Stories from El Camino de Santiago with Edwin Covarrubias

In this episode of The Random and Wonderful, Grace Simmons chats with Edwin Covarrubias, full-time podcaster and creator of Scary.fm, a podcast network dedicated to paranormal storytelling. Edwin recounts his life-changing experience walking the El Camino de Santiago, a pilgrimage through Spain that has shaped his outlook on life and work. He shares how the physical challenges of the journey pushed him beyond his limits and helped him achieve mental clarity, patience, and resilience. Throughout the episode, Edwin gives practical advice and insights for future travelers, all while offering heartfelt reflections on his personal growth during the pilgrimage.

Key Topics Discussed:

• Edwin’s preparation for the El Camino de Santiago pilgrimage and the physical challenges he faced.
• How the simple act of walking for days provided mental clarity and self-discovery.
• The lessons of perseverance, patience, and resilience learned from the journey.
• The cultural and spiritual significance of the Camino and the connections made with fellow travelers.
• Practical tips for anyone considering the pilgrimage, emphasizing the importance of mindset over physical readiness.

Takeaways:

• The Camino de Santiago offers much more than just a physical challenge; it is a mental and emotional growth journey.
• Travel, especially solo travel, has the power to shift perspectives and offer clarity in unexpected ways.
• Edwin's experience shows how perseverance through hardship fosters personal development.
• The pilgrimage is a cultural and spiritual experience that profoundly connects you with others and yourself.

Resources Mentioned:

Scary.fm Podcast Network (Edwin’s platform for paranormal storytelling)

The Way (movie)

El Camino de Santiago App

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Hello travelers. My name is Grace Simmons
and this is the Random and Wonderful
podcast. Settle in and listen to
stories of wanderlust and transformation
as you gain tips to inspire your next
travel experience. The Random and
Wonderful is brought to you by the
Amethyst Palaba Hut, LLC.
Hello everyone and welcome to the Random

(00:22):
and Wonderful. Today my guest is
Edwin Cova-rubias. How do we do?
Spot on. That's perfect.
Welcome, Edwin. I'm so happy to chat with
you again. Thank you. Thank you. Happy to
be here. You're also a podcast
movement person that I met for the first
time. And so we got to talking about our

(00:44):
different interests and of course, travel
popped up and I got really excited. So
Edwin has a really cool story. But first,
Edwin, please tell us about yourself,
who you are, what you do, and then we'll
dive into the travel stories. Well, from
the very beginning I actually started
studying engineering and then somehow
down the road I took a trip and I went
down to Peru. And since then I started

(01:06):
trying to figure out some way to keep it
going and work online, tried a bunch of
things, and eventually I got to launch a
podcast and that podcast failed. But then
five years after that, or four years
later, I launched another one in the
field of paranormal and creepy
storytelling. So. That show
took off. Then I launched another one, a

(01:26):
second one, and then a third one, and
they've all done pretty well. And
that's my full time thing now. So now
when I travel, I carry, I have like my
own setup and I travel like that
working. So it's hardest thing is to find
quiet places to record, but I make it
work even if it's middle of the night,
early in the morning. But yeah, that's
what I've been doing, like a podcast

(01:47):
business and also. I
have, you know, a small shop for
notebooks that I sell online on Amazon,
and all these things are managed
remotely. So they're making it work that
way. But I love traveling and I've been
to a few places. Actually, a few months
ago, we took a trip to Southeast Asia. I
wasn't by myself this time. We went to

(02:08):
all the, you know, Thailand, South Korea,
Philippines, a bunch of little, you know,
the countries that everybody does and
everybody sees. But it was fun. It was
fun. And now I am like 100%
tolerant of the heat and humidity. It
doesn't bother me. I might start sweating
and I don't mind it because it's
completely normal over there. Yeah. But

(02:29):
yeah. And how we met was over the Camino
de Santiago talk, which was something
that we did exactly a year ago. I would
have been starting exactly last year. Oh,
that's so cool. Oh my goodness. This
wasn't even planned. That's awesome.
Yeah. Yeah, really cool, really cool.
So before we get into that, I'm wondering
while your job allows you to move around,
do you plan your travel around your work

(02:52):
or is travel like I can
work while I travel?That's a really good
question because the very, very first
trip that I took by myself down, you
know, backpacking, like actual backpack
and trying to figure out how I'm going to
do this or whatever. I met a girl and
I actually ended up like going, following
her to Ecuador, like she went to Ecuador
then I'm like, I want to go to. So then I

(03:13):
went next thing, you know, we've been
together for up until now and this was
like 8 years ago. So now
if it were just me, I would probably plan
around work and be like, oh, well,
there's these creepy stories in so and
so. And I'm just going to go and just go
up into whatever town, whoever wants to
tell me a story and travel that way. But
now it's more like we have to compromise

(03:35):
and say, OK, well, I want to go here.
It's like, OK, fine, but I also want to
go here. It's like, all right. Or like, I
want to stay longer here because a
routine, you know, like it's going from
hotel, hotel, you're like calling,
checking for the Internet speed and you
know, like if it's quiet around there off
of Main Street. So like, I mean, there's
a lot of compromise that way. So it's
like a 5050 thing. Like, I feel like

(03:56):
I want to make it work.
Because of my job, like what I get to do,
which is storytelling. But there's also
that part where it's just like, you know,
OK, where I'm gonna go there and I'm
gonna just adjust also. Also the thing
with taxes and being out of the country,
like out of the US would be a thing that
now I'm gonna start considering to or
like I have to count my days. It's, I
mean, I've been sorting it out. Yeah,

(04:18):
that way it's like you're still, you're
like somewhere else. Your taxes aren't
completely US based. Like you have to be
outside of the country for a certain
time. So it's getting a little more
complicated in that sense. yeah That's
definitely something that I don't think
people consider, especially when you're
working and like working remotely, but
like you know the digital nomad world
where if you're just traveling, you're

(04:39):
like, oh yeah, you know I like this
hotel, it's close to these locations.
Meanwhile, you're like, I need to check
the internet speed. I need to make sure I
can actually have some quiet when I need
to record. How do I time my recording?So
there's a couple of other things that you
have to think about that people don't
really consider. And also the little
hacks you figure out, like, you know,
when you get to a hotel and they give you

(05:00):
that little, it's not really a stool, but
it's like where you put your luggage on
that little table E thingy. I don't know
what it is. Like I had to do a setup one
time where like I literally put it on top
of the table and a blanket to make a
little sound booth type of thing where
like so it won't echo back and forth and
cutting out whenever, you know, somebody
passes by with their talking on their
phone or running it down the hall. So

(05:22):
yeah, it takes some struggle. But now,
you know, like in some places where you
go that are cheaper, sometimes you can
get, for example, an Airbnb or a hotel
with like a smaller subsection, like a
little smaller area. So Airbnb's premier,
like if I look for a place with two
bedrooms or like a room with like a small
laundry room or something where I can go
in there and close the door and also
check for layouts if they're not like
facing the outside, you know, like the

(05:43):
outs exterior next to the L already,
yeah. Yeah, or something like that, yeah,
yeahBut yeah, little hacks you figure out
here and there, like how to plug things
in when the outlet doesn't reach. Oh
yeah, a ton, a ton of stuff, but you
get used to it. You get used to it.
Adapting too, that's pretty cool. Mm-hmm,
yeah. So what exactly is

(06:04):
your balance when it comes to
picking?So if you're working, do you
actually have time then to enjoy the
travel?You know what?
Whenever there's peaks, like for
example, when I have a lot of projects
that are due, like there are things that,
'cause I don't work by myself anymore,
right?Like, so I send things to sometimes

(06:24):
an editor, or somebody's
requesting something like an ad read, for
example, that's the most common thing.
Those things pile on, like one after
another. Usually, you know, like near the
end of the year, people, sponsorships go
big, and there's a lot of back and forth
all the time, and I know that it's
definitely more stressfulAnd I have to

(06:44):
fight against, like, try at
least to get out and not be in the room
working the whole time. Not because I
want to, but because I have to. And it's
hard, you know, like sometimes you're
literally, I don't know, it could be like
by a cool pool or like by just the
coolest little park and you're on your
phone, like replying to things. That gets

(07:05):
stressful. But I know that now, at least
like I've been practicing it on my own,
like while I'm at home. to like
discipline myself and be like, okay, hold
on. Like, you need to work from this time
to this time. Stop checking Facebook,
stop checking Twitter, stop like going
on, you know, all these other things and
YouTube videos on whatever. Even
procrastinating by organizing my desk,

(07:25):
which is a very thing that I do when I
don't want to write. And I think
practicing getting all those things done
does free you up to do more things. So. I
mean, it's a thing I'm working on. I'm
going to be testing it more out because I
know that when we were traveling this
time, I was like, you know what, I'm
going to wake up early and I'm going to
do my things. And yeah, it actually freed
me up for like a lot. So I I realized

(07:47):
that I do have a lot of time. It's just
poorly managed. You know Like I stretch
it out. Yeah. Yeah It's terrible.
But we're working on it. We're working on
it. All right. So let's get into
the Camino pilgrimage. Is that a fair
way to?I guess you could call it that.
Yeah. Yeah, a lot. I mean, it's different

(08:07):
for a lot of people. But let me look up
the. I just lost the site that I had open
just so that I could remember the name. I
was telling you early before we started
recording. I was like, what are these
towns called?But yeah, I think would call
it a pilgrimage. For me, it was probably
like an adventure, I would call it. But
yeah, people, you normally call it the
pilgrimage, the Camino de Santiago
pilgrimage, Camino de Santiago.

(08:28):
So what is it?How did you get into it?
And it's a pilgrimage. How long does that
take?Oh, I mean, people can take as long.
I mean, I've heard people do it in as in
23 days. Other people take 60 days, you
know, two months. A common thing is
around a little over a month, like a few
days over a month. But basically it's
this. It's gonna sound strange to people
who might have, you know, probably never

(08:50):
heard of it, but it's basically a walk
across the northern part of Spain where
you start from typically like from
outside Spain, like in France.
And from a place called, well, I started
from Saint Jean Pied de Port. So it's
like the more traditional place to start,
I guess for the French, what they call a
French route, French route. And then you
just go down like walking across all the

(09:10):
way across until you get to the Santiago
de Compostela place, like the cathedral
and. People like to hang out there and
like for a little bit after their
pilgrimage is over and then continue to
finish what they call is a finestera.
It's not on the map here, but it's like
they call it like the end of the world, I
guess. So it's like you reach the ocean
so that you literally walk all the way
across Spain. And yeah, but I mean, it's

(09:32):
just because they walk in extra, you
know, days, but it's really cool. It
actually has a really cool history. I
wish I knew more, but like, I can't
consider. I mean, I'm not an expert on
this at all, so I can't. Like say that
everything's going to be like completely
factual here. But the story goes like
that there was this an apostle of Jesus
that walked across there and
pretty much ended up and his his remains

(09:53):
are at right here, which is the Santiago
de Compostela Cathedral. So
it has a strong significance, I think to
a lot of Catholic people and but
when you're there, you're going to see so
many people from so many. Walks of life
like you see Buddhists, you see Jews, you
see like just an unbelievable

(10:14):
amount of people that are they do it
basically to like some are there on a
journey for themselves, like an inner
type of discovery. Like I've met this man
who had lost his wife and he was really
old, a really old man in his 80s and he
was walking across the country like in
her honor. Also met a couple who was just
from Australia. They were just wanted to
do a thing and they do it every year and

(10:36):
that's what they do. And also you see
families, you see kids, you see people
from Spain that are also walking, like
they just, they have time off and they
walk a certain section, then they go back
to work and the next break they get, they
continue from where they left off and
walk more and then they go back. That's
what they're doing. Yeah. But
it's a beautiful like thing that I
honestly, I went in without any knowledge

(10:56):
of what it was necessarily. I had seen a
movie called The Way just to kind of get
like to see like, is this how it's going
to be?And then I remember watching other
like documentary, like mini documentaries
on YouTube about it. And they all had
like the people document their own
experiences as they're walking across.
And I mean, I heard a couple of, you
know, some stories of people that gave

(11:16):
up. They're just like, I can't do this,
but that's kind of like there's a lesson
in that too, right?It's like, oh, you
couldn't finish because you hurt yourself
and you really do. It's a tough physical
thing to do. I mean, walking across. A
country, it's like, what I think is like
almost 800 kilometers or something. It's
like it's a lot of, it's a lot. It's
a very long distance. You walk for six

(11:37):
hours, 8 hours, depending on how fast you
go a day. And then you
get to a certain area. I mean, I can get
into the details later on, but your
question was about like how I found out
about it. And this was a through some of
the Paulo Coelho books, which like The
Alchemist and some of the other like
there, he has a book. I want to know what
the hold on, let me see if I can find the
book quickly. Paulo, he's a

(11:59):
Brazilian author. He writes in
Portuguese. Is he from Portugal or Brazil?
I think it's called. Hold on, let me the
pilgrimage. That's what the novel is
called. And that's how I first heard
about the Camino and the experience of
it was. I mean it magical in its own way,
right?Like for me, not like as they
describe it where like, oh, you have to
do a quest or whatever and like

(12:20):
some magic discovery and not necessarily
like that. But there's definitely
something that goes on and something that
draws you, like you just want to go back.
Like for me, I just want to go back. And
like, I think I told you when I met you,
I was like, yeah, I hated every second of
it while I was walking. And I just want
to do it again. Describe this entire
story. You're like, I just want to do it
again. Yeah, yeah, yeahThat is

(12:42):
incredible. Yeah. YeahIt's a thing.
Like, I swear to you, I think about it
every day. I think about it every single
day since. And not so much that I
felt like, oh, I was, it was a
transformation or, you know, anything
like that. But it was just like literally
my whole task was to get to the
next town and find a place to stay. Like

(13:04):
that was a task. So when you can
concentrate on that. And also for me, I
still took my laptop. Like I was still.
Getting to places and had to record
sometimes and in the end I ended up,
yeah, I ended up like that failed. That
plan didn't work and I don't recommend
it. I think we should, if you do that
kind of work, you should probably work
ahead or like really schedule a time
before, like work way ahead, get ahead of
your work and try to actually take some

(13:25):
time off. Because I know that it really
kind of, I don't know, held me back a
little bit. I feel because I was stressed
out during the whole thing. So not during
the whole thing, but like, well, I, you
know, had stuff to do. I'm like, oh, I
need to get there early. I need to finish
this or I'm too tired to like read or
revise anything. And that was tough, very
tough. Were there any points

(13:45):
of this journey where either like a story
that kind of stuck with you or an
experience, 'cause it was, you were going
through it, an experience that really
stuck with you or kind of stood out to
you on the entire, on your pilgrimage?
There's a few things. When I started
thinking about the Camino, again, I
always find like a new little snippetOf

(14:06):
something that happened that I'm like, I
remember this, like for example, right?
Like there's one, this is around the
second day. This is me still walking with
my girlfriend. Like, so we're both, by
the way, this is a whole topic unto
itself, like doing a very tough,
frustrating trip with somebody and how
you you learn how you get along with each
other in terms in times like that. But
anyway. We were walking down, I think it

(14:28):
was the second day or getting into the
third day. And there were talks like in
the, you know, the hostels, the
albergues, they call them like the places
where you stay for very low cost, like
1213 euros. And they were saying
that it's going to rain, like it's
raining. I hear there is a lot of rain
and we might have to like hang out here
for a little bit longer. But you just
kind of hear that like rumors or like,
yeah, it's raining. Like, but there's

(14:49):
people like us. We were new to the whole
thing. We're like, well, make it, it's
fine, right?And as we're going, like the
sky looks clear, we're walking, we're
climbing up a hill and then we have to
make our way down this really steep hill.
It's like jagged rocks. This is dangerous
area, I guess. But right as we're heading
up, like the rain starts and
it's like this stream at first that's

(15:09):
just kind of coming at you and you're
walking against it. You're like, this is
weird. You climb up, it kind of meets
another little river, little Creek, and
then it's just going all the way down. So
like by this time it's no longer a
stream, but it's like. It feels like a
river, like it's going up to like halfway
up to your knees, sometimes your knees
like. And by the way, this is already
dangerous, right?Like there's jagged

(15:30):
rocks there. The people slip and fall.
Actually, there's people that did fall.
And there was this man who was walking
behind us with the sticks. He's older and
he's like, he just starts singing. Like
I'm saying our dad is like I'm singing in
the rain. Yeah, yeah, the rain.
And I follow along like automatically

(15:51):
they were both singing and we're like,
you know how the whole so this whole song
goes and he's like
buen camino and he keeps walking, right?
We meet him up again like closer to like
when we're going working our way down and
he's there walking slowly, coming down
with his walking sticks and.
We're like, hey, like we're kind of doing
this thing. We're like, I get ahead, they

(16:11):
get ahead and like, you know, and he gets
ahead, we get ahead. And then as we're
going, like, we're like, this is odd
because, you know, we we come prepared as
much as we can, right?Like the shoes, for
example, are waterproof, but not like
riverproof, like, right. Like you can't
walk in a river like
and everything like and yeah, it's it's
non-slip shoes, but like, come on, these

(16:33):
are like flat rocks, jagged. Like if
you're going to slip, but something's
going to happen, right?So. Also our
ponchos, like everything was just kind
of, it just went bad. We're like, oh,
what are we gonna do?And then we start
seeing less and less people coming down.
So it's just us basically all like going
down this long hill. And I'm saying long,
not just like, oh, you know, like the
typical you go on a day hike and you come
down, but it's like hours of just, you

(16:55):
know, making your way zigzagging down.
And I remember at one point, like
of the frustration, you're just like, oh,
like, what are we gonna do?My girlfriend
and I look at each other and we're like.
What the heck, right. Like there's
nothing else but except get there. Like
we just have to. And this is a very first
like challenge, like a first like here we
go, we have to get through this. And then

(17:15):
we just kind of start like like, you
know, like smiling, like you're just
going down, like it's fine. It's just
water. And the whole it's just water
thing became a thing where we're just
like, if it's raining, hey, it's just
water. Yeah. And I mean to her, I feel
like it meant something else, like as in
her own meaning. But for me, whenever
there's like, I got that stuck where. You
have setbacks and you have things that

(17:36):
are holding you back. And to me, I
automatically, I just think like it's
just water, like it's just it's serving
its purpose and it is what it is and you
can deal with it. Or even if you like if
you're just exposed to the water, like
it's just water, like it's not poison
coming on you, right. It's just water. So
I really a big shift in perspective.
That's the thing I literally thought of
like today, like I was thinking like,

(17:56):
what can I talk about the Camino?And I
thought of that and I'm like, I hadn't
thought of that since since I did the
Camino. And I know the water thing has
always been there, but the story behind
is what little habits that I pick up here
and there. I know that are related to
what I experienced in the Camino, which
are little things like that. And there's
a lot more some about people that you
meet. And for example, for me, there was
a kind of a not a struggle, but like a

(18:18):
decision point where some people like to
put their flags of their country on their
backpacks. I always thought it was like
kind of weird to do that, but I'm like,
what kind of, what flag would I put?
Because for me, I was born here in the US
and I grew up here. But my parents are
Mexican and I've always felt like
here I'm not like 100% like American.
And when I go to Mexico, it's like just

(18:39):
based on how I speak and how I, you know,
culturally, there's a lot for me to learn
there. So I don't feel like I'm Mexican,
like even though I am, right?And
I decided at one point I'm just gonna get
two flags and I'm gonna tie them to my
backpack. And I did that, right?Like, why
does that mean anything?And. And thinking
of the flags and like just actually from
like tying them just on the side, I

(19:00):
actually pat them at the bottom. So
they're like really displaying. I would
be walking and everybody that I would
hear, you know, they wouldn't like say,
hey, America or US or anything. They
would say Mexico, right. And I would turn
around and I'd be like, hey, and I would
just keep walking. And then as I came, I
heard it several times. Like we're like
Mexico and again, Mexico, like everybody

(19:21):
kept saying, you know, Mexico, Mexico,
so. I don't know if that means anything,
but it definitely, I brought it back
like, hey, you can like, you're still a
part of it. Like people are still going
to recognize that. And that's the flag
that stands out to them. And next thing
you know, like in my mind, I'm already
set for moving to Mexico City. Like, I
want to go there. And I worked on getting
my dual nationality. So now I'm a citizen

(19:42):
of both places and it kind of, you know,
it's like one of those things where like,
does this have anything to do with each
other?I don't know. But definitely
there's some weird connection there,
right?Like, yeah. Maybe not a quite a
coincidence. I like, but like the
demonstration of you having both flags
also connects to what
became you deciding to get your dual

(20:03):
citizenship. So instead of having to
choose, you are both. Yeah.
There we go. See, like that's a little
things like that, like. That's so neat.
You connected it really well. Yeah, Yeah
that's right. Yeah. That's incredible. So
tell me more about like some of the
people that you encounter. Were there
lessons?Did anyone?I love first off

(20:23):
going back to the gentleman who was
walking by you all and inspired you guys
to sing through the rain, which is
music and singing is such a beautiful way
to ground and center you, especially
when you're in the middle of a very
difficult situation and to have someone
outside do that. Were there any other
people maybe that taught you a lesson or

(20:44):
that you kind of took something away from?
There were a few things that. I know, for
example, one of them was the my
girlfriend had blisters, right?Like they
were big blisters and she didn't know
what to do. I didn't know what to do. And
we were trying to figure it out online to
see, hey, what are we supposed to do when
we get blisters?Because you're gonna have
to keep walking and this could get

(21:05):
infected if you don't do it right. So we
get to one of the the albergues and this
one guy just helped
like helped us out like. As in completely
just selfishly, like as in he gave us the
materials, he gave us a little bit of,
you know, the thing that we needed, as
many bandages as you need. Here's what
you do. And like he wasn't grossed out
about it, even though, you know, you're

(21:25):
talking about foot blisters. This is
like, but he like
talks everything and
and we kept encountering him and every
single time we would see him, we would
remember, like he would be like, hey,
hey, how's your feet or whatever?And it
was just like one of those things where
like. And he was a fast Walker. Like he
would start late and get there early.

(21:46):
Like this was you see a lot for us, we
would start early and get there late. It
was just like our. But we enjoyed our
time like stopping by what they call
bodies, the bars, which are like
cafeteria, like little shops where you
buy bread and sandwiches and you know, a
little all the delicious
Spanish bread and ham and everything.
You get there, but it's so good. That was

(22:08):
one of the people that I know really
stood out to me. But there was one really
interesting story. We had met this
guy, this, this man at, I don't honestly,
I don't remember exactly when we first
encountered him, but we started talking
just like you do like when you're
walking. And it was funny because
we had kind of lost track of each other.
Like, you know, you meet people, they
kind of stay in a certain place or they

(22:29):
speed up and you're kind of, you lose
each other. So you don't know when the
last time that you talk to them is going
to be so. We're getting to this
place and it's I can't believe I I don't
have this written down to remember
exactly the the town, but it was very all
these towns were very beautiful, but this
one was old. It had that like old vibe to
it. The stone buildings, stone road, like

(22:50):
you know the roads where you walk on
and we got to the to the reservation we
had made through Airbnb actually that
thing saved our lives and. Because, you
know, I don't even know if it's 100%
legal there. It probably is, but maybe
just not very well liked by the locals.
But we got to this place and we're
like searching, like zigzagging through

(23:11):
the little town, the city to get to this
Airbnb. And we're like
right outside there's this machine, like
a vending machine which has. Sandwiches
and food and little, you know, Coke,
which is like, I don't like drinking
Coca-Cola, but man, when you've been
walking all day and it's cold and you're
like, oh, I want that. And it was there,

(23:32):
right?So we're struggling and I remember
my girlfriend and I were like, OK, let's
get this thing out or whatever. One of
the things kind of gets stuck. It's a
funny story to me. It's not funny to
anyone else, but like my girlfriend puts
her hand into the vending machine and
she's like, can you help me?But what she
managed to help her with her backpack and
I think that she's her hand is stuck. So
I pull her. And she's like, no, like
with my back. And I'm like, oh,

(23:55):
right at that time. What
is that grace?We're struggling with the
vending machine, right?And then this guy
that we had met earlier was walking like
through the the city too, like he was
walking up toward us and he's like, hey,
and we're like, hey, like, how are you or
whatever?'Cause he sees like we're like
laughing kind of like fighting this

(24:15):
machine, we're like, what's going on?And
he's like, he looks like he's kind of
worried. And also he's walking with
someone else with this other guy and he's
like, have you found a place to stay?
Because we don't know what we're gonna
do. And I'm like, what do you mean?Like
you search around. This is a very common
thing that I can tell you about later.
But he was really worried. I'm like, no,
I mean, we're staying here. I can ask,

(24:37):
right. And by the time he had already
rang the the doorbell. So somebody was on
their way down while we were fighting
this, the vending machine and this.
Woman comes down, opens the door like
barely and she's like, Hola, you know,
and we're like, hey, we have a
reservation. Do you happen to have any
extra rooms?Because they're looking. And
then she's like, yeah, I do. And

(24:57):
she's like, well, how much are they or
whatever?And she's like, oh, it's, you
know, so and so, I don't know, 20
euro each or 30 each or whatever. And
he's like, OK, let's take it because they
had no. Choice because and by the way,
when you're struggling to find a place to
stay, it's like they go from place to
place to place and everybody leads them
around in a circle and sometimes there's
zero beds anywhere in that town. So you

(25:18):
have to keep walking. The other option is
to like sleep outside, which I didn't see
any anybody doing, but I know that some
people had tents with them just in case
it's a thing. But anyway, they did find a
place to stay and they were really could
see the relief in both of their like they
weren't friends. They had met each other
walking, but like they weren't friends
and. They had to share a room, which was
obviously they were happy about it.

(25:40):
Either way, like they would have just
slept on the in the living room if it
were just up to them, like they would,
they would do it. But they managed to get
up there and we were talking. They're
like soaking wet. It's like it's it's
cold. It's just, you know, you're
disgusting after walking for so long.
You're sweaty, you're like salty. This is
just like this. It's not good.
But I think people have done the

(26:01):
pilgrimage like they kind of get it. It's
just like, hey, this is how it is. It's
fine. And we're just talking about how
the two people that were walking up,
we're now finding a place to stay and
that they were worried about having to
sleep under one of the bridges. And
they said we just happened to find you
like right at that moment. Now when I
thought about it, immediately I'm
connecting. Like we rang the doorbell.

(26:23):
The lady was taking a bit and we were
fighting the vending machine, which is
what held us back, right?We were like,
had we just gotten our things, gone
inside, we would have missed them because
they left right?Like they would just pass
right by us. This didn't have like a
hotel sign or like a hostel or anything
on it. It was just no signage, just a
building with a wooden, big wooden heavy
door. So they would just walk right past

(26:44):
us. And they're like, yeah, like, why
were you?Outside like at
that time we're like, oh, and then we try
to explain that we were fighting thing
like I thought and then we just explained
it and then they started laughing. We're
like, oh, it was just one of those
moments where you're like sharing a story
like was it really didn't mean anything
to anyone else except for us because of
the timing of it just worked out for them

(27:05):
and we got to do it unintentionally,
got to, you know, help someone out.
So, and it really, it was the lady's
house that really helped them, the lady
that helped the other people. But like,
it felt like, oh, it was a team effort of
like they spotted us had also they maybe
they didn't know who we were. They might
have just kept going. But you know, we
happened to have met him before. So it's

(27:27):
one of those things that you're just
like, are these coincidences?And the
logical part of you wants to say, yeah,
you know, it's all a thing, but then you
meet other people that. For example, this
man who was in front of a church, he was
standing there and I'm looking at him.
This is near the end of the Camino, like
about a week before we finish. And

(27:48):
he's looking at me and I'm looking at him
kind of like from outside of the church
property. And he
kind of waves at me like, come over. And
normally I don't. I mean, I wouldn't do
this, but I'm like, hey. And I told
Carla, my girlfriend, I'm like, I'm gonna
go talk to him. She's like, OK. So I
leave my backpack and I walk up and he's
like, how are you?And I kind of start

(28:09):
talking like, Oh yeah, he's like, he's
like, why are you, what's your reason for
doing the Camino?And I'm like, I feel
like I'm barely discovering that now. And
now that it's almost over and just saying
that, I'm like, wow, I didn't know what I
was doing, but now I feel like there is
something that I need to work through.
And I'm like, I feel like there is
something there though, that I need to
work through in my life or like really

(28:29):
meditate on and think about. And he's
like, I can tell he's like.
Look, and then he started kind of telling
me a little bit about what his adventure
and like his life, which was he had done
the Camino, liked it so much that he went
back home to sell all of his stuff and
then just moved to Spain. Now he lives
there and runs groups for the people

(28:49):
that want to do the Camino and for
religious reasons. And I mean, he was
already, you know, retired. So he had
that time and I guess the energy to do it
too, because the Camino says that you
meet a lot of people. And that's kind of
what he wanted to do. And he was
obviously a very good communicator. But
thinking of that, I'm like in real
life, like what I call it now, like for

(29:10):
me now, if somebody says, hey, come here,
like, I probably wouldn't do it. I'll
probably just be paranoid and be like,
I'm OK and then keep walking because you
have your backpack with all your stuff.
So, but it was little snippets here and
there. And the more I speak, the more I
remember these things where I'm like, I
also met this other like so many little
things that I'm like, this was much more
than just like a regular vacation. And

(29:31):
it's, I would say a little embarrassing
to say it that way for a lot of people.
Like if you all I want to talk about is a
Camino sometimes. Like it's just like I
want to talk about where people went,
what they ate, what they didn't like, how
long it took them to get from a place to
a certain, you know, certain place to a
certain place. But you're kind of alone
in it because not a lot of people
understand it. Even if if they do get it,

(29:53):
they're gonna, they're limited if they
haven't experienced it. But every once in
all you meet travelers who are like, oh,
wow, that sounds like something I would
like to do. And they ask you all these
questions and you don't they don't find
you annoying for just blabbing all about
the Camino whenever you get the chance.
But I know that it's, it definitely, I
mean, I'm discovering now too that it
really changed my life. That is

(30:14):
absolutely amazing. And it's it's
beautiful. I like that your
transformation story, like there are
little points that continue to come up
for you, even thoughOverall,
like I think when you told me about it
first time, what you said was it was
magical. And now as we're talking about
it, like there's still more pieces and
parts that you're learning about
yourself. You're learning that like

(30:37):
during that entire journey, your
girlfriend were able to bond. Someone has
literally said before you marry anyone,
make sure you go on a road trip with them
to see how they handle. Ohh And I think
the Camino isThe king of
all road trips, especially since you're
walking that. My goodness.
You mentioned a little bit about how you

(30:58):
all were able to get your food, but like,
how do you plan for this?Like, do you
measure, you know, how long it'll take
you to get there?Walking speed to reserve
like you all reserved an Airbnb, but how
do you plan your journey?There's a few
ways like I know some people have like
the guidebooks, right?That just tell you
at this town you're going to find this

(31:19):
thing in this other town you find this
thing or this place is really big. So
you're definitely going to find a place
to stay or hey, call ahead because this
place is small. For us, there was an app
that really, I don't even know if I still
have it installed, but I mean, I can send
you the name of it later, but it's it's
app like a guide type of app for your
phone. And it tells you literally
how long it's going to take you,

(31:39):
elevation, how high you're going to
climb. tells you, like you can
even start, like connect with other
people that are doing, you know gonna be
there at the same time. But definitely,
definitely like logistics wise, there's a
lot of people that are doing the Camino
now, or from what I heard, people that
compared to you know years past, like now
it's just growing in popularity. So,

(32:02):
there's a lot less beds to go around. You
have to reserve your spots way before,
like as in a couple of days, so you do
have to plan as to where you're gonna be.
What we did was we would, for
example, if it's Monday, we would say,
OK, where are we gonna stay on Wednesday?
So that Monday morning, we're like trying
to figure out how, you know, where we're
gonna stay. And then we already know.

(32:24):
Now, it doesn't feel as like legit
doing that, right?Because you're not
going like where the wind takes you.
You're not like, oh, I'm gonna stay here
for the night or whatever. Yeah. But
every once in a while we did risk it as
it give us that that opportunity to say,
hey. Let's just take it slow. Let's stay
here. We'll figure out the next thing
tomorrow. And we would do that just
because we're tired or hey, we can't

(32:45):
continue. Like we're just, I'm done. Or
it's getting dark and we're gonna have to
cross through a forest or whatever. And
you choose. You're like, OK, no, you
always know how far the next town is.
Again, they're not just like the main
towns that are listed in the maps.
There's in between little small towns. So
like y'all and you always know it's like,
oh, it's 6 kilometers ahead or it's, oh,
it's five. And the typical thing is like

(33:06):
you walk around for. A little bit. I
would say like a couple of kilometers,
maybe 2-3, you might start spotting
signs of like civilization again, like a
small town or something. Maybe after like
a couple of hours you find a place like
where you can have breakfast in the
morning and you kind of trust that you're
gonna find a place because there's a lot
of people that do this, right. So little
small businesses like have popped up very

(33:28):
small ones sometimes and other times it's
like full on like operations of like you
show up and like there's a lot of tables
and it's like a restaurant set up. And
other times it's like literally like a
little tent built out and
somebody's serving you juice and
Gatorade or whatever and
bread with ham in it. And that's it. But

(33:49):
you always know how far ahead you like,
how much more you have to walk if you
want to know, because some people don't
want to know. They just want to keep
going. And you know, whenever they get
tired, they stop. And some people do
manage it that way, which is odd. And
another thing also that kind of ruins the
experience for some people is that. You
have to for some of the places like what
do you call like albergues that are they

(34:10):
run out of beds. They have a certain like
you have to get there early and get in
line because they won't have a
reservation system. So you have to get
there really early and you see a line and
then at one point it's like cut off and
you you can't stay there. So what they do
is like they either they keep walking or
go back to the previous town, which means
another hour or so. Oh wow, 40 minutes

(34:31):
of like with all your stuff going to
another town and. And figuring it out
that way. So what you end up seeing is
people kind of rushing to get to the next
spot, like racing, getting up really
early, rushing to the next stop. So
that's kind of like the downside of it,
like the logistics, I feel. Because I
don't think it was meant to accommodate,
you know, hundreds of thousands of people
doing the thing all the time. Yeah. We

(34:52):
used to do it with the with the app
mainly. Is there a self-care
practice that maybe you
incorporated or maybe you learned on this
journey that you use now when you travel?
Self-care, like in terms of, I guess both
like physical and mental. There's things
that I know out of habit that I do now.
Like for example, even just the having

(35:13):
the time to yourself early in the
morning, for example. It's one of the
things that I know I crave, like I
want the sunrise and I didn't really
understand why until I stopped the Camino
and you kind of miss it. You're like it
was so cool to. You're walking in the
dark and you see the sunrise behind you,
in front of you or next to you or
whatever. But I know that during those

(35:34):
times it makes you appreciate a lot of a
lot of stuff, like very grateful. Just
it's another day, you get another chance.
Here you go. I don't think a lot of
people that do the Camino considered a
lesson from the Camino because you can do
that pretty much anywhere. But I know
that. Space to myself in that morning or
just being able to have that time,
designated time to say thank you and like

(35:55):
to yourself, like even just, hey, I made
it. Here's I woke up this morning. I
don't really think about it as much as I
did in the Camino, but I know that I made
a practice out of it to try to really be
conscious of like, hey, I woke up and
I here we go, let's let's do what we can
today. That's one of the things like it's
a very like emotional kind of mental
thing, but. Physically, I know that I

(36:16):
discovered the benefits of walking and
how our body adapts to
everything. Carrying a heavy backpack.
Yeah, I mean, I have my laptop, clothes,
water, water is the heaviest thing, a lot
of snacks sometimes. But even no matter
like how much I would eat, and I'm
saying like I would stuff myself, and I
still started losing weight, getting to

(36:38):
more like an actual, what I would
consider like for myself, like a healthy
weight for me. That I would feel
comfortable in. My clothes started
feeling a little bit looser, a little bit
better. Also, the exposure to the sun
just made the skin a really interesting
cut, like an interesting color. I didn't
know I could get more brown, but like it
was like a like a cinnamony. I don't
know, it's a weird color, but like you're
like, see how sometimes people say like,

(36:58):
oh wow, you're glowing. It's not
necessarily like you look great, but like
as in your body is doing something like,
hey, you're sweating all day, you're
drinking a bunch of water, you're eating
fruits from trees that. Are you're
passing by and by the way, this is not
stealing because these things are like
all fall on the ground like people, I'm
pretty sure they want you to take them
because they're like, yeah, they start
rotting on the ground. So like you take

(37:18):
them apples or whatever. But yeah, like
with all those things, I started
realizing that there's a huge, huge, huge
benefit and I know we hear it all the
time, but like that gets true and I feel
like we need to get reminded all the time
of how much we need to walk because
that's what we're made for. And if we can
go, I used to tell, you know, we just. It
me, my girlfriend, I used to now we have
a thing where we're like, well, nothing's

(37:39):
far now. Like we can walk anywhere. It's
like, that's true. Like we need to get to
downtown. We'll walk and it's
like that, OK, to go down the hill, we'll
go walk down the hill. Like it's not that
big of a deal anymore to walk and you
just adjust, you know, if it's too hot,
wear lighter clothes. If it's cold, wear
a jacket and little things like that that

(37:59):
I'm like, this is a thing that everybody
should be doing and I feel like we don't
walk. A lot. I at least I don't
at all. Like maybe from here to the
driveway and then get on the car and get
somewhere else and get off and then walk
a little bit and then come back to the
car, right. So yeah, but yeah, little
things like that that I've picked up. And
then there's other things to skin care,

(38:19):
which I think I never, ever did. I think
as a guy was very difficult for me to
like say I need this also, but like
sunblock, just sunblock, I guess. But
also like not just any kind, but like a
good kind that's not gonna do more harm
than good. Yeah, terms of bug spray,
there's things that are natural that you
can use. And I'm not like in the whole
like all natural organic thing. I

(38:42):
mean, I know that some people are and
it's good that they do that. But for me,
I'm just like, I think I'll about
convenience a lot. And there's little
changes that you can do here and there
that I know have made that for me at
least they make a huge, huge difference.
I've gained a bunch of weight since I
finished and that's because of I sit
around all day working. But I know that
once I start moving again, the body
adapts to what you're doing and you see

(39:04):
it, you feel it and it works, you know
for whatever a person's goals may be.
Yeah I always find that I think I walk a
whole lot more when I travel.
Like you said, you don't think twice
about it. Like if I needed to walk around
my neighborhood, I would set aside some
time and hope that I agree to that.
Versus when you're traveling, you're
like, oh yeah, this is a 30 minute walk,

(39:26):
sure, whatever. One way, right. You don't
think about it. But if you do that at
home, you'd feel like, why would I walk?
Why would I walk?Absolutely. Yeah. You
know, I've been seeing a lot of reels
about that where like, I guess this also
the the places where I walk around here,
they're not, they're not very pretty
places. Like they're just like the same
sidewalks across the street. It's like
very, I don't know. I always tell my

(39:48):
friends that I don't think that these
streets are meant for walkers, like for
walking, because I rarely see people
walking. And like when you're crossing a
street, like people look at you like,
what's this guy?Like he does. Poor guy.
Like we should give him some bus money or
something. Like it's just it feels that
way, even though it might not be real.
True, you knowBut yeah, definitely. When
you're traveling, you walk a lot without
even realizing that you're doing it. Even

(40:09):
activities that you end up doing, right?
Hiking, going up the stairs for a picture
or swimming or whatever. So you just do
it. Yeah. Like, I need to get up to this
little rooftop restaurant. I'm not
thinking about the stairs, but let me try
to do that here. I'm like, where is the
elevator?So.
Yeah, yeah you adapt. I like that body
always adapts. It's cool to

(40:31):
see how because I mean, I remember
thinking like we used to practice walking
before getting to the Camino used to be
like, oh, we're gonna walk for, you know,
we're gonna do 10,000 steps, 15,000
steps. And it's like, cool. And if we're
getting used to that, next thing you
know, you're at the Camino, you're going
up a hill in the Pyrenees, the the
mountains right off the bat, like the
first day and you're doing 30,000

(40:53):
steps and you're like, oh Dang, like I
should have. I should have practiced
more. Yeah,
because you don't practice with the
backpack fully loaded on. Like you just,
I'm getting my 15,000. It seems like a
lot, but then you do it and you're like,
oh no, this is.
And also the shoes that you choose, like

(41:13):
you don't pay attention to the shoes that
you're using every day. And now, for
example, I I know that I can't use the
same boots that I used to use. Like it's
impossible for me to use the same things
just because I'm going to feel pain after
just a day of walking in those and. I
realized that for me, for example, just
in my case, it's the flat shoes, like as
in not a lot of, I don't know what you
call it, but like the shoes that don't
have a lot of cushion and like the

(41:34):
barefoot feeling shoes. Yeah, but it's
not really. Yeah, it's like a very, yeah,
yeah, like barefoot shoes, but not really
because I've seen those. Those are very
extreme and really weird looking, but I
get them now. I understand. I haven't
used them, but like, I understand the
whole, the purpose of even just like Vans
or chucks, you know, like Converse that
don't have any padding or whatever. Those
feel better for me now than shoes that,

(41:56):
you know, put pressure on your feet, like
in different areas. Yeah. But I mean
that's after walking. And also I think
like and and my girlfriend always says is
that she feels like she went up a shoe
size. And for me, I think it's the same
thing. I didn't know this could happen. I
don't know if it's true. I think it might
just be that I feel more comfortable with
a slightly bigger size.
There's something to be said about that

(42:17):
though, because I think when you, I don't
know what the actual science is behind
it, but when you're wearing like certain
types of shoes, your toes are so
compressed. And if you start to wear the
right shoes, like the, I think it's
called like zero drop. sole or something
like that where you're you're able to
kind of spread your toes out and actually

(42:38):
spread your foot maybe and after walking
that's true distance probably yeah you
know that I think about it I think the
shoes that I wear now are wide I don't
know they call it wide box or just wide
but yeah yeah that's I think that's the
thing yeah yeah I think that's what
bothers me about shoes that the boots now
it's like I feel like I'm squeezed yeah
yeah I bought those type of

(43:00):
shoes for Portugal becauseI read
something about their cobblestone. I was
like, I don't, yeah I don't want to be
hurting. Going up and down
on my travels. Yeah. You know, now that
you mentioned Portugal, they also have
the Camino that starts from, they start
from a bunch of different areas. Portugal
has one, the Portuguese way, they call
it. And you go up to the same spot, but

(43:21):
from the coastline. Okay. So,
and there's a lot of different ways to to
get it done. But yeah, those are
comments, so. You might see some people
walking, depending on if you're traveling
there soon, or if you already went there,
you might have seen them already walking
with their backpacks and their sticks.
They're doing the Camino. And I feel like
now I'm in the shell, like an identifier.
Yeah. YeahIt's

(43:43):
cool. It's cool. It's a cool, cool thing.
That's awesome. That's awesome. Yeah.
Well, before we go, what advice do you
have for someone who
is traveling and they're trying to add a
little bit more?Gratitude and acceptance.
How do you help someone find a good
perspective when they travel?I feel like
a lot of the people that travel when

(44:04):
they're basing it off of like Instagram
posts or things that they see online or
things that their friends are telling
them to do or things that they saw like
that, we miss out on a lot. And
I feel like we get a whole, like a
diluted thing of what the place really
means when you see what everyone else,
everyone else has seen. But even if you
let's just say you're forced to do that,

(44:24):
you're with a group and they want to hit
all the Instagrammable spots and like
this is the way that you like to travel.
So let's just say that there's always
those stories everywhere that, for
example, the person you meet, the person
at the hotel front desk, the person
that's helping you with the luggage in
case you have a lot that you carry.
There's all these stories everywhere. And
I think that when we pay attention to

(44:46):
those, we start, we get this tendency to
like search for more of of a story.
You might get some resistance from people
like, oh, why are you going there?Or why
do you want to see that or what?You kind
of have that pressure to stay on track on
the same thing. But I suggest you try it
and you go where you feel like it's
where you want to go. Like it's not,
again, not anything magical. You just

(45:07):
kind of know, like when something doesn't
feel right, you're just like, this has to
be something else or like maybe I should
have gotten some other type of food or I
don't want to eat here at this spot or
whatever. It was try it out. I feel like
feeling scared or feared when you're
traveling or afraid of getting off track
a little bit really slows down like that
aspect that like finding out a new story,

(45:28):
a new adventure, a new thing. So I would
say like try it out, do a thing that you
haven't, you know, done. And as far as
that gratitude goes, I think that that
comes to me at least it came as a side
effect of things. Like I don't feel like
intentionally I wanted to be grateful. I
feel like I just had to be grateful
because. Heck, last night my feet were
burning and this morning I can at least

(45:50):
walk three steps without feeling like
pain. Because as soon as you it's a weird
thing because you start warming up and
you kind of feel it less. So there was a
side effect. I had to be grateful because
hey, now I can walk. Thank like thank
goodness like it went over the pain went
away. So but yeah, there's a lot for me.
I get it changes for me. Some people do
it with intention, like they're just
intentionally trying to be grateful and

(46:11):
they find it that way. For me, it was
definitely a side effect. Like I was
forced to. It's like, you see, you
see where you were yesterday. And I'm
telling you, by the way, Grace, like,
there was a day when I couldn't get off
the bed. I think I told you about this.
Like, I couldn't get off the bed. The
lights stayed on, the window stayed open,
the door was unlocked. Neither of us
could move. Like going to the bathroom

(46:32):
was like, oh, I have to go. No. Like, I
cried that day. Like, I cried for not
being able to get my clothes down off of
a hanger thing that I had. I'm like, I
need to get on this chair and I can't get
on the chair. I can't do anything. And
like, I literally felt like I'm a loser.
I can't do this. And I cried. And I was
like, after that moment, I'm like, you
know what?Now that I can get up and do

(46:54):
something or I can walk, I can step, I
can anything that you can do. It's just
natural for me to be grateful about it.
Like, it's I can't help it because I
already went through a bunch of things
like that, obviously very. Not
that I guess dramatic, you know, nothing
like really terrible has happened to me
there, but definitely little signs that
tells you, hey, you remember where you
were, look at where you are now and

(47:17):
be grateful for it. So once you finish
the Camino, it's, I think that's all you
feel. You feel grateful, you feel
accomplished, you feel like, wow, I did
something and you're grateful for
everything. Like even for yourself to not
let go, like to not give up on yourself
because really it's just you fighting
against you, so. But yeah, like for
people, try out things and then do hard
things, try them out, see how they go and

(47:38):
you won't regret it. You know They're
there to to help you power up and level
up into whatever you're doing. Nice.
Well, Adam, thank you so much. Before we
go, please tell everyone what's
next for you and where we can find you.
I do a lot of, for anybody who might be
interested in like scary stories, for
example, this is all the things that I do

(47:59):
and Halloween's coming up around this
time of the year. And this is what I do
all the time. So for me, my username on
Instagram is Edwin Cove. That's
E-D-W-I-N-C-O-V, as in
Victor. People can find me there. I
update about just little random things
here and there, and I'm always moving.
I'm actually planning a trip and I'm
leaving Sunday, Sunday morning, going to

(48:20):
Ecuador. That's where my girlfriend's
from. Nice. And we're actually planning
on finally tying the knot, so. Yay!
It's a It's a thing, hopefully, by the
time this thing's up,I should be married.
Dang it. Like we've been talking about
this for years. But you can find me
there. Yeah. And if you're interested in
anything scary, scary stories by networks
called Scary FM for anybody who might be

(48:40):
interested. Oh, that
could not have been timed better.
But yeah, Grace, thank you so much. It
was really cool to talk about this. I
know I don't get the chance to talk about
it often, so I really talked a ton, but I
had a great time. Thank you so much. I
appreciate it. I appreciate you sharing
everything that you have. Thank you so
much. Hey there, Grace here.

(49:03):
I hope you enjoyed today's episode and
gained some useful takeaways. Thank you
so much for listening and staying until
the end. Don't forget to rate the show or
share it with some friends. Have a
wonderful week. Take care and remember,
be bold, be curious, be ready to tell
your story. You never know who needs it.
Bye bye.