Within the six months since I boarded my flight dwelling from Spain to the USA, my thoughts has swirled with reflections on my expertise strolling the Camino de Santiago. After I first arrived dwelling, I questioned if the 500-mile, 33-day pilgrimage would immediate a significant epiphany or spur an enormous life change once I returned to my life in Los Angeles, California.
Would I lace up my footwear and go for a protracted stroll each morning? Would I keep in contact with fellow pilgrims I met in France and Spain? Or would I return to my life and act like nothing had ever occurred?
Since returning, I’ve answered these questions and gained additional perception into the teachings the journey has meant for me and for a lot of others who’ve walked the Camino de Santiago.
What’s The Camino de Santiago?
Earlier than we begin, let’s speak a bit about The Camino de Santiago. Often known as the Means of St. James, it’s a community of pilgrimage routes resulting in the shrine of the apostle Saint James the Nice within the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, Spain.
This historic pilgrimage, which dates again to the Center Ages, attracts hundreds of pilgrims from around the globe every year. Historically undertaken for non secular causes, fashionable pilgrims additionally stroll the Camino for non secular progress, journey, and cultural exploration. The routes fluctuate in size and issue, with the preferred being the Camino Francés, which begins in St. Jean Pied de Port in France and spans roughly 500 miles (800 kilometers).
Jen Pellerito shares right here classes discovered by strolling this historic route, and now that we’ve got learn it, we’re extra decided to deal with this unimaginable pilgrimage in 2025! If you’re planning your Camino de Santiago hike, learn Jen’s submit about The place to Keep on the Camino de Santiago
Time strikes slower once you’re strolling
If you stroll the Camino, you’ll be able to cowl a distance of 5 to twenty miles per day, which takes anyplace from 5 to eight hours. It’s a stark distinction to routine life at dwelling, the place we will drive, fly, or prepare our means round.
If you stroll, you journey at a slower tempo. The results of actually transferring slower contributed to a way of getting extra time on my arms.
I felt like I may see the passage of time. I observed the the solar fell at totally different occasions of day, how the climate patterns modified, and the way the flowers bloomed as the times handed.
I discovered that nothing ever stays the identical. My each day routine continued to repeat itself, but every thing on the earth continued to evolve, even via seemingly mundane moments.
You’ll by no means take a look at your toes the identical means once more
On the Camino, my toes took a beating. It wasn’t simply blisters that grew to become a difficulty — it was the affect of strolling on laborious surfaces, particularly when going downhill. Learn extra tricks to Staying Secure and Wholesome on a Mountain climbing Journey
I noticed my toes swell like they’d by no means swollen earlier than. I noticed my toes bleed from blisters that risked an infection. And finally, I noticed my toes heal.
I spent hours worrying, speaking, and, sure—complaining—about my toes. For the primary time, I discovered how one can look after them.
I utilized Vaseline on my toes and heels a number of occasions a day and discovered about the very best kind of material to maintain them cool and as dry as doable in high-heat circumstances (it’s wool, by the way in which)!
I bandaged my toes, prayed for them, and thanked them once they finally grew to become stronger.
Your toes can take you a lot locations, however provided that you care for them alongside the way in which.
Group and connection
5 days into strolling, I used to be sitting in my Airbnb host’s sweltering kitchen, sweating bullets. My toes had been crammed with blisters, and my host was going to pop them for me. I used to be terrified. Take a look at Pack a Journey First Help Package
Admittedly, I’ve by no means handled blisters a lot in my lifetime. I knew nothing of how one can look after them, deal with them, or forestall an infection. Particularly in a state of affairs the place I wished to maintain on strolling – with no time to relaxation.
My host, who had been a nurse in her dwelling nation, spoke no English and little or no Spanish. She used a translation app on her cellphone to assist us talk in bite-sized phrases, one line at a time.
My head swam, queasy. Would this go terribly improper?
Lastly, after what felt like an hour going forwards and backwards via her translation app, she popped my first blister. Then the following. It damage loads lower than I imagined.
I’d simply met her moments earlier than, and he or she was caring for me in my most grotesque second. It introduced in an entire new degree of vulnerability and humility.
Strolling the Camino will present you that we’re all on this, collectively.
The Camino supplies
It’s not nearly foot care. Sharing meals, medication, language, and, merely, the corporate of others creates a community of care. On the Camino, assist isn’t simply out there; it’s given.
Individuals are able to look out for one another, proving that even once you’re strolling alone, you’re by no means really alone.
This spirit of camaraderie and help is what makes the Camino such a singular and particular expertise. Whether or not you’re a seasoned pilgrim or a first-timer, you’ll discover that there’s all the time somebody prepared to assist or share a form phrase.
As you make your means alongside the path, you’ll encounter individuals from all walks of life, every with their very own story to inform. Some are searching for non secular enlightenment, whereas others are merely searching for a brand new journey.
However it doesn’t matter what brings you to the Camino, everybody shares a typical bond of kindness and compassion.
All of us stroll the identical Camino
After I assume again to my time on the Camino, I bear in mind the times once I walked slower than many different pilgrims, even these many years older than me. However once I lastly neared the final stretch towards Santiago, I discovered my stride, I grew to become stronger, and I walked a lot sooner than I had earlier than.
Sure, some individuals nonetheless walked sooner than me—or twice so far as I did in a single day—however lastly, after weeks of strolling, the primary eight miles of the day grew to become a breeze, when it had as soon as been brutally unattainable.
This expertise taught me that life will not be a race. All of us progress at our personal pace, and there’s no worth in evaluating our paths to these of others. The Camino, very like life, is a private journey for every particular person.
Studying to maneuver in sync with others, fairly than in competitors, has introduced me peace and helped me settle for my present stage in life (my thirties) extra gracefully. It has additionally allowed me to understand my very own milestones with out measuring them up towards others’ successes.
Crucial factor is, we’re all united by one frequent objective — to achieve Santiago.
Reaching a objective takes time
I’ll admit it. I’m a perfectionist. After I fail, I fail laborious. I change into so defeated that I by no means need to strive one thing once more.
Strolling the Camino confirmed me that objectives are completed via 1,000,000 milestones alongside the way in which.
Someday at a time, I moved additional towards my objective of reaching Santiago de Compostela. I didn’t stop when it received laborious. I didn’t quit when it felt like I’d already failed.
Sure, I rested once I wanted to. I took the bus on the times once I fell unwell, and my toes couldn’t deal with the ache any longer.
However that’s not quitting.
The journey hammered dwelling the concept perfection isn’t the objective. Progress is the objective.
Every step moved me ahead. Large objectives get completed via small wins.
Actual energy isn’t about how far you’ll be able to stroll in someday. It’s about your persistence and adaptableness, regardless of the variety of miles.
You be taught to take heed to your physique
I took the bus once I actually needed to. I didn’t stroll each single mile of the Camino Frances, and it disillusioned me on the time. However now, I understand that understanding your physique’s limits is an indication of energy.
Recognizing when to push and when to pause is a type of knowledge.
On the Camino, I discovered how one can tune into what my physique was telling me. The occasional lengthy stretch of silence whereas strolling alone additionally helped me take heed to my ideas extra rigorously.
Balancing ambition with self-care continues to be a problem for me. In on a regular basis life, it’s simple to miss our limits to fulfill our personal or others’ expectations. On the Camino, I discovered to worth self-awareness and the braveness it takes to honor my wants.
Grief occurs each time anybody leaves us
On the Camino, you would possibly serendipitously find yourself strolling with the identical group of individuals. Pilgrims name this your “Camino household.” Some individuals stroll your complete means with the identical group, whereas others, for one purpose or one other, find yourself separating.
As I walked, I discovered myself weaving out and in of various teams, shortly clicking with people I’d simply met. However when the Camino broke into two sections, and my mates selected a distinct path, I needed to say goodbye. Saying goodbye to those newfound mates was powerful, like a mini heartbreak.
I questioned if our paths would ever cross once more. To me, it felt not in contrast to the grief I’ve felt when somebody near me has handed away. These moments on the Camino had been stark reminders of how swiftly connections can kind and the way painfully they will half, echoing the bittersweet actuality of the various relationships we’ve got all through our lives.
However extra importantly, the separation served as a reminder to reside within the current. I grew to understand the corporate of these I used to be with, within the second. Grief is a pure a part of the human expertise.
I discovered to cherish moments of connection, even when they had been fleeting, and make peace with the inevitability of change and loss.
Embracing the Journey Forward
Considering again on my month strolling the Camino de Santiago, the explanations for my journey have change into a lot clearer.
It’s like trying over your shoulder once you’re mountain climbing. If you’re strolling, you’re immersed within the mountains, and also you solely see rocks and filth. Miles later, the total view of these mountains turns into clear.
On the time, I couldn’t grasp the total affect it could have on me. Now, trying again, I can recognize the importance of the teachings discovered.
Distance helps you perceive the immensity of what you’ve gone via.
And so, the stroll continues, one step at a time.
