Lessons from the Camino

The Camino de Santiago is a network of hiking or pilgrimage trails starting in various places across Europe and converging on Santiago de Compostela in the Galician region of Spain.  The length of distance and time varies depending on where the hiker or pilgrim begins the journey. Most people attempting the Camino for the first time attempt the Camino Frances. This route stretches from the French side of the Pyrenees mountains, runs across the northern half of Spain, and ends in the Spanish region of Galicia.  There is even an extension of the route that stretches all the way to the Atlantic Ocean for those whose legs and bodies are still strong enough. For Catholics this hike has a religious component; however, plenty of hikers begin the journey for various non-religious reasons. I personally used the hike as an inexpensive way to explore roughly 500 miles of Spain and experience the Spanish culture.   

The Camino can be a life enriching experience for many.  I slowly realized over time while hiking on the Camino that the Camino itself is a lifetime of experiences compressed into a short window of time.  During my thirty-two days walking the French Way of the Way of Saint James, I learned and relearned many lessons about how to be a good person and so much more.  That was a few years ago now. I’ve been asked several times by friends and attendees to give lectures about my experiences, so I decided to write them down. I hope you enjoy these stories and life lessons from the Camino.

1) It’s a Camino

Some people, like myself early on, will see others in front of them and try to catch up or pass them.  They will also try to stay ahead of other hikers or pilgrims on the Camino. This sort of competitive mentality can lead to a few negative outcomes.  First, walking at someone else’s pace can lead to injuries due in part to carelessness or even the stress of walking at too fast a pace for long distances.  Second, if you continue to walk at a faster than normal pace for yourself, then you will often find yourself looking down or only focused on what is immediately in front of you.  Walking at what you consider your normal pace will allow you to observe your surroundings and soak in the scenery. More than likely you paid a lot of money to have the opportunity to walk the Camino.  It’d be a shame if you spent the entire experience looking down at your feet. Remember it’s a Camino, not a race. You only live once. Enjoy it! 

2) The Dominican and the Nuns

During the first day of my Camino, I met a man from the Dominican Republic.  It was his third time hiking the pilgrimage trail to Santiago de Compostela. He shared some advice with me and before I knew it we were hiking together.  I noticed early on that this guy from the Dominican Republic was handy when it came to communicating with the local Spanish population, but he was socially a little rough around the edges.  Without his help, I wouldn’t have been able to talk my way into a municipal pool on my second day of the Camino. However, he had a tendency to be a little bit of a jerk with an odd comment made here and there.  Three days into the Camino we were hiking through the hot July afternoon heat. The Dominican urged me to hike to a town further down the trail than my intended destination. He had booked a room in hotel there and was hoping that I would split the cost with him.  I had heard about an albergue run by nuns that I wanted to try which would let you ring the church bell in the evening. Albergues are pilgrim hostels along the Camino where hikers can stay in inexpensive dormitory style accommodations. The Dominican was solely focused on making it to his hotel a few towns away.  I don’t know Spanish, but I am a fairly good judge of the tempo and tone of someone’s speech. I’m sure you are as well. I also know simple words like kilometers. Throughout that extremely hot day I heard the Dominican question the locals about the kilometers left until his destination. Each time a stranger answered with generally nice tones, but the Dominican would complain about it and throw a small fit.  I had the feeling the number wasn’t going down enough or he just didn’t like the idea of how far it really was to his destination.

Finally after hours of walking through the heat and almost running out of water, I saw the sign for the albergue that I was looking for.  After an attempt to get me to follow him instead of detouring to the albergue, the Dominican decided to continue on with me and to at least stop for a bit at the albergue and church.  The day’s last bit of hiking was an uphill slog towards the albergue and church. I was starting to question if the Spanish believed in building churches anywhere but at the top of a hill.  Upon our arrival we found the albergue locked with a sign telling up they would open again later in the afternoon. That was when I learned some albergues still shut down for a few hours in the mid-day so the workers could clean and take a break.  The Dominican and I decided to walk over to a nearby patio area and sit down in some chairs. I ended up playing there with a very pregnant cat. As I was giving the cat some of my last remaining water, the nuns opened the door and said something in Spanish.  The Dominican hopped to his feet and told me to follow. I followed him into the albergue and then into the kitchen. This nice little old nun had decided to let us into the albergue early, so that we could use the sink to get some water and get out of the heat.  After sipping on what seemed to me like the coldest water ever, I heard the Dominican say something to the nun about kilometers. After her response, I heard the voice of the Dominican change tempo and tone. It was at this point that it dawned on me that the guy from the Dominican Republic was yelling at a nun as she was pointing to the door.  The Dominican stormed past the nun back to the sink and filled up his water bottle one last time before marching over to the front door. By now a second little old nun had arrived and was helping the first nun get us out the door. In a very little amount of time the two nuns had gotten the guy from the Dominican ‘Republic out onto the front lawn.  I watched from the front door of the albergue as the Dominican slammed his walking stick down onto the ground so hard that it actually bounced back up into the air. He caught his stick in the air then looked at me. He told me that he was leaving and asked if I was coming with him. I informed him that I was going to stay put. I watched as this guy whom I had just recently met stormed off for what I hoped would be the last time that I’d see him.  It was at this point that the nuns turned to me with angry looks. The one that could speak English asked if I was going to follow my friend. I told her that friend was a strong word. I had only met him a few days ago and that I would like to stay if possible. I was allowed to stay at the albergue. Later I got to talking with the English speaking nun. She was surprised that I was nothing like the guy that I had arrived there with. This experience taught me that others will judge who I am as a person by the company that I keep.  I also learned that it is better to be respectful, especially when it is someone that has showed you kindness.

3) Blisters

I got a few blisters during my time on the Camino.  One particular blister sticks out in my mind though.  The blister started out as a small thing on the outside of my right big toe, but slowly got bigger.  It eventually wrapped under my big toe and on to the inside edge of my big toe. Once the blister had wrapped all the way around my toe it became very hard to walk.  In a way I had gotten used to the pain of walking on it, but I had noticed that I was going slower than I had intended. It was still relatively early in my journey. I was not yet seasoned in the art of dealing with blisters in a situation where there was little to no time for rest.  I was getting all kinds of advice from pop that sucker and keep walking to if you pop it then it’ll get infected and your adventure will be over. I have to admit that I was very worried about spending all the time, money, and energy to start hiking the Camino de Santiago and then not be able to finish it.  I finally broke down in the middle of a small town out in the middle of nowhere and went to the pharmacy. I purchased some hand sanitizer, a needle, some bandages, and medical tape. I made my way to the local albergue. I rented a private room at the albergue because I didn’t want to pop this huge blister in front of anyone.  The blister had gotten to be the length of an American quarter and a few times the width of one. I cleared off my bed, laid out the tools of the trade, and made sure the door was locked. I told myself that if someone walked in they might think I was a drug addict. I carefully took off my socks and shoes as I sat down next to the needle still in its packaging.  That was when I realized that I didn’t have scissors. After fighting with the packaging, I managed to get the needle out and ready for use. I carefully poked the blister on my right foot’s big toe with my left index finger as I examined it one last time. I felt the old familiar sting, but thought to myself, well here goes nothing. I applied some hand sanitizer to the needle and got to work.  The blister was easy enough to pop. Fluid started oozing out as soon as the needle punctured the blister. I’ve never been a patient person and I wasn’t about to start then. Once the hole in the blister was definitely there, I applied just a tiny bit of pressure to the blister with my left index finger again. I felt the same pain, but this time something new happened. The fluid from the blister squirted up in the air through the hole and landed about a foot away.  Yuck! Thankfully, the whole process of draining and cleaning the blister only took a few moments. After a few extra minutes in the morning of making sure the affected area was ready for hiking, I was off for the day with no residual pain. What did I learn from this experience? It taught me that I shouldn’t procrastinate dealing with a small problem. Small problems can become much bigger problems if they are not handled.

4) Going Up the Mountain

One day on the Camino de Santiago I was out in the middle of nowhere with what seemed like many more kilometers to go.  I had been walking for hours already through the heat without even as much as little breeze to cool off. I was hot, tired, and already halfway through most of my one liter supply of water.  I had no food or shade either. I found myself hiking up a steep hill all alone with absolutely no one in sight. In fact, I hadn’t seen anyone in long time awhile. It was at this point the thought of giving up crept into the back of my mind.  All I wanted to do was stop and sit down, but I knew if I did then I wouldn’t get back up anytime soon. Then out of nowhere a gentle breeze started coming up from behind me. Suddenly I felt as if I was being pushed up the hill. I felt a sense of being re-energized and made it not only up that hill, but also to my destination that day.  Don’t give up when discouraged or overwhelmed, things can change for the better when you least expect it.

5) The Rock

One of the traditions on the Camino is to carry a small rock from your hometown on your journey.  I heard that it often represents sins or baggage from your life at home. The goal is to carry your rock with you most of the Camino and then deposit it at the top of the Camino. This place is called the Cruz de Ferro or Iron Cross. It is basically a wooden pole about five feet high with a wooden cross.  The rock mound at its base has been forming for years as pilgrims each contribute a stone on their Camino journey. The pile of rocks under the cross at this peak has become so large that you can climb up the pile. The rock that I carried with me had an interesting story, as I’m sure most of the rocks there had at one time.  My rock wasn’t picked by me. Well before I departed my hometown for the Camino I had been introduced to my rock by my father. He shared a story with me. A woman he knew recently lost her husband to cancer. The hospital had an event for a new water fountain and had asked her to write her husband’s name on the rock. The goal was decorate the fountain with the names of those lost to cancer.  The woman had heard from my father what I was doing. She asked him if I would place the rock at the highest point on the Way of St. James. Monte Irago is the highest point on the Way at 1520 meters (4987 feet) above sea level and is where the Cruz de Ferro is located. She thought her husband would rather me do that then her put the rock in the hospital’s fountain. I agreed without hesitating.  I remember walking for hours each day with that little smooth rock. Most of the time the rock stayed deep down in my backpack, but it would occasionally see the light of day as I looked it over during a break or held it as I walked. It was a wonderful experience climbing the rocks at Cruz de Fiero and placing the rock onto the ancient rock pile. Another pilgrim took my photo so I could send it to the man’s widow.  Later, after I returned from my Camino, my father told me how excited she was and how much it meant to her. This experience taught me that an act of kindness can sometimes carry a small bit of weight with it, but the weight will be nothing compared to the joy of spreading that kindness.

6) Karma is Real

While hiking the Camino de Santiago there are a few social norms or unwritten rules, if you will.  One of the Camino’s social norms is that if you come into the albergue late or leave early then you should be as quiet as possible.  Hikers often will be in bed at a decent hour in order to get their needed rest before another long day of walking. Those that get up early will usually be mostly packed the night before.  What isn’t packed will be quietly taken out into the hallway where the noise is less likely to disturb others. However, I found that during the last 100 kilometers (62 miles) social norms like these will be violated at a greater frequency.  Why? I’ll tell you why. I believe that many of the newbies that hike the bare minimum for their Compostela, or certificate of completion, don’t get a chance to be fully immersed in the culture of the Camino. They will violate norms that they do not know exist and will sometimes learn the hard way.  

During my first night sleeping on the last 100 kilometer stretch I ran into a situation with some really annoyingly loud newbies.  We’re talking they were stumbling in drunk at almost midnight and talking loudly without regard for those of us already in bed trying to sleep.  I like to consider myself to be a nice person, but I wasn’t having very nice thoughts about those fools. I distinctly remember telling myself that I’d pay them back at 4 AM which is when I was already planning to wake up.  That’s exactly what I did. My alarm went off at 4 AM on the dot. I rolled out of bed and put my headlamp on. After making multiple trips to the bathroom and back for something else out of my bag that I “forgot,” I packed up my bag as loudly as I could while inside the room.  I may have also “accidently” looked around the room several times with my headlamp red lens on because I was “looking for something.” I remember one of the obnoxious newbies sat up in his bed and looked at me with amazement that someone was up so early. I couldn’t help but think “Welcome to the Camino” and then went on my way to hike while it was still cool outside.  Those newbies hopefully learned to be more respectful when coming back to the room late. I also learned that I apparently hold grudges. In hindsight, I need to learn to let things go. Shining my flashlight around at 4 AM after the newbies came in loudly at 11 PM was probably more unkind than needed. I should have offered them the respect I had wished for when they were disruptive coming in late at night.  As you hike the Camino one thing you are reminded of from time to time is that respect for others is important in daily life.  

7) Free Wine

There is a winery on the French Way of the Camino de Santiago.  Pilgrims are welcome to stop and make use of the two taps on the outside of the building.  One tap has wonderfully refreshing water. The other has wonderfully refreshing wine. Both are completely free, but the area didn’t have any shade when I was there.  It is a great place to take a few extra moments to relax, talk with those you are walking with, or even meet other hikers stopping for a drink of water or wine. Most people stop for the free wine.  During my time at the winery, I got to know three people from England. I also met some other people there as well. Over the wine, I heard stories of past Caminos from the veteran hikers and shared some of my stories.  I learned from our conversations, it is better to take life slow, enjoy the moment, and that we are all much more similar than we are different. I also learned from the veteran hikers the danger of drinking too much of the wine with so much hiking left to do that day.  I guess you can say moderation is key.

8) You’re Never Alone

You can feel very alone at times on the Camino.  Usually those times are during a crossing of a remote region far from a town or city.  However, I have found that if you wait for a few minutes someone is bound to turn the corner.  It’s an opportunity to meet new people. It’s also an opportunity for familiar faces to reappear again.  Some of these people will stop and talk to you without you making an effort, some will only stop if you make an effort to talk with them, some will simply say Buen Camino or hello, and some will not say a word to you.  I learned that people will come and go in life. Sometimes making an effort to get to know them helps keep them around and sometimes it doesn’t. That’s okay, because we are all walking our own paths in life. I also learned that loneliness can be temporary if you make an effort to let others in.

9) Many Paths in Life

There are many different routes on the Camino de Santiago.  They all end at the same place. The city of Santiago de Compostela is where everyone is headed.  Some hikers start in far away cities or towns. Some will start at the bare minimum of 100 kilometers away.  Each path holds its own challenges and experiences. I think looking at the paths to Santiago de Compostela and deciding which one to take is like looking at and deciding which of the many paths in life to take.  There were many times that I had to make a decision to go this way or that way. It was those decisions that helped shape my Camino. I recommend only planning how to get to the starting point you want. Then just go with the flow and let life unfold in front of you until you make it to Santiago de Compostela.

10) Don’t Give Up

I’ll never forget crossing the Pyrenees mountains on my first day of the Camino de Santiago.  As I stumbled into my first albergue in Spain sore, tired, and aching. I couldn’t help feeling that there was no way that I could ever reach my goal of walking to Santiago de Compostela.  At one point I even went so far as to strongly consider hopping onto a train to where I could walk the bare minimum of 100 kilometers and spending a few weeks exploring the rest of Spain. I began to give up on the whole adventure because the first day was much harder than I had thought.  I woke up the next morning feeling a little better than the night before. I was still a little sore, but I decided to just go for it. I realized that I couldn’t let one tough challenge or one bad day keep me from the goals that I want to achieve. If the goal was so easy that I could achieve it in a day, then I was setting my expectations too low.  The best things in life require effort, time, dedication, grit, and determination. Do not give up on something because it is hard to do. Set goals and checkpoints on how you plan on making those goals happen.

11) Kindness

 I did not have an international data plan for my cell phone most of my time on the Camino de Santiago.  One July day on the Meseta, I started walking early in the morning. It quickly became hotter and hotter as the day reached about noon.  I began to realize how insanely hot it was compared to all the previous days that I had been hiking. Many of the hikers that had rushed past me earlier in the morning were now resting under any shade that they could find.  I continued on past them. I was making good time for the day, but I was also depleting my water and food supply at an alarming rate. I began to show some of the classic signs of heat injury to include sweating less and less and my skin starting to feel hot to the touch.  It wasn’t more than a few hours later that I stumbled into the next town with only a small amount of water left. Then I saw it. Like a mirage on some silly Saturday morning cartoon, I saw a cafe that was open. I made my way through the front door and got a menu. The staff at the cafe directed me to sit down at a small table under a fan away from the other customers.  I figured that I smelled something fierce, but then something odd happened. The workers at the cafe brought me water and various snacks. They told me that it was free. The cafe staff didn’t have to give me anything for free. I was so desperate that I was willing to probably pay many times over the actual value of the bill. They showed me, a complete stranger, kindness even though it cost them money.  Apparently, there had been a heat advisory put out with a warning to not hike in the area that day. With no international data, I didn’t see the weather updates before I had started out hiking that day. This experience showed me that kindness won’t always be convenient for you. It also showed me that giving what you can is all you need to do to show kindness. I’ll always be grateful for the staff workers that day.  I try to pay it forward whenever I can.

12) Help Others

There were countless ways of helping others on the Camino de Santiago.  I would like to simply hit upon three instances that I saw during my time along the way.  

It might not come as a shock to many of you, but it can get very hot in Spain on the Camino de Santiago.  The Mesta can get especially hot as there is less shade. I found that many locals in rural areas with a home on the trail would leave water out in sealed jugs for anyone walking by.  The idea was simple. Take what you needed to fill up your water source and leave what you don’t need for someone else. Sharing is definitely caring and although I never had to take any of the free water, I felt a little safer knowing that it was often there.  It is wonderful that there were people around me that went out of their way to be so helpful for complete strangers.

Many people along the way were carrying something that they thought they would need at the beginning of the Camino de Santiago and realized they didn’t need the item after all.  More often than not, the albergues where the pilgrims or hikers would sleep would have a box somewhere in the building where people could rid themselves of this extra weight. The boxes acted somewhat like the leave a penny, take a penny system at many convenience stores in America.   One hiker or pilgrim might no longer have a need for that extra hat, shirt, or book, but another hiker might really need that item.  

Along the Camino de Santiago hikers and pilgrims will undoubtedly find messages from someone that had been through the area days, weeks, or maybe even years before.  Almost all of the messages that I stumbled upon were either words of encouragement or self reflection and wisdom that the person wanted to pass on. I’d like to focus on one of my favorite messages which came at a time when I needed the encouragement.  I had been walking on pavement on the side of a mountain road for some time in the heat under the sun. I have to be honest and say that at that time I was spending more time looking somewhat down as I was in trying to power through to the next place where I could take a break.  Then all of the sudden I spotted a message written in chalk on the pavement right in front of me. The message said in English, “I don’t know who you are, but I love you. Keep going. You can do this.” I still tear up thinking about that moment. That encouragement helped me get through not only that hard day, but so many hard long days after it.  

Those three experiences showed me that our acts of kindness can immediately impact another person’s life and continue to impact lives long after the act itself is over.

In summary, it’s the Journey, not the Destination.

Many of the people I met along the way on the Camino believed that if they completed the Camino de Santiago that their sins would be forgiven.  It is part of their Catholic faith. Obsession is probably too strong a word, but this belief created among a few of them a strong desire to just make it to the end in Santiago de Compostela.  In my personal opinion, those people missed the whole point of the Camino de Santiago as it exists today and maybe during its whole existence. If your sins are truly forgiven for completing the Camino de Santiago, I believe it is the trials and tribulations that a hiker goes through during their journey which does that and not simply making it to the end as if you were like beating the boss at the end of a video game.  I often saw people with this mindset walking looking straight ahead to the horizon or down at their feet as they tried to walk as fast as they could. The problem with that for me is that by focusing so much on walking and getting to the end is that you forget to live in the now and experience the glory of life all around you. By walking slower on the Camino I was able to soak in the scenery, meet more people, share more experiences, test who I am as a person, and explore a country and culture that I spent so much money, time, and effort to see.  The Camino is a lot like life. Every single one of us walking the Camino started the hike knowing that there was a physical end to the trail. No matter where you started we all finish at some point. For some, that end came earlier than they thought by means of an injury or running out of time. For others, that end got extended a little further out by finding the will to walk past Santiago de Compostela all the way to the sea. Instead of focusing so much on the ultimate end, perhaps the focus should be more on enjoying the company of those around you, making an impact on the world, and living life to the fullest while you are still here.  Walking the Camino helped me realize that it isn’t about how you die, it’s about how you lived.

Thinking about hiking the Camino de Santiago? Consider picking up a copy of the guidebook that I used to help plan my Camino. It includes many things you will need to be successful.

The following link is an Amazon affiliate link.

John Brierly’s A Pilgrim’s Guide to the Camino de Santiago: https://amzn.to/32VviN9