I woke up on May 26, 2024 at 6AM on a Sunday morning, in a hotel in central Porto, Portugal to begin a journey unlike any I had ever attempted in my 40 years of life. I packed my bag, tied my seashell to my backpack, and began the 174 mile journey on foot to Santiago, Spain via the Camino de Santiago Portuguese Coastal Way.
The weather was sunny with a cool breeze coming in off of the Atlantic ocean. There was the excitement of the unknown in the air and the far off concern of "Can I really do this?" in the back of my mind. I have been on week long hiking trips in the US where I drive to a trail head, put in 8-14 or so miles a day for a few days and then spend a few weeks recovering. This time it was different. No transportation other than my two feet, no certainty about where I would sleep or eat at the end of each day, and not in my native country, language, or culture.
Day one was 14 miles along the coastline of Northern Portugal, over boardwalks and sand dunes. Just the beginning of the wake, walk, rinse, repeat I would experience for the next 13 days back-to-back. By day 8 I was questioning myself as I had an 18-mile, mountainous hot death march through the backcountry behind the Vigo river in Southern Spain. This day didn't almost break me but it really pissed me off. I remember getting over the mountains and heading down into the City of Vigo. It was Sunday, it was really hot, and I was passing the smells of backyard bbq's, families laughing around tables set for Sunday dinner, and all other energetic frequencies of Sunday - the day of rest. I was covered in dirt and drenched in sweat and completely exhausted. This was also the first day I was completely alone on the trail. I'm not a huge fan of doing things alone but that is for another blog!
After this day however, things started to feel more routine and my body was adjusting to the pace although starting to form the first of my blisters on this trip. It was feeling more natural to get up and move this much every day. To be in the sun, rest in the shade and in little cafe's with other Pilgrims, and to zone out from point A to point B-letting only the wind, waves, and birds count cadence for me. One day, I actually put earbuds in and felt like I was in a montage of an inspirational film. Watching the landscape pass by as I flew past other Pilgrims, all if not most showing the fatigue of nearing the end of the journey but still putting one foot in front of the other. Realizing that everyone is on this journey with me and yet all in their own unique ways and for their own unique reasons. Very inspirational!
I met some interesting individuals along the way who were all so unique in their life experiences as well as their reasons for being there. There are just as many unique reasons one does a Camino as there are unique people on the planet. Religious, relationships, death, health, new jobs, new dreams!
I had left my intentions open so that the Camino could show me why I was there. Little did I know most of those reasons would only reveal themselves weeks or months after I reached Santiago De Compostela. I was having a blast but ready for it to be over by the time I reached the end. I walked into the big courtyard in front of the cathedral after arguably the longest at hottest day of the trip and for the first time during the journey-I cried. I cried because that little voice in the back of my head that had a list of all the times in my life I lost interest and didn't finish something had disappeared. It was replaced with "Of course you did it!" and "You can do absolutely anything!"
One thing I heard often on this journey was that THE REAL CAMINO STARTS AFTER THE CAMINO and I never doubted it. There wasn't a lot of time to think on this journey for me. What the physical part of it did for me was remove all my bullshit that I can't do the things I want to do, or do things that are hard. I proved those things wrong forever. After I completed the Camino I flew to Florence, Italy and then took train to Cortona (a tiny village on a hill in Tuscany) to spend a week to myself. I mostly slept and ate great Italian food and gave my body reward and rest for a job well done.
As I sit to recall the lessons I learned from the Camino they are as follows:
When a goal is non-negotiable, you just do what you have to do to reach it. We negotiate with our dreams way too much!
Everyone's on a journey and we spend way too much time comparing and judging our own and each other's. Your journey is unique and it's supposed to be. Things also happen for a reason so don't judge why things are going a certain way for someone else. They are where they are supposed to be, and you are where you are supposed to be.
One foot in front of another is the only thing you need to worry about. The direction works itself out at the end of the day-all you need to do is show effort.
When you reach a steep hill in life just say onwards and upwards and get excited for the top instead of cursing each hard step to get there. It's a privilege to event attempt a hill.
Purpose is not eternal. It is more so a seasonal thing for some of us and that's ok. We are liminal beings and sometimes you need to separate yourself from your environment to feel into something new.
Would I do it again, 100% and I will do many of them! There are 281 Caminos currently going through 29 different countries spanning over 51,500 miles. The new daily adventures and the opportunity to unplug from the world and reset your body and soul is a priceless experience. It felt like returning to the way we are supposed to live-naturally, in the moment, and committed to that spark that illuminates all of us.
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