Camino lesson: Walking is a metaphor

After walking the Camino de Santiago this past fall, our most significant Camino lesson is that walking is a metaphor for life. Pope Francis said, “pilgrimage is a symbol of life. It makes us think of life as walking, as a path.” And while it’s an obvious analogy in many ways, the concept challenges us to experience life in new ways.

When we left for Spain last fall, we weren’t quite calling ourselves pilgrims (peregrinos in Spanish). We just knew this experience would be more than a vacation or a break from our everyday routine. With Wolfgang’s retirement at the beginning of the summer, we were transitioning and needed time and space to contemplate the next 30 years. I wrote about the beginning of our journey in A Living Lighter Camino.

The Camino came highly recommended from several friends and acquaintances. It truly seemed as though God was guiding us towards this cathartic opportunity. We were late in planning, ill prepared, and didn’t really know what to pack. But despite these uncertainties, God opened all the doors we needed to realize that this pilgrimage was meant to be.

Camino lesson #1: What is a pilgrimage?

Pilgrimage, while not much talked about today, has a long history in many religions, including Christianity. After building the temple in Jerusalem (ca. 957 B.C.), the Jewish people made pilgrimages to Jerusalem for three festivals: Passover, Pentecost, and the Feast of Tabernacles. On their way to the Temple, they sang the “pilgrim songs” or “songs of assent”, from Psalms 119-133.

As the Gospel spread throughout history, Christians hoped to gain clarity by traveling in the footsteps of Jesus and the apostles. Even when at risk of being martyred for their faith, the faithful flocked to the tombs of saints to honor them and God.

The word “pilgrim” derives from the Latin peregrinum and conveys the idea of a prolonged journey, often on foot, toward a specific destination of significance, with the purpose of honoring God. Traditionally, pilgrimages may be undertaken as penance for sin; as petition for a special blessing or favor; or simply out of devotion. Often, pilgrims search for new or expanded meaning and desire transformation in their daily lives.

Pilgrimage is not compulsory in Christianity, but many Christians choose to undertake journeys to holy sites to deepen their connection with God. feel connected to the worldwide community of Christians, and to meet Christians from different denominations.

Camino lesson #2: A modern pilgrim experience

If you haven’t had a pilgrimage experience, it might be helpful to imagine yourself in our shoes for a day! So, take a minute to picture yourself at the beginning of a typical pilgrim’s day:

• Stand or visualize yourself standing
• Shake out your arms, maybe take a couple of steps
• Now, imagine yourself beginning your job for the day – walking.
• Pick a specific destination about 12-20 miles away. For example, from downtown Anchorage it’s about 16 miles to the peak of Flattop.
• Imagine it’s summer and you’ll walk at an average pace of three miles per hour. Accounting for varied terrain, breaks and maybe a lunch stop, you’ll walk about 7-8 hours today.
• Visualize what clothes you’re wearing, what you’ll encounter during the day, and what you’ll take in your backpack. You’ll need essentials such as a rain jacket, trekking poles, water, maybe a sandwich or some snacks, and a first aid kit. You can also stop at a store, or restaurants or cafes along the way.
• Now, imagine this is just one day on a longer journey. You’ll be walking like this for the next 40 days!

If you were on the Camino, the path you’d travel always leads ultimately to one destination.

Camino lesson #3: Santiago

All paths of the Camino de Santiago lead to Santiago de Compostela. The city is named after the patron saint of Spain, Saint James (Sant Iago). Pilgrimages began in the 9th century when a farmer in Galicia discovered the remains of the apostle Saint James in a field. Today, the Camino contains Spain’s longest walking trails, with six major routes and several variants converging on Santiago de Compostela. 

The most popular of the routes, the route that we chose, is the Camino Frances: a 500-mile journey beginning in St Jean Pied de Port, just across the French border. The path travels due west through five regions of Spain. About 400,000 pilgrims arrive in Santiago each year, making it one of the most well-traveled long distance trails in the world.

For the typical pilgrim, the Camino Frances is broken up into 34 hiking segments varying in distance from 15–32 kilometers or 9-20 miles per day. The average pilgrim walks about 3 miles per hour on flat ground, but terrain, weather, and heat also affect the pace.

So on a short day, we walked for 4-5 hours. We averaged 6-7 hours per day with handful of days where it took us 8-10 hours. This does include breaks and meals along the way. Most segments had villages every couple of miles so finding a place to rest and eat wasn’t an issue.

Camino lesson #4: Everyone has a “why” and a way

Each pilgrim has their own story and reasons for going — and finds his or her own way. Every traveler’s journey begins with a first step over the threshold of wherever you call home. We started out from Anchorage with just a few reasons to go that made sense for us — and no clear vision of the path ahead.

We were experiencing life transitions, and this was an opportunity to examine long-held beliefs, patterns and habits. Literally, it was time to reevaluate everything — our future goals and plans, our relationship with each other, and most importantly our spiritual relationship with God.

Our way

There are as many ways to walk the Camino as there are pilgrims. The traditional way is to carry everything on your back, staying in an Alburgue or hostel. These facilities generally have dormitory style lodging with common areas for sleeping, bathing and eating.

Full disclosure, that was not our Camino. We hired a booking company out of Dublin Ireland to assist us with pre-planning our trip. As a result, each day we had a private room with bath, morning and evening meals, and luggage transfers. We carried only a small daypack with snacks, first aid supplies, water, and rain gear if needed.

As we prepared for our trip, we found countless videos and books on every aspect of the journey. It’s easy to get overwhelmed with so much information available. We were surprised and grateful to learn about an organization called American Pilgrims on the Camino, with nearly 50 local support groups in the US., including one in Anchorage. Attending several events at REI before we left taught us much about what to expect.

On the advice of many, we incorporated five rest days throughout the trip, mainly in larger cities. We were not fluent in Spanish but we found that many locals spoke some English. And we communicated with a combination of our poor language skills, Google Translate, and hand signals.

Camino lesson #5: Not only a physical journey

This “walk” was more than a physical journey. The Camino was a metaphor for the path of life and offered us a chance to better know ourselves, each other, companions on our journey and God. In so many ways, this trip exceeded all of our expectations.

Every day was a blessing. Just to be able to physically complete the trip was not a certainty when we started. There was a financial cost to the trip, but we were blessed to be able to afford to do so.

The biggest blessings were far beyond the tangible accomplishment of reaching Santiago de Compostela. Wolfgang and I are still processing our journey, but we know beyond a doubt that it’s leading us into a deeper understanding of God and our life path.

Some guidebooks to the Camino label Santiago as the “turnaround point,” a place where you begin to head for home with a new perspective. I’m finding truth in this analogy as well. I’ve now been home almost as long as I was on the Camino and here’s what I know so far.

Spiritual lessons from our Camino

When God says go, he prepares the way.

We honestly weren’t sure we could pull it together after a very busy summer. But we kept feeling God’s urging to go and through his grace, a myriad of details came together in less than a month. He showed up in so many ways to give us the space, time and support we needed to go on this journey.

WHEN GOD PREPARES THE WAY, he prepares OUR HEARTS.

Going on the Camino felt daunting and uncertain. We didn’t know if we could walk 500 miles or would be able to manage the rigors of the trip. God worked in our hearts to let go of any expectation, and just take it a day at a time. He’s teaching us to be courageous about stepping into our life in this way also reimagining what the next 5, 10, 20 years might bring.

As we walk, God reveals the path.

The Camino taught us to be present in the moment, focused on the path in front of us, step by step. We knew we were on the right path as we saw the yellow arrows and scallop shell symbols that marked the way. Sometimes we had to search, and we got off course a couple of times, but markers inevitably appeared. Similarly, God gives us markers to guide us in life, though they’re not always as obvious.

It’s human to carry more than we need; God says lighten up.

Matthew 11:28 says, “for my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” The Camino reminded us that we “need” less than we think. We learned to pack lighter and trust that God and the Camino would supply our needs along the way as well. We’re incorporating this into our daily lives, continuing to cleanse and declutter our home and our schedules.

God is with us in the messy parts.

I struggled at many points along the trail but particularly during two back-to-back days in the middle. My feet hurt, I was mentally and physically tired, and I was emotionally exhausted. As if to remind me that I was never alone, even in the tough spots, God kept showing up with little gifts. When I think time on the Camino, what I remember most is a gracious hostess in a lovely house built over a river, a group dinner that filled my soul, a beautiful sunrise, and a new pair of more cushy sandals. God met me right in the middle of the mess, reminding me that He is always there.

God gave us companions for a reason.

He intends for us to share life with other people. The companionship on the trail was one of the most unanticipated blessings of the trip. When we met people, we already shared a common bond. We greeted each other with the trail greeting, “buen camino,” which means “good journey.”

As we walked and talked with people grieving the loss of a child or a spouse, or going through a divorce, or moving like us into retirement – we found a much larger perspective. We had genuine and open conversations about all aspects of life (grief, suffering, trial, yes but also joy, hope, perseverance). Conversation sharpened our sense of compassion and connected us deeply with people around us. It’s a joy to continue to connect and have conversations with friends and family now that we’re home.

Walking in nature is an act of worship and prayer.

As we walked each day, we could see and appreciate God’s presence in the brilliance of the sky, the way the clouds dance on the horizon, the splendor of the landscape. When we pay attention, his presence is front and center and invites practices of prayer and contemplation. On hills, a friend taught me to pray with each step, sometimes as simple as “The Lord is my shepherd, I have everything I need.” And indeed, each day, I did.

A Camino lesson for you?

Walking or taking a long pilgrimage isn’t for everyone. I hope that our journey inspires you to seek God or a higher power in your own unique path. Perhaps you too will find healing and joy in nature and companionship with others on a similar path in life. If you want to know more about our trip or ask me questions, follow me on social media or send me a note! I’m delighted to share! You can also watch our talk during the service at First Presbyterian Church of Anchorage.

I’ll leave you with this! God has a plan for your life that is bigger than you can imagine. Will you trust him to reveal it to you? Buen Camino!

Gratitude is a Camino lesson as well

A final note. We couldn’t have done this trip without support from our family and friends. Being away from home for seven weeks took planning and preparation, and a small cadre to care for our pets, water plants, and check in on our home. I’m also very grateful for the community surrounding my mom when my step-dad passed away – and her encouragement to continue on to Santiago.