It can be hard to hear your thoughts amid the bustle of traffic, the hum of fluorescent lights and the constant chatter of the radio.

That’s why Guy Thatcher took his journey of self-discovery all the way to Spain, seeking a month of solitude away from the trappings of civilization along the Camino de Santiago, a 1,000-year-old pilgrimage route.

The 70-year-old walked 701 kilometres in 31 days, about the equivalent of walking from Ottawa to New York City.

The incredible physical journey was paired with a spiritual one: along the way, between new friends and food, the Kanata man had time to contemplate life, death and everything in between.

Thatcher shares it all in his new book, A Journey of Days: Relearning Life’s Lessons on the Camino de Santiago.

The book – both touching and funny – reads like an intimate tour diary with Thatcher’s day-by-day account of his experience soaked in wine and culture, plotting both cultural sites and intellectual ponderings along the path from St. Jean Pied-de-Port to Santiago de Compostela.

Thatcher is signing copies of his book at Chapters Kanata tomorrow, Nov. 22, from 1 to 3 p.m.

“It was really a journey of philosophy,” he said. “A journey of silence.”

“When you drive a long distance, you get into this Zen state,” he said, but noted that you’re still preoccupied with your steering wheel, brake, speedometer and radio.

It’s a much different experience walking a long, seemingly endless road, in utter solitude. Your mind “goes somewhere else.”

“You really have time to think about everything that bubbles up,” he said.

Some of the thoughts that bubbled up included ponderings on the meaning of life and the human experience – moments of inspiration that might have otherwise eluded him in Kanata.

“I was just open to anything that came,” he said.

Thatcher would walk alone for hours at a time, hearing nothing but the birds, wind and the sound of his own footsteps. But even footsteps, at times, were arduous.

At 70 years old, Thatcher pushed his body to the limit walking on average more than 20 kilometres a day.

At what he calls both the high and low point of his journey, Thatcher developed a relatively serious leg injury. His left shin became swollen, hard and “really painful to touch.”

“I bitterly regret my arrogance of yesterday, thinking that an old fart like me could walk thirty-eight kilometres and not have to pay for it,” he writes in his book. “How on earth will I go on?”

He did go on, managing to travel 701 kilometres in 31 days, chalking up the amazing feat to a lifetime of good fitness.

He trained as a member of Canada’s armed forces as a tank officer, helicopter pilot, anti-tank missile instructor and computer analyst until he retired in 1980.

“I’ve been fairly active and fit my whole life but you never know,” he said.

Surprisingly, his family had no serious reservations about the trip either.

Thatcher’s daughter later told him: “Dad, I never doubted that once you decided to do it, you’d do it.”

RELIGION

Identifying himself as a humanist and non-religious person, Thatcher had a chance to really ponder his views on the after-life.

“Part of my problem is the remarkably arrogant belief that, out of all the species of animals on the earth, only humans get to go to Heaven,” he writes in A Journey of Days.

He considered the possibility that all life’s energy – from plants to animals – could return to the Earth’s biosphere after death to be divided up into other forms from cats to car tires.

But it wasn’t all about deep meditations. Thatcher also had a lot of fun along the way, joined by three young companions that considered him a philosopher – a surprising title for the former military man and management report writer.

“I’m really grateful I met you,” one of his fellow travelers later wrote in a letter. “I’d like to be a little like you when I’m “old” (I know you are not really “old,” I just mean “rich in years.””

The journey and the people he met along the way have had a profound impact on Thatcher’s life.

“It re-confirmed my belief that most people are good,” he said. “Everytime I give a presentation, there are bits where I get choked up.”

Though Thatcher doesn’t recommend the grueling trek for everyone, he thinks people should take their own journeys in life.

“Do,” said Thatcher. “Don’t lie on your death bed wishing you’d done.”

The book is available at Chapters Kanata or through the Rotary Club of Ottawa and Hospice at May Court, where some proceeds will be donated.

For more on A Journey of Days, visit www.guythatcher.com.