Europe 2009 Part One

The figurative me is out on the plains in Wyoming. I have walked 931 miles since leaving my home in Alameda. Part of this steps the literal me took were in Europe in December. I will be in Laramie in 97 miles. So here’s part one of that trip report.

We all take pilgrimages. It seems to be in our nature. I am, however, uncertain whether our pilgrimage treks are really religious in nature. Of course, I belong to a religious tradition which does not really have a pilgrim tradition. I guess folks may travel to Salt Lake City, but there is nothing there which isn’t available anywhere else. And Salt Lake City is cold in winter and hot in summer. And really boring in all weather. And you certainly can live a complete life as a Latter-day Saint without making the trek to Salt Lake City.

This is not to say that pilgrimages do not have a religious component. I was reminded of this pious motivation when Dorey and I were in St. David’s, Wales a few years ago. The saying there is that two pilgrimages to St. David’s equals one pilgrimage to Rome. So, yes, pilgrims can believe that they honor God by traveling on the road.

Yet, I think that even more than a religious urge, I think that pilgrims go on these travels to say we have gone. Or even more likely, we go to show off our souvenirs on our return. The pilgrims who traveled from France to Santiago de Compostela used to pick up sea shells--known as St. James’ shells--to show off to their neighbors on their return to France. Since I have rarely read about the religious experiences of these pilgrims, and have heard a lot about the sea shells, I have come to believe that they mostly went to Santiago de Compostela to pick up the shells, and any religious motivation for taking the road south out of Paris was purely secondary.

Our trip to Europe in December 2009 was as close to a religious pilgrimage as I am ever going to take--if one counts a family feeling as a religious sentiment. We were going to Denmark, the old homeland. Several of my ancestors joined the Mormon church and left Denmark to make their trek to Salt Lake City. We were also going to Sweden. Now Sweden is another homeland, one which we in my family barely acknowledges. But it is Dorey’s homeland. On this trip, we were also going to Germany, which is not a homeland in any sense of the word. And France, which is. And Belgium, which isn’t. And England, which is another spot which my ancestors left. Yet even though it was going to be a religious trek in one sense, it was, I must admit, a trip motivated to pick up a few wares to show off on our return.