The Camino de Santiago is a microcosm of life, allowing for its scrutiny and appreciation as the pilgrim’s mind is left free to wander during the hours of walking. In this final instalment of my Camino de Santiago 2023 series, I’ll be sharing the things that I came to realize during the five-day journey that my husband and I made last month.

“El camino es más importante que aquello que te llevó a caminar”

“The journey is more important than that which brought you to undertake it” - we came across this nugget of wisdom as we were passing through Narón. While it might be tempting to dismiss it merely as a set of words strung together to form yet another platitude, the depth of its meaning shouldn’t be diminished by lumping it together with other products of today’s dismally shallow marketplace of ideas.

It caught my attention because it provides another dimension to (arguably) the most universal of clichés, “life is a journey” - which is also the very cliché that best describes how I view the Camino.

The Beginning of the Journey

No one chose to be born. No matter how we came to be in this world, we were all just thrown into existence.

The question is - how important are the circumstances of our conception and birth when it comes to determining what we ourselves make of the life we got?

In the same way, how important are our motives for going on a journey like the Camino? Should it matter if we undertook the journey as a religious pilgrimage, a breather, an escape, a duty, an adventure, a quest to find inner peace, a means to recalibrate our internal compass?

While we always need to recognize that the accident of birth that bestows favourable odds to some also cause such odds to be tragically stacked against others, we can find some solace in the thought that each one of us has the potential to change the course of the path that our lives would likely take - for better or for worse.

At the end of the day, the journey itself is both the mission and, depending on what we make of what we received, the reward or the punishment. In my experience, the Camino became a reward only when I took it as it was, and not what I thought it should be.

The Journey

As I mentioned in my previous post, pilgrims quickly settle into a daily routine during the Camino. This is exactly what life ends up being for people - a sum of routines established over days, weeks, months, years and decades. Even the nomad eventually ends up in some kind of routine, predictable or not.

What, then, makes the journey special and worth making?

The small yet good things.

In my experience, the many hours of walking on the Camino are a great opportunity to appreciate the things that really matter, as being out in the country just has the effect of liberating the mind from the shackles of those things that we have been conditioned to believe are essential to our lives.

The small things that seemed so trivial and that we usually take for granted become the very things that make the journey worthwhile, such as:

• Being caught offguard when your nose suddenly catches the sweet smell of flowers.
• Finding that the water in your flask is still ice cold despite the hours you’ve spent under the sun.
• Just being in the presence of someone who fills your heart with such peace and quiet joy, with whom you can share the experience.

The journey, like life, is filled with these small things whose goodness and simple beauty are often obscured from view by marketed pleasures.

Those that help us convert brief moments into small eternities.

The transient nature of journeys is a reminder of how impermanent everything is, and that nearly everything and almost everyone we encounter along the way fade into distant memories after a brief moment (“¡Buen camino!”).

While this means that no suffering goes on forever, it also means that moments of joy are fleeting. Realizing that we are but mere specks of dust in the wind tend to cause us to yearn for something to hold on to, for something that won’t be carried away by the continuous flow of time, for something meaningful and real in our dreamlike existence, for something that endures even after the journey is over.

I found that something in the people I cherish the most in my life - my angel of a husband, as well as my dear ones back in my country of birth and here in my adoptive country (two of whom lovingly looked after our old cat both times we were on our Camino journey).

While all of us will return to dust eventually, the cherished moments of love and friendship will last forever in our mortal consciousness. And, truly, that is enough.

The End of the Journey

A feeling of loss upon arriving in Santiago de Compostela is not uncommon among pilgrims, and I certainly felt it too. The majesty of the cathedral was underwhelming compared to the beauty of the Galician countryside and all the experiences I had along the way. After all, it’s hard to beat the exhilirating experience of being on an almost week-long adventure with my husband, one that made me feel so much more connected with him and with myself.

I think the saddest thing about coming to the end of our Camino came from the realization that we were no longer living through a novel experience and generating new memories. Having said that, this realization was also a good starting point in viewing daily life differently, in such a way that makes moments in my life journey feel novel as often as possible, as if I were creating great memories every day.

That makes the inevitable end of the journey more bearable.

Cliché, But True: “Life is a Journey…

To sum things up and, more importantly, to end this article on a more joyful note, I’m sharing the some pictures of the places that my mind wandered off to during this Camino.

… so Be With The Right Person”

I’m truly blessed to be married to such a wonderful husband who radiates such light that I’m privileged to be able to see it and bask in it, and it is his light that fills my otherwise monochromatic journey with amazingly vivid colors.

However, “being with the right person” is much easier said than done, and so, until you do find them, the right person should be the best version of yourself.

… so Be Prepared to Adapt Along the Way”

There is no manual on how to get through life, and even if there was one, it will always be filled with endless surprises, both lovely and nasty, that you really just need to accept that you have to make it up as you go along.

… so Free Yourself of Unnecessary Burden”

There will always be nasty stuff that comes our way, and they always pose burdens that make our individual journeys so much more difficult. The trick is to only shoulder the burdens that matter, and rid yourself of the unnecessary ones. Just like the way my husband and I decided to focus on shouldering only our mental burdens during our Camino, instead of carrying physical ones in the form of backpacks.

… so Pause and Smell the Flowers”

And while you’re at it, listen to the birds sing too. In order to do that, though, you have to deliberately pause and pay attention.

… so Do Your Best and Just Keep Going”

You’ll get there in the end, as long as you have the will and strength to put one foot in front of the other, while doing your best not to twist your ankle. Take your time and take after yourself - after all, life is a marathon and not a sprint.

… so Dedicate Time to Rest”

Even the Lord rested on the seventh day. And remember to also frequently rest your mind and spirit.

… so Make Each Day the Destination”

Instead of being fixated on reaching a majestic cathedral that’s a hundred kilometers away, maybe enjoy the views of pastures with funny-looking farm animals right in front of you - they may end up being the best memories of your journey.

¡Buen Camino!

This wraps up my series on this year’s Camino de Santiago - a journey unlike any other.