CREDIT: TOURISM SPAIN
Susie Mah dreams of walking the Camino de Santiago trail.

I want to walk the Camino de Santiago trail. It's a traditional pilgrimage hike of about 800 km from the southern border of France over the Pyrenees Mountains, across the top of Spain to Santiago de Compostela, where the bones of St. James are kept in a cathedral.

I heard about this ancient route years ago and recently have been reading people's accounts of walking it and browsing websites on the subject. It sounds amazing: you can start from many points along the way but basically once you're there you get up at the crack of dawn and walk four or five hours a day (25 km each day) to get from one refugio (hostel) to another.

You meet fellow pilgrims and hikers from all over the world. You brave the elements along some gorgeous country roads and through quaint Spanish villages. You see marvelous cathedrals, castles and architecture. You can lose up to a pound a day!

Of course, you can also get tired, hot or frozen (depending on the time of year you do this) and develop shoulder aches, back aches, shin splints and badly blistered feet. Your toenails can come off. You might get lice. Pilgrims have died en route from heart attacks, hypothermia and even getting struck by cars.

But you can also find peace and serenity, work through emotional baggage, get away from the stresses of your life and get in touch with yourself again. Or just feel so alive, with all your senses sharpened and appreciative of the magic of strange surroundings and a different atmosphere.

That's what travel is all about, experiencing life beyond your ordinary everyday. It's so exciting!

The first time I travelled, I took a Contiki 27-day bus tour around Europe. It was literally waking up in a different city and country every two or three days. I quickly learned to ditch the tour (after finding out where we were spending the night) to go off exploring the museums and sights on my own.

The second time I toured Europe with my husband and our ninemonth- old daughter in a frontpack and a borrowed deux chevaux (that's a really cool car with rods in the dash to shift gears!). Jasmine is swearing revenge on us for taking her through Germany, France, Italy and Austria when she was too young to remember it. Ah well, I know she'll get there herself one day.

I've camped with the kids and taken long road trips across Canada and into the States, but I long to just have a backpack and be in Europe again. I could use a shucking off of my past and be a mysterious new person, capable of anything!

Camino de Santiago, what would it be like? What would I be like? I can hardly wait to find out.

Everyone, go see the world. Don't forget to plan an adventure when you get out of school. Travel now. Travel soon.

Susie Mah is President of the Fanshawe Adult Social Club. Email her at ascfanshawe@hotmail.com.