Thursday · September 3, 2026 · Day 16 · 20.5 Miles
Hey you, it's me. 🤎
Camino Day 16
I'm not even sure what day I'm on anymore. I think it's Day 16. 😂 At this point, I genuinely have to ask my Chad.
But today was different.
I rode 20.5 miles, and dare I say it... piece of cake, slice of pie. 😂
I know. Who even am I?
Because I keep thinking about the girl who got on this bike on Day 1.
I was terrified.
The traffic scared me. The sound of cars coming up behind me scared me. I was nervous about the hills, getting lost, whether my body could actually do this, and probably 47 other things I've conveniently forgotten. 😂
I remember looking straight ahead and barely noticing anything around me. I had one goal: just keep going.
And today, I caught myself doing something completely different.
I've been using my Meta glasses to dictate little notes while I ride, so today I was basically writing this letter to you while riding my bike through Spain. It still sounds a little crazy when I say it out loud.
I was telling you about the flowers along the road and the fog hanging over the mountains. I noticed the wind in my hair. I watched the landscape change as I went up and down the hills.
And yes, the cars were still passing me.
They just weren't the only thing I could see anymore.
I think that's when it hit me.
The traffic didn't have to disappear for me to start seeing the mountains.
Maybe fear is like that.
Sometimes we wait to feel completely comfortable before we believe we've changed. I'm learning that growth can happen while the thing that scares us is still right there.
You just keep going.
One pedal at a time. One hill at a time.
Eventually your mind starts to adapt. The sounds that once made your whole body tense become familiar. Your confidence starts catching up with you.
And one day you realize you're looking around again.
I've learned that about pace too.
I'm riding with someone, and I used to feel like I needed to keep up. Now, if I need to stop, I stop.
Go ahead. I'll catch up.
Maybe I want to take a picture, need water, catch my breath, or simply pause to realize I'm cycling across Spain at 44 years old. 😂
Why am I rushing through THAT?
The map is always telling me what comes next. How many miles are left, how long it should take, how fast I'm going, where I need to turn.
Life does that too, doesn't it?
We get so focused on where we're supposed to be going that we forget to turn around every once in a while and see where we've already been.
So today, I'm not really celebrating the 20.5 miles I rode.
I'm celebrating the 222 miles I've already ridden.
And I need to sit with that one for a minute.
222 miles.
There were days I wasn't sure I could keep doing this. My shoulder hurts. My knee hurts. My body is tired.
And somehow, I'm grateful for all of it.
In two days I'll turn in Ike, and I already know I'm going to have feelings about that ridiculous bike. 😂
Around the same time, I'll be finishing the final edits of Silent to Spoken.
I don't think it has fully hit me that those two things are ending together.
Maybe that's why today felt a little different.
For most of this journey, I've written to you after the day was over.
Today, I brought you with me.
You were there when I noticed the flowers. You were there when I looked up at the fog over the mountains. You were there as the cars passed and the wind blew in my hair.
And I hope that when you read this, you can somehow feel a little of what I felt out there.
I love y'all. Truly.
This journey has meant so much to me, and I don't think I even understand all the reasons why yet.
But I know this much.
If you've been staring at what's ahead and wondering how in the world you're going to get there, keep going.
And every once in a while, turn around. Because the miles behind you deserve to be celebrated too.
You might be so busy worrying about how far you have left to go that you haven't stopped long enough to realize how incredibly far you've already come.
That's what this journey is teaching me today.
Turn around for a minute with me.
What are the miles behind you that deserve to be celebrated? Not what's left. What you have already ridden.
Write Me Back ↓I hope you have a fabulous weekend ahead. I start walking Monday. 🥹🐚
Sending Care from the Camino 🤎🐚
I love you; just stay sweet ~ Jenn
P.S. Somewhere between learning to ride with the traffic, finding my own pace, and realizing I've already ridden 222 miles across Spain, I keep thinking about Silent to Spoken.
I wrote so much of that book about finding your voice, trusting yourself again, and having the courage to keep moving forward when you can't see exactly where the road is taking you.
And now I'm out here living some of those words in ways I never expected.
In two days, I'll turn in Ike. Around the same time, I'll be finishing the final edits of Silent to Spoken: A Woman's Journey Through the Pause.
Two endings happening almost at once.
And then Monday, I start walking. 🥹🐚
I have a feeling this journey still has a lot left to say.
Silent to Spoken comes October 6. 🤎
The deeper we dive, the sweeter it gets.
What Are the Miles Behind You?
Turn around and tell me what you have already ridden. Nobody else sees this.