During month 11 my squad had the unique experience of walking part of the Portuguese Way of El Camino de Santiago (in English, the Way of Saint James). The Camino is a network of paths that lead to the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela, Spain, where it is believed that the remains of the apostle James are buried.
We started walking from Porto, Portugal, but there are many routes that start even farther away. We met someone who started his pilgrimage in France. The symbol of the Camino is a scallop shell, which represents multiple paths leading to one destination. As you walk the Camino, you follow the scallop shell markers as well as yellow arrows painted along the way. However, there are Camino apps with GPS in case you get lost and can’t find the path. This is helpful because sometimes the way isn’t marked clearly or we started walking before sunrise and it was difficult to see the markers. I sometimes felt like I was on a treasure hunt or an episode of Blue’s Clues.
When you finish the Camino, you have the opportunity to get an official document (Compostela) certifying that you completed one of the Camino routes. However, in order to get your Compostela you have to prove that you walked the pilgrimage. To do this, you carry a document similar to a passport called your Pilgrim’s Credential. We bought our Credential for €2 at the cathedral in Porto at the beginning of our journey. As you walk the Camino, you receive stamps in your Credential. You can ask for stamps each time you stop for the night, as well as at restaurants, churches, and other establishments along the Camino.
I walked the Camino with Val, and we started on October 24th. There are two different paths of the Portuguese Way you can choose from: the coastal route or the central route. The coastal route is a bit longer, as it follows the coastline of Portugal and Spain. This is the route we chose, and I’m glad we did. The views of the Atlantic were unbeatable, and we walked through woods and over what I would consider mountains. Only 20% of Portuguese Way pilgrims walk the coastal route, so you don’t run into many people on the path. Off season just started; after our first few days of walking, the temperature dropped and it began raining almost daily.
Here is a log of the days we walked, the cities we stopped in, and our daily mileage.
Day 1 – 10/24 – Porto to Vila do Conde – 20 miles
Day 2 – 10/25 – Vila do Conde to Esponsende – 13 miles
Day 3 – 10/26 – Esponsende to Viana do Caste – 16 miles
Day 4 – 10/27 – Viana do Caste to Âncora – 10 miles
Day 5 – 10/28 – Âncora to A Guarda (Spain) – 11 miles
Day 6 – 10/29 – A Guarda to Baiona – 20 miles
Day 7 – 10/30 – rest day
Day 8 – 10/31 – Baiona to Vigo – 14.5 miles
Day 9 – 11/1 – Vigo to Redondela – 10 miles
Day 10 – 11/2 – Redondela to Pontevedra – 12 miles
Day 11 – 11/3 – Pontevedra to Caldras de Reis – 12.5 miles
Day 12 – 11/4 – Caldras de Reis to Padrón – 10 miles
Day 13 – 11/5 – Padrón to Santiago de Compostela – 14.5 miles
Total: approx 163.5 miles (263 km)
The first few days were incredibly difficult. My body was not prepared to walk 6 hours straight carrying a backpack that probably weighed more than 20 lbs. I had pain in my feet, joints, and achilles. We wanted to throw in the towel the morning of day 3, but sheer pride kept us going. The owner of the hostel we were staying at had walked 10 different ways of the Camino, and I refused to give up while in his house. There was another low point during those first days when we were walking along the coast and didn’t see any sign of civilization for hours. We took a break on the edge of a golf course; I thought I was going to have to be buried right there because I didn’t think I could take another step.
The difficult thing about walking in the off season (besides the weather) is that many of the accommodations close for the holidays. We had limited options of places to sleep. It turned out fine, we just sometimes had to visit more than one albergue (pilgrim-only housing usually run by the church or local government) or hostel before we found somewhere to stay. Val and I were lucky and got a private room about half the nights. The other nights we stayed in medium-to-large rooms filled with bunk beds.
Spain takes siesta seriously. Between the hours of 4 and 8pm, we can never find a restaurant that’s open. We sometimes even have difficulty finding a grocery store open during those hours. Everyone stops working and goes home for a nap. Then they open again and stay open until midnight or later. Most days we walked until around 3pm and then expected to shower, eat, rest, and be in bed by 8pm. Unfortunately this didn’t work out and we had to wait until after 8pm to eat dinner. We accidentally didn’t eat anything but fruit the first two days of walking.
I would say that the Camino was even more difficult for me mentally than physically; although in both cases you eventually hit your stride and it gets easier. At first, spending all day walking just seemed pointless to me. I would keep checking how far we had walked and how far we had to go. I had a hard time thinking about anything other than the walking. But after those first few days I settled into a routine. I began the morning talking to the Lord, expressing gratitude, praying for people, and asking him to renew my attitude. Then I tried to process experiences from the year, asking questions to help myself reflect. Walking and thinking became very restorative for me, and I’m very thankful that we ended the Race this way.
Besides walking the Camino to process and reflect, our intention was to connect with fellow pilgrims and share the Gospel. This was more difficult than I expected because most people we met didn’t speak English, and some days we didn’t run into a single other pilgrim. However, we did cross paths with a few people along the way who, when they found out we are from the U.S., asked if we were with the group of 40 missionaries. What a cool opportunity to continue the relationships and conversations that had already been started by others on our squad.
People walk the Camino for all sorts of reasons, spiritual, religious, and recreational. Many are in a transitional point in their lives and seeking direction for the next season. It’s the norm to exchange stories with fellow pilgrims, sharing the inspiration for your pilgrimage. One man I talked to decided to walk the Camino after his sister committed suicide.
I personally didn’t witness it, but several people on my squad talked with pilgrims who ended up giving their lives to Christ on the Camino!
The day after we reached Santiago, we met a woman from Georgia in a laundromat and told her stories of our experiences on the World Race. She hadn’t heard of Adventures in Missions before, though its headquarters are in Gainesville, GA. While waiting for our clothes to dry, she shared with us about her life. It was a reminder that the journey never stops, the job is never done, there is always someone who needs to hear the good news or be encouraged in their faith. If I’ve learned anything about evangelism this year, it’s (1) to listen more than I talk and (2) to share what God has done in my life through stories.
Something I love most about the Camino is the sense of camaraderie, both with your fellow pilgrims and locals. Everyone you meet wishes you well, saying “buen camino,” which means “good way/path.” This greeting wishes you good luck on your travels in a literal sense, but also on a deeper level can acknowledge the internal journey that a pilgrim is taking. Locals are very helpful if you lose your way, and sometimes they love to tell you where to go even if you aren’t lost. On our first day of walking, some jokesters said (in Portuguese), “You only have a little ways left to go.” The people who work at the hostels and albergues were my favorite. They were very helpful and showed hospitality and compassion. On day 4 we had an entire house to ourselves, owned by the sweetest elderly couple. They brought us treats and washed, dried, and folded our laundry. I’m still not over how loved that made me feel. Along the Camino you’ll find places to stop for coffee or a meal. There is often a discount for pilgrims, and the people working at those places were also very kind. They especially love if you try to speak in their language, even if it isn’t perfect.
Overall, I’m grateful for the experience of walking the Camino. I think I would consider walking another route, especially if I trained first and packed properly (as opposed to jumping in after 10 months of travel). The biggest thing I learned on the Camino is that the Lord has made me capable of way more than I thought, and he has made me capable of things that I can’t even comprehend yet. During those first days of walking, I thought I couldn’t take another step. I did though, and sometimes I took ten more miles worth of steps before I could stop for the day. It was valuable and beautiful to see the strength that God provides us, both physical and mental.
It’s not quite time to go home yet. Our squad has final debrief, where our mentor, coaches, and alumni squad leaders will join us here in Santiago de Compostela and lead sessions and activities to help us reflect on the year and the transition home. We will spend time in fellowship and worship during these last days together as a squad before we part ways.
I still have a lot of processing to do. If you have any questions about my year, please ask. Your questions will help me think about everything that I experienced and everything the Lord has done on this journey. After the Race officially ends on November 22nd, I’ll be staying in Europe an extra couple of weeks with Val. Since we are already over here, we figured it would be nice to have some downtime and see a few places before heading home. I think it will be good to have a little time and space after the Race to write, reflect, and pray about the transition before jumping back into life at home.
More posts to come
