What inspired you to walk the Camino de Santiago?

What do you hope to accomplish?

What do want to improve about yourself?

My first reason for walking I talked about on my first camino, below is the initial reason for the camino:

In February 2004 I was riding my motorcycle when a truck swerved into my lane from oncoming traffic. He hit me. I almost lost my leg. I was airlifted to the hospital and put in ICU for three weeks hovering between life and death. Told my leg would never function again. Doctors insisted I amputate my leg. I refused. I spent several more weeks in the hospital. Then several months flat on my back in bed. All this time the “Professionals” kept scheduling amputation surgery which I just kept refusing. Then I was in a wheel chair for a few years. After an amazing doctor was able to graft bone into my leg where I was missing about 1.5″. Needless to say over the last few years leading up to this adventure on the Camino I have had 21 operations to reconstruct my leg. Walking on my own two feet became my dream. In August 2011 I had an operation to remove a metal plate from my upper leg. Suddenly I wasn’t having nearly as much pain from walking and my knee seemed to improve. It was the first time I considered the Camino since before my accident. To me a walk around the grocery store could sometime lay me up for two days. When I first told people what I wanted to do by flying to Spain I pretty much got the same response… Is that safe? Are you sure this is wise? What if you have a medical problem when you get there? etc etc etc…. Hell, even though I wouldn’t admit it I was questioning myself. Bottom line, in my head anyway, was to just attempt to walk the pilgrimage road was a victory. Yes it could be expensive to fly around the world to step off the plane and start walking and have to fly right home again. Yes I could have problems. But I kept thinking; The doctors always told me it would never be possible for my leg to be a functional limb again. Too much arterial damage. Too much bone damage. Not enough muscle tissue left. So considering all that if I only take a few steps it is still more then was considered possible by everyone around me. That was the first reason. The second big reason is I wanted a new chapter in my life. Anyone that has gone through recovery and endless surgeries or chemotherapy knows that it fills every aspect of your life. I wanted a defining moment to say: I did it. I reached my goal. I am walking on my two feet when everyone said it was impossible. I needed something bigger then the memory of the cycle of operations and recovery.

This camino was to focus on any emotional things I needed to release from my life.