Buen Camino! Hiking the El Camino de Santiago.
Long days of hiking around 25 to 33km a day, sunrise, sunsets, cold 5:30am starts, blistering heat, sore legs & feet, lots and lots of blisters, community meals, card games, yoga with strangers, praying for people along the way.
This hiking journey was something else! I’ve done a couple hiking trips before but this one was different. It took us about 10 days to hike the El Camino de Santiago. We only completed a small leg of the hike. We went through Pamplona, Puente la Reina, Estella, Logroño, Nájera, Santo Domingo de la Calzada, Belorado, San Juan de Ortega and finally Burgos.
“Buen Camino” is what you say to everyone that you walk past. It means good road in Spanish, but also means good path. Generally, the main reason people were doing the Camino was because they were searching for something more, they were questioning their beliefs, they were getting rid of bad habits or bad influences. The main one reason that came up with the people I met was that they were searching for God or finding ‘something’ and that at the end of the long journey (that can take months to complete) they would find that ‘something’ that they were searching for.
My most favorite part about this whole journey of walking the camino is the people I met along the way. Listening to their stories, hearing about their past or why they are walking the camino. Praying for healing, strength or for their future. Having community meals when we stayed at the same hostel. Long night chats while playing card games. We were simply family.
I absolutely loved getting to know everyone that I met and I know that I will be seeing them again in the future. I made some life long friends walking the Camino and I can’t wait for the day for us all to be reunited.
The night before we had to say our goodbyes, I wrote a letter each to the 5 people that I connected with the most on my time on the camino. A letter of encouragement, friendship and what God has for them.
Here are some photos from the camino and a little 2 minute video of me handing out the letters to two beautiful people that I’ll hold close to my heart and keep in my prayers.
