My experience on the Camino de Santiago
With a 15-pound hiking pack with all of my worldly possessions for the next three weeks strapped to my back, I took a deep breath and set out on the Way. Which way? I looked around, spotted a yellow arrow painted on the side of a building, and turned left to follow it. So which way? I was taking my first steps on the Way of St. James, or as it is known in Spanish, El Camino de Santiago.
El CAMINO is a pilgrimage route dating back to about the 9th century. Historically, pilgrims simply opened their front doors and headed west, across northern Spain until they arrived in Santiago de Compostela, the supposed burial place of St. James. Today, a number of established routes all ending in Santiago exist; the most traveled route begins 780 km from Santiago in St. Jean Pied-de-Port, France. Though St. Jean is the traditional starting point, some pilgrims begin even farther away (I met a few who had started in Scandinavia), and many more join between St. Jean and Santiago.
Not having the five weeks necessary to begin in St. Jean, I left (accompanied by my mother) from Burgos, a cathedral city some 550 km away from Santiago. Each day went a bit like this: Wake up around 6:30 a.m., pack, get dressed, and start walking. Though I did not follow a yellow brick road, I did look for yellow arrows painted on every manmade and natural surface imaginable—markings which lead pilgrims safely to their destination. And about 25 km and 7 hours after beginning, we arrived at our destination for the day. After registering at the ALBERGUE (a pilgrims-only hostel), we showered, hand-washed our clothes, journaled, read, and relaxed with other pilgrims. Explaining the schedule, however, does not reveal what it is like to be a pilgrim on the CAMINO.
Theologian Richard Niebuhr says, “Pilgrims are persons in motion—passing through territories not their own—seeking something we might call completion or perhaps the word clarity will do as well, a goal to which only the spirit’s compass points the way.” In my three weeks on the CAMINO, I met people from every continent but Antarctica. I often reflected upon how incredible it was that we were all pulled together from every part of the earth to meet and to walk alongside one another. Categories like country and language, age and religion, which so easily divide people, just fell away. Pilgrims represented every decade of life from 20 to 80; some spoke English, and others did not.
One night the Sisters running our ALBERGUE offered an evening blessing for all pilgrims. At 6:00 a.m., twenty pilgrims gathered in the foyer with the three Sisters. We hailed from Spain, Italy, France, Germany, England, and the United States. Holding her guitar and watching us with joy and expectation, Sister Maria asked for someone to translate her Spanish. I hesitantly volunteered. Sister Maria spoke in Spanish, and I translated her words to English. Two others translated my English into German and French, so that everyone in the room understood. We had no one language in common, but it did not matter. Between our “good-enough” translations and being present in the moment, a deep sense of unity and understanding pervaded the room.
A number of days later, lounging at a mountaintop ALBERGUE after a 30 km trek uphill, my 50-year old mother, a 35-year old German man, and I, a 21-year old American, tried to put into words what it was like to be on the CAMINO. We concluded that everyone came for a reason, looking for something. For some, that something had no religious significance. It might have been a search for self, a time apart from family and the normalcy of life, a time of reflection and solitude, or even a pleasant physical challenge. I met a German woman, for example, who was trying to discover the next step in her career. For others, it was a religious journey. A British woman was walking out of gratitude for her son’s safe return from Iraq. The son joined her.
Even when not pursued for religious purposes, I have trouble believing any pilgrim walks the CAMINO truly devoid of faith. I realized this when I met a couple from eastern Germany who, having been raised in a time and place where religion was not permitted, eagerly asked why I have faith.
The three of us agreed on the profound sense of community and compassion among the pilgrims. Simply being on the CAMINO together knit us into a family. Our final point of agreement was that only by walking the CAMINO could a person fully understand the journey that it is. Get on The Way. Let God reveal himself on the CAMINO. And as all pilgrims say, “Buen camino.”
Kelsey Clemson is a senior who would love to advise you on the packing list for your upcoming pilgrimage. Reach her at kclemson@nd.edu.
