El Camino de Santiago. Photo by Canva
El Camino de Santiago. Photo by Canva

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It’s widely accepted the best antidote to most of life’s problems is going for a good ruddy walk. I’m a thirty-three-year-old white straight male with very trivial problems compared to large amounts of the world, my life hasn’t been struck by too much recent tragedy, I’m not at war, I’ve got my health, a semi-loving family, decent mates and I don’t feel suppressed or victimised (unless I read the comment section beneath any of my articles or films that is). 

Problems, though, are all contextual, aren’t they? I own a cockapoo with separation anxiety which makes going out for sessions quite tricky, a head of hair that’s been greyer than a London skyline for the best part of a decade and an unshiftable feeling of “I probably should have done more with my life by now”.

Nothing too traumatic on the surface and certainly if you met me on a night out, you wouldn’t declare … “Christ that guy needs to go for a walk” but as I am the same age as Christ (Jesus H) when he bowed out I thought now might just be the time for a religious ramble.

It was between that mid-life crisis and running a marathon (which everyone else my age seems to be doing), the latter though you need real discipline, commitment and a certain level of fitness for, all I needed to do for the Camino was to book an early morning flight to the North of Spain. 

Choosing the Camino Ingles

Pilgrim on Day One. Opting for mouthfuls instead of footsteps. Photo by Dave McKenna
Pilgrim on Day One. Opting for mouthfuls instead of footsteps. Photo by Dave McKenna

The Camino De Santiago is undertaken by four hundred thousand pilgrims annually. The starting points vary from France, Portugal… or the shortest one which starts a mere 113km (70 miles) from the finish line and involves walking for three to five days and claiming yourself as a proper pilgrim.

This route is known as Camino Ingles (the English Way) and being English and a bit lazy, this is the path I chose to tread, essentially swanning in at the finish line (A Coruña) walking for a bit and claiming the glory.

Motivations Behind the Camino

Trail marker. Photo by Dave McKenna
Trail marker. Photo by Dave McKenna

The pilgrims’ path and starting points are not the only thing to differ, the intention and motivation of each pilgrim is unique. I wanted to find out why this pilgrim route has such popularity and mass appeal.

Speaking to Vanessa Martinez on board my disgustingly early flight, she enlightened me that when studying Sociology at the University of Santiago de Compostela one of her projects was to analyse what motivates people to travel from across the world to walk across her region.

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She interviewed hundreds of pilgrims; her results found that religion, despite being the route’s obvious origin, is not the primary motivator for many, in fact, the two biggest motivators for the walk were grief and solitude. Vanessa’s findings rang true with my own.

Meeting Fellow Pilgrims

The first pilgrim I encountered was at the starting line, an English lecturer called Mark whose catalyst for the crusade was that he’d recently been made redundant and wanted time to think. I didn’t walk with him for long, opting instead for the pub … a decision, like many of my adult ones, that proved to be highly unwise and slightly self-sabotaging. A

fter a few pints and plenty of free tapas (which the region is famed for), the weather turned and the pleasant sun-soaked walk I’d envisioned turned into wet woeful work. Resembling a plastic-wrapped turtle, my bag heavy, my shoes soaked, my ‘waterproof coat’ clung to my body, I trudged through the torrential downpour. It wasn’t until I arrived at the hotel, a pathetic 6km from that first fateful pub that I met my second fellow pilgrim.

A man from Australia, I complained to him about the weather saying ‘it’s like London out there’ he replied ‘it’s worse than bloody London mate’. Andy’s reasoning for being here on the pilgrimage was ‘because I bloody can mate I don’t want to leave it too late’. 

Making Progress on Day Two

Beautiful views along the way. Photo by Dave McKenna
Beautiful views along the way. Photo by Dave McKenna

The second day was the day I finally put an actual dent in the walk. I rebuffed the urge for a morning pint and opted for coffee and miles instead. The women I met along the path that day reinforced Vanessa’s findings. First plodding slowly in a trance was Araceli who looked a little like a Latino version of the legendary actress that is Miriam Margoyles.

When I asked why she was embarking on the walk she stopped and really thought about her words before answering slowly but passionately… “I do the Camino to dive into myself… so I can reemerge with a knowing of what I need to do next and ready to dive up into the world reborn’.

I walked—well, crawled—with her for a while, but with one eye on the map and the other on the forever-present setting sun, I wished her well and picked up the pace.

That’s when I found Maria, another Spanish woman in her mid-sixties who walked like a 25-year-old who had just downed two cans of Red Bull and was running late for a shift.

Maria, a volunteer midwife, was using the walk as a break from the ‘day-to-day routine’ and a chance to mull over where her voluntary medical assistance would make the most difference: South America or Central Africa.

The woman was a saint when she returned the question, I replied like an imposter, ‘I just fancied a walk really.. in the sunshine’ which she had to laugh at as the drizzly rain hadn’t let up all day long.

The Beauty of Simplicity on the Camino

El Camino Trail. Photo by Dave McKenna
El Camino Trail. Photo by Dave McKenna

One of the reasons this pilgrimage is so popular is due to its accessibility and affordability like I said the freebies that come with your beers/coffees are enough to get you through the day and the route is littered with albergues (special hostels for pilgrims which are very cheap indeed).

The hostel I stayed at that night was memorable due to the fact I didn’t get a wink of sleep as there was an orchestra of snorers.. a chorus of what sounded like wild hogs filled the dorm.

There was one positive aspect of staying there, though: it is where I met Jayne, an English woman who was doing the Camino in loving memory of her husband, who had passed six months earlier.

She was journalling the experience as this is something he did when they travelled the world together; Although she wore her pain for all to see she had a kind and grateful look in her eyes.

The Kindness of Strangers

The next day despite the lack of sleep I managed to walk close to 40 kilometres through the sunny Spanish woodland and it was spectacular. Stopping only for tapas and cigarettes… a decision which would prove costly. When I reached the next stop in the middle of absolutely nowhere it became apparent that I’d have to pay by cash… the last of which was naturally spent on a pack of Camels and a maxibon (ice Cream).

A prepared pilgrim, I am not. I was forced to rely on the kindness of strangers and that stranger was Diego.

Diego, as it turns out, is a police officer in Majorca. After he gave me the 10 euros cash that I required to stay at the Albergue, he revealed that it was nice to speak to a young Englishman whom he wasn’t arresting for being drunk and disorderly.

Diego’s motivation behind the pilgrimage was heart-warming. He had planned to do it with a friend, but when he returned home and told his family about it, his father revealed that the Camino was a lifelong ambition. So, there they were, sharing bunk beds and plodding along the Spanish plains, pleasantly chatting the day away—father and son on the open road.

Read More: What You Need to Know About Walking the Camino de Santiago: Memoir of a First-Timer

Helena’s Camino Reflections

After another night soundtracked by snoring (Diego’s Dad) I hit the road early and walked alongside a woman shrouded in a blanket, Helena from Czechia. She said she was doing the Camino as she was inspired by the walking adventures of Ladislav Zibura who travelled the world on foot.

She said she was using the time to process and reflect on her life and to work out if she had any thoughts of things she wanted to do next. When I asked her if she’d had any thoughts thus far on the trip, she said, “Not really. My mind hasn’t got lost in thought yet because it’s constantly worrying about getting physically lost.”

She left me with a message that Zabura Labislav wrote about on his Camino: ‘ Everyone goes on the Camino for one intention or reason, but another thing arises in their subconscious. Everyone finds something on their way, and it probably wasn’t the thing you were initially looking for.

Meeting Dave from Germany

After putting a serious dent in the 40 km target, I met a fellow pilgrim and Dave. German Dave, as he shall be known, had been on the road for the last month, doing initially the French way (1000 km, almost 10 times the length of the measly English way).

I asked Dave why, and he said, ‘to repent his sins.’ I replied enthusiastically, “Really? You’re the first person I’ve known doing it for religious reasons.” To which he laughed and said, “No, not really.”

Turns out German Dave had just had enough of the normal 9-5, the mundane nature of life, and after a couple of rubbish jobs, he decided it was time to hit the road.

He had no plan but to keep walking. He was averaging 50-70 Kilometres a day and, at night, laying his head wherever he could, be that an albergue, a church, an abandoned house, or on the roadside.

He was the ultimate Pilgrim and made me feel like quite the poser, boasting of my marathon 37-kilometre day and bemoaning the mild discomfort of the snoring orchestra.

The Final Push to Santiago

Relaxed pilgrim taking a break. Photo by Dave McKenna
Relaxed pilgrim taking a break. Photo by Dave McKenna

The final push to Santiago saw me meet an inspiring couple of Croatians, who told me that this was their fourth Camino De Santiago, each one with a different starting point. They had been on the road 111 days and travelled from the very south of Spain through blistering heat to the damp north where we met.

Ivicia and Biljana were their names, and any Croatian reading this may know of them as they’ve given talks all over their home country due to their book Od Osijeka Do Santiago de Compostela.

Their first Camino started from their front door in Croatia, leaving their lives behind, journeying 3,300 kilometres to Santiago. Along the way, they encountered nothing but kindness and hospitality being let in by various people and given donations on social media, their journey and their story became a book.

Why did they do it? Bijana was working a stressful finance job when her mum died, and shortly afterwards, she was diagnosed with cancer. She quit the job and started walking alongside her loving husband, Ivicia. “My mum always had stuff she wanted to do, but it was always… ‘later, later, I’ll do it when I retire, or I’ll do that next year… sometimes later never comes. You have to do what you want today and believe that whatever you want is possible as it’s out there all you have to do is get it”.

Read More: Top 5 Places to See in Galicia, Spain: From Dizzying Heights to Pilgrimage Sites

Reaching Santiago de Compostela

A satisfied and soggy pilgrim. Photo by Dave McKenna
A satisfied and soggy pilgrim. Photo by Dave McKenna

Arriving at the cathedral in Santiago is a feeling I can’t begin to describe, but seeing as this is literally what I’m being paid to do, I should probably try. Initially, it’s anti-climatic, as this walk, like life, is about the journey, not the final destination, but seeing my fellow pilgrims collapse in front of the place they’ve spent days, weeks, and months getting to is a thing of real beauty.

The atmosphere in the square outside the cathedral and the town is like no other I’ve ever experienced. It’s sheer joy, relief, and godly ecstasy. I never thought when taking this walk that I would find this feeling of contentment. To be honest, I didn’t think I’d feel this kind of happiness again.

Letting Go and Moving Forward

Walking along the El Camino Trail. Photo by Dave McKenna
Walking along the El Camino Trail. Photo by Dave McKenna

I walked this road with a burden: the death of my best friend, the breakdown of a decade-long relationship, and some family health issues weighing on my back. A burden I symbolised in the form of a conker, which I picked up outside that first pub on day one, once outside the cathedral’s back doors I dropped that conker into the fountain.

As cheesy and as cliche as it sounds I felt instant relief and a sort of giddiness for life, a gratitude and a hope for what my future could hold. I can’t promise the Camino de Santiago will solve everyone’s problems but bar a few aches and pains, the lack of sunshine and a few shocking nights’ sleep it can’t make any of them worse.

If I could inject this feeling into everyone I care about and every reader of this publication, I would. But I can’t so all you’ve got to do is put one foot in front of the other and move forward with the wind at the back and the sun on your face (well, not here in the North of Spain, the weather is worse than London) and the attitude to greet life with the enthusiasm it deserves.

Hopefully, you’ll be as giddy as me… and do it sooner rather than later as sometimes later never comes.

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Author Bio: Dave McKenna is a writer and filmmaker from Margate. Who regualrly writes for iNews and The Margate Mercury.

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