Hello,
Let me introduce to you: myself. My name is Fenugreek. I’m not a native speaker of English, forgive me my mistakes or weird sentences.
For the sake of grabbing your attention: this story starts on the moment we closed the door of our residency behind us and started walking. Before I start with that, this is an introduction. A little bit of context.
What did you do?
I have no idea how well-known the Way of Saint James is across the world. It’s a network of paths all leading to the city Santiago de Compostela, in Galicia. Spain. Millions of pilgrims have walked on these paths on their way to the remains of Saint James/Saint Jacques/Santiago.
We walked 2714 km/1686 miles. This is a very rough approximate. Here’s some other facts: it took us 137 days to walk from a town from the center of the Netherlands to northwestern Spain. Our end goal was Finisterre. We walked across the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Spain. During the summer and the fall of 2017. It was good.
We followed a path that many other pilgrims had walked before us. Paths full of history. Yet I know close to nothing about that history. Not enough to paint a picture. Maybe I'll get into it later.
We felt incredibly good about ourselves. We got rid of our mortgage by selling our house, which we referred to as ‘our comfy prison’ and put all our daily duties on hold for an indefinite amount of time. We gave many of our earthly belongings away, but most of it we kept. We were still materialists after all. It was stored in the house of my father-in-law. He has plenty of unused space. We live there now. It’s also where we started our walking journey.
What did you expect?
No clue had I. Not about when we would arrive, or how many months it would take us and how it would change me. I hoped for change. That was what it was about for me: true change.
What I expected was a great experience and a fit body. Fitter than I’d ever feel it. My mind was supposed to clear up. I wanted to get rid of the fogs and the exhaustion. Away from society and his unspoken demands. Changing some habits, reinventing myself. You know, what everybody secretly longs for. I was going to get it.
We quit smoking tobacco and weed, and also we agreed not to drink alcohol. Nor did we allow ourselves to use any means of transport other than our own legs. We were expecting to thrive on our new lifestyle. Being outside all day, away from the drugs and the poison. Eating healthy. Being together and alone.
Who are you
We, that is me, Fenugreek. And Kristian. We have been sharing our lives for a long time now. Seven years, more or less. We are somewhere around 30 years old. During our walk we had sex only a couple of times. We get along well.
We are in quite a unique position. We don’t have to work. We’re almost independent. I have a small enterprise where I sew and sell fabric zipper pouches. They’re so simple and plain made, but very well done. Every pouch is at least made with a lot of attention by me. It’s not my passion but it gives me freedom. I sell them online, they’re shipped all over the world but mostly overseas to the United States.
Kristian has a company which connects people. He sells contact information. He has a database full of people who want to come in touch with each other. His customers pay money to be in that database and have access to the database.
He got this idea over fifteen years ago, he was way ahead of his time it seems to me now. Now it’s the commonest revenue model ever.
Anyway it was a smart move because after that he got to sit on his ass and do whatever. Nowadays his website is declining but he doesn’t care anymore. Het let go. His competitors put more effort into it than he did. They grow, he shrinks. But it still brings in a bit of money, which is plenty for now.
We live with the father of Kristian. Joseph is his name and he’s severely disabled. Thanks to all the care he gets, he’s still able to live in his own house, alone. He only occupies the ground floor, since he’s not able to use the stairs. We inhabit the first floor and the attic. That gives us cheap living for now, and we get to keep Joseph company because he is kind of alone.
How you spend your days now since you're back home
Kristian is sitting in the attic for the better part of the day, smoking joints and watching conspiracy theories and crypto news.
I too, smoke joints. It’s our antidepressant. It helps us to stay out of the matrix. Yes, I know that’s just an excuse probably for our weed addiction.
But I stopped consuming coffee, cigarettes, alcohol, most processed sugars. Also meat, dairy, eggs and all other animal products and processed foods in general. So I got rid of some addictions. Still very receptive for sugar though. But many cravings I replaced with green love. I have a theory. We are all addicted to something. Do you know a person who’s without addiction?
My days are filled with reading, visiting people, going on short trips, walking outside and smoke weed, drinking tea, watching informative videos. Kristian and I do a lot of things together. We spend most days together. It’s insane that we’re not sick of each other. During our walk I fell in love with somebody else. He appears in our story when we’re about to enter Spain, around a hundred days of walking.
I’m trying to find my way in this crazy world. It’s not easy. When I’m outside walking, I see every piece of garbage on the streets and in the bushes. I feel responsible for it, simply for noticing it. Sometimes I pick it up, usually I don’t. But I notice. I notice all the toilet paper I use, and then multiply it to the rest of the world who wipes their asses with trees. I see all the vegetables in the supermarket, wrapped up in double layers of plastic and then imagine how most of the world doesn’t seem to notice. Whenever I see something it reminds me of the endless things I don’t see now, but yet – they are there, having a destructive impact. I look through the window of a fast food restaurant. People put dead and tortured animals in their mouths, and I understand what cruelty lies underneath and I know this is just one restaurant. There are millions all over the world. It’s all drops in the ocean. Together we are the sea.
It’s like first I was blind and now I can see.
Why are you here
Anyway. I thought it would be nice to share some of my experiences with you. The things I learned from walking the longest walk of my life so sar. I’m introvert. We don’t know each other, so I won’t feel like I have to hold back. It’s what I have been doing for so long: holding back. And since this year I feel the urge of sharing. Now is the time to act upon it. And practice my English writing skills.
So. This is it. Finally I’m free. Free to think my thoughts. Free to say what I wish. Free to share with the world.
Power to the people!