Camino de Santiago

The Camino, in many ways, is just like life. How so?

For one, you get used to the whole thing so quickly — waking up in a new place, still sore and tired, doing the long stare at nothing (a very guy thing), then springing into action to pack and get your coffee before hitting the road before 7am. All of a sudden you're outside back on the road, in nature, doing nothing but walking.

Sometimes you don't know why you're walking. Sometimes you don't know what you're doing here. Sometimes you want to take a break and sit. But you keep moving forward, and you keep walking. Because at least you have a direction.

You start off hurting, but you warm up. It's insane how quickly you get used to walking with blisters. Even your eyes become 25% closed because your body is using that energy just to stay alive. But when walking, you look down and marvel at your feet and legs and how such a machine got you here.

In many ways, late in the afternoon, it can be daunting to see your target village on the horizon — you think about how many steps you have left, how much your feet hurt. But then you hear another word about the Battle of the Somme and living in a WWI trench from a Dan Carlin podcast and you shut your mouth.

And every day you decide how many kilometers you want to walk. Feeling good? 25km. Want to do a marathon? 40km. Literally all the work you have to do is get up, put on your shoes and backpack, and then walk.

And like in life, there's a Camino-wide debate about how slow or how fast to walk every day. You have some people who say “Take it easy, take it slow, have long breaks!” And you have others who say “Original pilgrims didn't set off to take it slow, they wanted a challenge. They expected to sacrifice and feel pain.”

But the point is, who the hell cares!! Go as slow as you want, go as fast as you want. Yes, listen to what others have to say, but there is a huge distinction between listening to input and blindly following it. It's your own Camino and nobody else's.

Also, as in life, you'll run into some people along the way. Some you'll become friends with and see over and over, at albergue after albergue. Some you'll just say “Buen Camino” to as you pass them on the road. Some you'll bump into, have a great talk for the whole day and never see again. And it is tempting to fall into the FOMO temptation and be social just because you're “lonely”, especially when you have no internet.

But, as in life, the truth is, there is no better feeling than being comfortable just sitting, eating, walking by yourself and knowing it's enough to just be by yourself (which counterintuitively improves your ability to be present for others... by like a LOT). I'll tell you a little story.

Around me was a flurry of filled tables with conversations: A Korean tour group to my right. An American couple in front. And to my left, a bunch of pilgrims who came solo, all in their late 20s, having that classic “In Germany, we do this! In Hungary, we do this!” conversation of cultural differences that I've participated in probably hundreds of times.

Maybe three years ago, I would've asked to sit with the pilgrim group, obeying that mammalian instinct whispering that if I don't socialize and join a tribe, I'll die alone. One year ago, I would've heard that same instinct but distracted myself by scrolling the news or checking messages.

But here I was, eating a plate of beef and fries, with my notebook to my right and a biography open to my left — fatigued, reflective, and more at peace than I had ever been in my life. I felt nothing but quiet satisfaction hearing all the conversation happening all around me.

True wealth isn't money or fame. It's being at peace, completely at ease in everything going on in and around you. After a year of nonstop travel, the Camino reminded me to protect that peace — to carry it forward.

As I read a sentence on the page and cut into another piece of beef, I realized that in just a week, I'd finish the Camino. A few days later, I'd be off again — into a flurry of festivals, reunions, beach parties, and hypnosis breakthroughs. A European summer packed with movement, events, and abundance awaited. The continent was simmering with anticipation and energy, and I could feel it in the air.

But what I didn't realize, sitting at that mountain restaurant with a relaxed half-smile on my face, was just how much this summer would change my life.