What 10 Days on the Camino de Santiago Taught Me

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Back in 2016, when I was living and working in Singapore, I attended a mentoring session for young female professionals. The guest speaker was Joerg Kuehn, a motivational speaker and executive coach who that night shared the story with us about how he had changed his life after walking 800km on the ancient Spanish pilgrimage route from the border of France and Spain to the north western Spanish town of Santiago.

I had written down “Walk the Camino de Santiago” on my bucket list some years before. It was an idea waiting patiently for a catalyst. And Joerg was it. After his talk, I felt newly motivated to make this walk happen. Joerg and I became friends, and he gave me more encouragement to give myself this experience. But it took a little while before I was able to make it happen.

In the months after Joerg’s talk, I had my own personal transformation, where I left my corporate job (just as he had) and moved to Italy to study classical realism painting full time in Florence. However, the idea to do the Camino was still there, and after my first year of study, a new friend from school, Alice, and I, decided to walk 10 days of the Camino de Santiago in our Easter school holiday.

Almost a year after the Camino, I reconnected with Joerg, and he asked me how the Camino experience had been for me. What insights had I gained? I was so happy to reflect, and I realised there were three main insights.

But first there was a surprise. When I'd thought about walking the Camino, over many years, I'd always imagined I would travel on my own, like Joerg did and many other pilgrims do, and go deep within my mind and soul. But I experienced a different type of Camino. Alice and I travelled wonderfully together, and she brought so much joy to how I experienced the Camino, as I saw it through her eyes as well as my own. It also became quite a social Camino - not what I'd expected before heading out, but in online posts I’d read, I know many people experience the camaraderie of the Camino and it is what many people value the most. I certainly valued how open and connected other pilgrims were to their own inner journeys. Everyone has their own reasons for walking the Camino, beyond the joy of being in nature and walking. This meant there was usually a real depth to the conversations, right from the start.

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So… my insights…

Firstly, it's about the journey, not the destination! Alice and I began our walk in Leon, in Spain, and finished in Sarria, about 100km outside of Santiago. We had 10 days to walk, based on our school holiday schedule, and when we started, we didn't know how far we would get or where we would end, but we thought probably not Santiago - it was just a bit too far for us to make it in 10 days unless we really raced 40km per day! Not knowing where we would finish in and of itself was powerful for me - I usually have everything planned out! It was new and a bit scary to leave things open, but I trusted it would be OK. Alice also helped me with this as she's much more comfortable in the grey. Because we didn't have a set destination, it meant we could take our time, and we did. We took longer in places where we felt a special connection, or we were enjoying the Albergue (the name for pilgrim accommodation all along the Camino route). Our favourite on the whole Camino was the Albergue Verde in Hospital de Obrigo. Vegan food, with a beautiful wooden "ski cabin" feeling, beautiful communal dining space where we enjoyed a delicious meal with fellow pilgrims, and a yoga and meditation space downstairs. We lingered until 11am the morning after our night’s sleep, doing yoga and meditating with the host and simply enjoying the space. One of my favourite times on the Camino. We went at our own pace and didn't rush. This was special too. We could let our bodies adjust to the walking, and it also gave us time (me time) to learn to trust my intuition, to trust my feelings, and to go with them.

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I'd say this was my second insight - trusting my intuition. There were a few situations on the Camino where I had a strong instinct about something, and because I felt so connected to myself, and to Alice, I could say what the feeling was, and each time we were both feeling the same way and we could act on our intuition, and then see how this played out positively. One such time was choosing to retrace our steps about 40 minutes to go back to a town we had already passed, to spend the evening with a fellow pilgrim we'd met earlier on the walk. This turned out to transform our experience as it brought us emotionally closer to her, and then to a broader group of pilgrims, who we are still very connected to (we are all even on a What’s App group).

A second time, a few days earlier, we chose to leave an Albergue that gave us a strange feeling – the host said some things about people stealing from us and we must watch our bags closely, and something in the Albergue felt "off". Alice and I were able to quickly communicate with each other that we didn't want to stay, even in the presence of the host. We didn't judge ourselves for "disappointing him" or not performing for him; we just trusted what we felt. And walking out of that Albergue, we bumped into a pilgrim we had met once before, and that meeting was the starting point for us meet the broader group of friends.

Alice and I along the route of our Camino de Santiago

Lastly, everything we experience is through our own filters, our own lens. Traveling with Alice was so joyful because I observe her as seeing the beauty and good in (almost) everything! Her joy in all the little things (as well as the big things) made me feel like a child, discovering the world anew, with joy, innocence and love. It was remarkable to me, observing how other Pilgrims could have the exact same day as us, but see it as negative or complain about it, while we loved it! For example, it snowed a couple of days during our Camino. (Thanks to Joerg’s recommended packing list, we were well prepared, even for snow!) One Pilgrim complained bitterly one evening because "it's not supposed to snow on the Camino". We couldn't believe it! It was one of the most magical days to us, and here was someone else who found it miserable and frustrating! It showed me everything is about how you choose to perceive it. And each one of us can choose to see things positively. (And maybe, there is another message there – being prepared can help make any experience positive!)