The Man With Nothing...

We had just arrived at the first alburgue, or hostel, in Leon, Spain. This was the first city and starting point for the Camino de Santiago. The alburgues were "host houses" sometimes sponsored by the government, sometimes private and other times by a religious order. This particular one was run by a group of nuns. They had multiple rooms filled with bunk beds for pilgrims top stay the night for only a donation.

The three other guys and myself wearily entered the largest of the rooms with probably more than 50 bunk beds. Because of the vast amount of pilgrims during the summer, each pilgrim reserves his bed by simply placing his pack on the bed. It is then easy to see which beds are taken and which are available. I found a top bunk with a small book on it, and thought someone had just sat it down but had no intention to reserve the bed with a small book. As I has getting up onto the bed, a man with long hair and a beard came walking into the room and yelled politely in Spanish that I was getting onto his bed. He pointed to the next one over and told me that I could sleep there.

That night I went through my bag to see what I could get rid of, because a short walk through the city proved to me that I had well over packed and there was no way I was going to carry all that I had another 200 miles! I noticed this man next to me just lying there reading his book. I asked where his pack was. "I don't have one." What? He is going to do the whole Camino with no pack? No change of clothes? Nothing? Like I said we had 200 miles to go and 12 days of straight walking, and this man had nothing to his name but the clothes he had on his back and a small book.

I grabbed one of the shirts I had decided to get rid of and offered it to him. He politely accepted the humble gift.

The next day we both went on our way, and we did not run into each other the rest of the way.

12 days and 200 miles later in the streets of Santiago, I saw the "Man with Nothing" walking by with the shirt I had given him! Overwhelmed with joy I yelled in his direction and ran after him. In a couple awkward seconds I reminded him who I was and pointed at the shirt that he was wearing. We laughed together, shared a hug and snapped a quick photo.

---

It's funny to think that sometimes we just want to get rid of something because we have too much, and that something can sometimes change the life of another, even in a minor way. The "Man with Nothing" taught me a valuable lesson that day. What I may not need, others might.