In Carrion de Los Condes, I got a message that my father-in-law had died, one month short of his 98th birthday. (He hadn’t been the same since he fell out of a tree he was pruning at 94.) I decided that my place is with the family now – the permanent one, not the ephemeral Camino one.

So, I would walk another full day (which turned out to be that perfect day on the meseta) and a half day ending in Sahagun which has a Renfe train station. I would pass the halfway mark, having walked 400 km in 3 weeks. With 1 rest day, that was an average of 20 km/day.

I am content with the decision and will simply go on to the next activity. I considered whether I could just take a week off and then return. I could skip ahead and even join some of the people I’ve met. However, I feel that this particular journey is complete and I don’t need to cross a finish line with them.

Now I will start planning for 2015.