This week we became sort of an albergue (hostel) on the Camino de Santiago (Way of St. James Pilgrimage) when we welcomed my nephew Ian and his girlfriend Alba to our apartment. We were so happy to feed them, and offer a place for them to do laundry, rest and shower. Alba was especially grateful to soak in a hot bath and sleep in cotton sheets instead of a sleeping bag. In exchange, they shared their Camino adventures and insights with us and lit up our apartment with their laughter and enthusiasm. Ian, who is about the same age as our boys, turned 24 on the day after they arrived so Rocky baked him a Basque Cheesecake to celebrate.

Ian and Alba started the Camino in France a couple of weeks ago. The French Way is the most popular of the Camino routes and begins at Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port on the French side of the Pyrenees, crosses the mountains to Roncesvalles on the Spanish side and then travels another 780 km (484.67 miles) to Santiago de Compestela through the major cities of Pamplona, Logrono, Burgos and Leon. Typically, the full route takes at least four weeks, allowing for a few days of rest along the way. Pilgrims follow the sign of a scallop shell or a yellow arrow on much of the trail. Many also have a scallop shell hanging from the back of their backpacks.

One legend says that the Scallop Shell is a symbol whose lines represent the many different paths traveled by pilgrims from around the world, which all lead to the tomb of St. James in Santiago de Compostela.

Ian walked the final stage of the Camino, just over 100 km (62 miles) from Leon to Santiago, a few years ago. The last 8-10 days of the Camino is the most popular because it can be done in a shorter period of time. Along the way, peregrinos (pilgrims) carry a special Camino passport that gets stamped at each stop. In Santiago they enter the Office of the Peregrinos to validate their passport and recieve a certificate showing the completion of at least 100 km. While these shorter pilgrimages can still be inspiring and also associated with miracles, those who walk the full Camino often refer to these vacation pilgrims as “Tour-egrinos” instead of Peregrinos.

We’ve known a number of people who have enjoyed doing the Camino in stages, taking a week at a time and returning the following year to continue where they left off. Whenever they arrive in Santiago though, even non-Catholics find entering the Cathedral of Santiago de Compestela very emotional at the end of this pilgrimage. The remains of the apostle of St. James are thought to be buried in this cathedral and pilgrims have been making this spiritual journey since the 9th century.

Recently, when Ian found himself with a little time before starting a new job, he decided to walk the beginning portion of the Camino that he had not done on his last trip. On the spur of the moment, he invited Alba to join him and she happily, and rather spontaneously accepted.

Ian’s backpack weighs 18 pounds and Alba’s pack weighs roughly 15 pounds. They carry sleeping bags that they use on top of the mattresses in the hostels where they stay, as well as a few changes of clothes, water, packets of dried oatmeal, pea-powder for protein, a few other snacks and a stone they picked up when they started their journey.  One tradition dictates that you carry the rock with you to Santiago where you can leave it behind as a symbol of the burdens you are releasing. Ian and Alba have been following a guide book that lists not only route information but info on the albergues and the highlights to see along the way. A few Camino apps have also been helpful including Camino Ninja.

A couple of days into their journey, Alba’s left knee and calf started to ache so much that it slowed their progress substantially. Although originally from Peru, she had recently been living in Miami, which is very flat. As a result, she was not accustomed to hiking the kinds of elevation they encoutered early on the Camino. Rather than giving up when she started to hurt, they continued walking but stopped to rest more often. Instead of arriving at the albuergues in the afternoon as most pilgrims do, they would arrive around 7:30pm, just as the hostels were closing for the night.

One night they arrived at their destination exhausted and hungry, only to find that all of the hostels were full because there was a fiesta going on in that village. After walking all over town looking for any place to stay, they ended up sleeping in a park under the cover of a big tree. Ian, worn out after carrying both of their packs in order to lighten Alba’s load, fell asleep immediately. In Spanish they say, “Durmió como un tronco.” (He slept like a log.)  Alba slept very little that night, shivering in her lightweight sleeping bag and startled by every sound in the park. In the morning they woke up early and started walking to the next village hoping to find a place to sleep for the rest of the day.

In the light of day, they discovered they were only 2 km (1.24 miles) from the next village. If they would have walked just a little further the night before, they could have found shelter. They were grateful to find a place to rest and recover for the remainder of that day.

Along the way, Ian and Alba met other pilgrims from all over the world including from Korea, and Venezuela. As they walked through small villages, locals shouted encouragement with “Buen Camino!” (Good journey!)  or gifted them with ripe peaches or figs from their trees or a big juicy tomato from their garden. When Alba stopped to smell a beautiful pink rose, the home owner came out and cut it so she could take it with her. When it dried, Alba pressed it between the pages of their guide book as a keepsake.

In some albergues, they could order a Pilgrims Menu, a hearty meal fit for a hiker. Other places offered kitchens where they made their own pasta if they weren’t too tired. In one of their most memorable stops, the owner of the hostel served them a huge bowl of lentil stew  filled with vegetables, the perfect meal at the end of a long day of walking.

I marveled at their stories but was especially touched by an insight that Ian shared. He said every morning they would start off chatting easily with each other. (They usually speak Spanish to one another and consequently Ian’s Spanish is fabulous.) After they ran out of things to talk about, they would walk in silence, entertained only by their own thoughts. “Eventually,” he said, “you even run out of things to think about and you just have to pay attention to your steps.”

I realized he could just as easily be describing the stages of meditation. First you are distracted by the outside world, the sounds around you, etc.. Then you have to sit with the distractions in your own mind: your thoughts, worries, fascinations. In the end, you arrive at a place where the mind is so quiet that you can simply observe the movement of your breath. And then you get distracted again and start over. The benefits of medtiation happen over time, as you continulously return to emptying the mind. The Camino then becomes the perfect Walking Meditation, one step at a time.

Alba had a similar experience but when they ran out of things to discuss, she would sing. Finally, she exhausted the line-up of songs she knew and was forced to focus on each step, arriving at the same place: a quiet, focused mind. When she wasn’t singing, she said she also found herself praying.

The French Way typically delivers pilgrims to Burgos in 10-13 days depending on their pace. By the time Ian and Alba arrived there, she was in a great deal of pain. They decided she would need more than an overnight rest in a hostel if she were going to continue. Of course, we were delighted to be part of the solution and encouraged them to take a bus to Gijon to stay with us for as long as they needed to do so. I know they would have preferred to be able to walk every step, but I was proud of them for knowing when to take a break.

After a week of watching movies, eating good food, hanging out on our terrace, playing cards and even making a Peruvian feast for us, Alba and Ian were ready to return to the Camino. Since Ian had already done the end of the French Camino route years ago, they decided to switch to the Northern Route to finish. This would allow them to walk right out of Gijon to Avilés and continue their journey rather than returning to Burgos by bus to continue where they left off.

The Northern Route will take them through rural villages in Asturias, known as Green Spain because of its lush pastures and forests. From there they will follow a gorgeous coastal route into Galicia before going south to Santiago de Compostela.  The Northern Route re-joins their original Camino Francés in Arzúa, a couple of days away from Santiago. Ian and Alba hope to reach Santiago de Compostela by early November.

I have not walked the Camino yet, but their realizations made me wonder if the milagros (miracles) that are said to happen along the way are not unlike the changes that occur when you meditate?  Many people walk the Camino during times of transition: recovering from a divorce, grieving a death, anticipating a new job, contemplating the end of something, or trying to find your way in life.

The Camino is not alway scenic. In fact, there are long stretches of dry, boring terrain where the mind longs for relief or distraction. Maybe it is during those times when the outside world offers very little of interest that the inner world becomes more inviting. Maybe that is why so many pilgrims arrive in Santiago de Compestela with a sense of peace, renewed hope for the future, or answers to questions they have been holding onto for too long. While walking, they finally have time to quiet their minds.

Thanks in part to the movie, The Way that was released in 2010, more pilgrims than ever have taken this journey.  In the movie, an American doctor named Tom, played by Martin Sheen, travels to St. Jean Pied de Port, France to retrieve the body of his estranged son (played by Emilio Estevez). His son died in a storm in the Pyrenees while attempting the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compestela. Tom resolves to take the journey himself, in an effort to understand both himself and his son.

Since then, many other Camino-inspired movies have been released, as well as a new TV series, 3 Caminos that Rocky and I binge-watched recently. Most involve stories of pilgrims wrestling with big challenges that are resolved by continuing one step at a time towards Santiago de Compestela.

Because of the popularity of the pilgrimage, many guide books have been written for anyone who wants to do the pilgrimage on their own. Camino guide services have also been created that allow travelers the option of having the route, the hotels, the meals and rest stops fully planned for you by a professional. These often include a support van to carry your pack, serve you lunch and free you up to walk without the need for a heavy backpack. The support van is also available to drive you to the next stop if you’re too tired or sore to continue.

Our friend Judy Colaneri, who owns Spanish Steps, met her husband on the Camino decades ago when they were university students. Her husband, Juan Carlos, tells a story about first meeting Judy in a hostel a few days after beginning the Camino. He said he was trying to fall asleep and a bunch of very annoying American girls were laughing loudly in the next room. He entered their room and yelled at them to be quiet because the rest of the pilgrims were trying to sleep. The next day, fate brought Judy and Juan Carlos together as they found themselves walking side-by-side on the Camino. This time, their exchange was much more friendly and by the time they arrived in Santiago de Compostela, Juan Carlos was completely enamored of Judy, the American girl from Aspen, CO.

Now Judy hosts supported Camino trips following a variety of routes from France, Italy, Spain and Portugal. While Judy is on the road, Juan Carlos runs their hotel, Fuentes de Lucia in Faedo, Asturias where I’ve offered our Hiking and Yoga retreats since 2017. Judy loves discovering new routes for pilgrims and works hard to make the Camino accessible to people of all ages, backgrounds and abilities.

While I suppose the pilgrims who rough it on their own might look down on the supported trips, I love the idea that there are many paths to the same goal. Last year, when Wendy, a friend, was not able to return to Spain due to Covid to finish the Camino she started years ago, she created her own daily hiking schedule in Washington, where she lived. She walked the same amount of miles as she would have on the Camino and felt a great sense of accomplishment in the process.

Ultimately, what is important is not how much your backpack weighed, what route you chose, what kind of bed you slept in and whether you had an old sleeping bag or new cotton sheets and blankets, whether you ate well or lived on bread and cheese, or how long you walked, but rather the quality of your inner experience. Were you able to find quiet moments where your mind was still? Were you able to let go of repetitive conversations that you have been replaying endlessly in your mind, hoping for a different outcome? Were you able to put down the weight of your grief for even a few minutes and take in a new inspiring vista? Were you open to accepting the kindness of strangers along the way? If so, your Camino was a success.

One of these days, I hope I will also get the opportunity to walk the Camino. I will likely opt for the supported version though, because I think my hostel days are behind me. I do like a comfy bed, clean sheets and a hot shower.  Until then, Buen Camino, Pilgrims.

The lines of the shell represent the many paths traveled by pilgrims

Notes from the author:

Camino Guides: One of our friends, Sandy Brown is currently living in Italy and writing another Camino guide. He has already written quite a few guides about other routes. He and his wife, Theresa Elliott, did the Camino together in 2018 and I got to enjoy her perspective on the trip through her blog, as well.  Here are Theresa’s thoughts on the Camino. https://www.theresaelliottblog.com/general-1-1

Here is Sandy’s website which shows all of the Camino guide books he has written: https://caminoist.org/ 

Supported Camino Trips: As I mentioned earlier, if you love the idea of doing the Camino, but would like a bit more support along the way, I highly recommend Judy Colaneri, and her business Spanish Steps. https://spanishsteps.com/home/

Hiking in Spain: If you want to hike some of the most beautiful trails in Spain, including parts of the Camino, but prefer to sleep in a hotel at night, and do some yoga before hiking, please join me for the next Spain Hiking & Yoga Retreat September 2-9, 2022. https://globalyogatrips.com/yoga-hiking-in-northern-spain/

If you missed the blog about my last Spain Hiking & Yoga Retreat, follow this link: https://upanddowndog.com/raindrops-on-roses/