Away for a wee dander

So here goes…

Welcome to my blog. I’m Graham McCormick from Newtownstewart Co.Tyrone and I have had a love for hiking since I received a kidney transplant in 2012. I have done many long distance treks and mountain climbs in Ireland, Wales and Scotland. (I will get to hike some of England’s finest trails soon).

I first became aware of The Camino de Santiago by watching a fabulous film called ‘The Way’ starring Emilio Estevez, Martin Sheen and our dear own Jimmy Nesbitt amongst others. Since watching The Way I had always dreamed of doing this long pilgrimage that is known to change peoples perceptions of life, but never really had the opportunity to. In 2023 I took on the 800km (500mile)Camino Frances trek across Northern Spain.

Prior to the French Camino, I had overcome a period of depression that kind of came out of nowhere. I was fed up with life, fed up with leadership in my country and the crazy decisions and events going on in the world beyond our control. The only thing keeping me going was my love for family and friends, I stopped exercising as I felt burnt out mentally. I had no real desire to do any of the things that I used to really enjoy. I felt stuck.

Over the Christmas period in 2022/23, my wife and I had a good talk about how I felt, and how it was having an effect on others. That night I recall ‘The Way’ was on tv and my wife suggested, ‘Why don’t you look about doing the Camino?”. From that moment on something clicked. I texted a friend, who had done it several times before, about the best time of year to do it. I then checked out flights from Dublin to Biarritz and the prices were very cheap. So I booked a one way flight right then. If it didn’t work out I wouldn’t be out a fortune.

I watched endless Youtube videos on what to pack, learned some basic spanish phrases (Una cerveza por favor being the one I always remember!! ), filled my back-pack and done several long distance training walks, booked some accommodation for the first few days and had the journey of a lifetime.

You can read my adventure on my previous posts, but I can only say that it changed me for life. Having the time to just get up and walk everyday, have a coffee or a beer in the sun, meet new people everyday and meet up with friends you make along the way that then become your camino family. I met a large bunch of people from all corners of the world who I still keep in contact with regularly. The experience humbled me completely and gave me a renewed faith and hope.

So now I sit here updating this blog (with difficulty) and going back to do another Camino. This time along the Portuguese coast from Porto to Santiago. Slightly over half the distance of the French Camino at 265km. This should take around 12 days and I cannot wait to get started. I have a good friend doing this one with me in Stephen who has also had a transplant, so I’m sure we can look out for each other and enjoy the freedom a camino brings.