone. I mean I just the energy I can feel right now is pretty amazing. We're surrounded by pilgrims.

Speaker 2: 26:48

Yes, and I think also, you know that, the positive energy because of the transformation that we will never really probably know about, but that we'll feel in the world. I think that's the beauty of this place. Yes, yes, yes.

Speaker 1: 27:05

If only everyone could come walk a Camino. Okay, so one of the things, kelly, you and I always joke about is that both of us experienced this in different areas of Spain, but people constantly telling us after we moved here tranquilo, tranquilo. Yes, talk to that a little bit. Why were we told that?

Speaker 2: 27:25

Well, tranquilo means to kind of calm down, to be tranquil, basically, and you know I've lived here now going on six years. I can't even believe it.

Speaker 1: 27:37

Six years, almost almost six years, oh my God.

Speaker 2: 27:39

And the first two years, every single person I interacted with, including the woman at the grocery store, the veterinarian anybody would tell me tranquilo, kelly, tranquilo, tranquilo. And it drove me insane. Me too it drove me insane because I was like what are you talking about? I am tranquil, but I don't think I really understood how not tranquil I was. I was living my life, still as an American.

Speaker 1: 28:09

Yes.

Speaker 2: 28:09

Would live their life in Spain and eventually, you know it's exactly what we were talking about surrendering you eventually surrender to tranquilo.

Speaker 1: 28:17

Yeah, so you know you're going to be going back to the US doing some book tour, book signing kinds of activities. If somebody were to meet you that used to know you in your old corporate world and how would this Kelly today be different than the Kelly six or seven years ago, before she discovered the Camino and then eventually moved to Spain? Oh, my goodness.

Speaker 2: 28:42

Well, first of all, I have a bigger smile, I think, than I had back then.

Speaker 2: 28:46

But I think that they would be shocked at. You know, I'm still the same person that I was, that when you tell me, no, I will find a way. But I go about it a little bit of a different way. I'm less of I guess I'm less of a bull in a china shop. So now I'm a little bit more laid back and a little bit more patient than I was before, and I'm happy about that. My blood pressure is really low, so my doctor's happy with that.

Speaker 1: 29:15

Kelly, that is a beautiful answer because you know, I think you're showing me and showing all of your readers of your blog and your book, that you don't have to be a bull in a china shop to get things done. Even though I think maybe we both came from a world socially conditioned, that's how we knew how to operate in the world. And then suddenly we end up in Spain and I know I can remember being so angry, waiting at the bank because nothing was going the way I thought it should be going here and I was questioning everything. You know, and the friend that was with me is like you know, if you don't learn how to calm down, if you can't be a little more tranquila, this is not going to work. And even that made me angry. It made me. But now I sit here and well, I still have a way to go. It's different.

Speaker 2: 30:05

Yeah, it is different, and I think too. You know, if you want to live in Spain, you need to embrace the lifestyle, because there's something to this place. You know, no one lives longer as a country than they live in Spain, and so it's got to be, because their blood pressure is a lot lower than ours in America.

Speaker 1: 30:25

So, yeah, Very well said.

Speaker 1: 30:29

Okay, kelly, so we are standing in front of one of the new signs that recently went up in Santiago and you and I were just kind of chuckling a little bit to ourselves because here's a little note about tranquility, which we were just talking about, but the thing I wanted to point out to everyone is this is a new program encouraging all of us that Santiago de Compostela is a collective heritage that we have the right to enjoy and the duty to look after. So, kelly, I wanted to talk for a few minutes out here about this sign, because you have talked a little bit in your blog about the importance of how we, as pilgrims, connect and interact with the people that are a part of the infrastructure that makes walking a pilgrimage possible. So I wonder if you could talk a little bit about some of the challenges you've seen and you know, like this poster back here, I think all along the Camino, we're trying to remind people of what we are getting the privilege to walk and what we still have the responsibility to take care of.

Speaker 2: 31:29

Yeah, yeah, I think you know the Shinta de Galicia does a great job. The government of Galicia does a great job of funding garbage collection and all of that along the Camino, especially the stretch Workly begins and ends in Santiago. But I think that we all definitely have a responsibility and some of the challenges that we have faced as a home right, you know our gates are on the Camino. Frances is really folks picking up after themselves. I think that's the biggest piece. We put our garbage cans outside our gate to make sure that there's no reason that you can't, you know, hit the garbage can. But also, I think you know, being respectful of the folks who live along the Camino. I know that at times it can feel a little bit like you know it's your Camino and it certainly is, but there's also folks who live and work and raise families along the Camino and if we can be as respectful as possible to them, I think that that just is a great reflection on keeping this spirit and this focus that Galicia has on the Camino live.

Speaker 1: 32:43

Well said, and you know, I think once you come to Santiago, of course you're excited, right? You've made this big walk, no matter where you started. It is a time for celebration and I think you know one of the things that the new mayor of Santiago is trying to talk about is, you know, tempering that celebration of, because you know people do live downtown and you know sometimes we can get rather loud when we're celebrating. So just a reminder and a reminder we've had some pilgrims trying to climb the sides of the cathedral camp in the plazas, and you know that's just something we can do in this historic city, and so it's important to enjoy yourselves upon arrival and certainly celebrate, because it's a big deal to walk a Camino Absolutely, and we love the singing and we love the dancing and the camaraderie.

Speaker 2: 33:30

But I think that one of the things we've got to remember is that this is also a living, working city, and there's folks here that support the vibrancy of Santiago, and you know every single day, even when your Camino is done, they're here 360 for other days a year.

Speaker 1: 33:48

So that's right, yeah, and that's a wrap. Thanks for coming to Two Pilgrims Walking. It was a joy introducing you to Kelly Field. This is her new book, the Grief of Goodbye. We'll be discussing it at our next book club meeting and that meeting will be on Saturday, october 14th. We would love to see you there. All you have to do is check out our Facebook group, sign up for the newsletter and you'll receive the link and we will see you then, and I hope to see you back here soon. I'll be bringing some great news stories to you. Thanks for coming to the Camino Cafe podcast.