El Camino Day 27. Padrouzo to Santiago de Compostela

Terminar del camino. (End of the road)

There’s a lot of reasons why people come to do a camino. Whether it’s a religious pilgrimage, an adventure, a life goal to do upon retiring, a way to cope with something, or one of the various other reasons, it’s an amazing experience to be a part of.  Although it’s wonderful that you are able to take a shower at the end of every day, it is not something that is overly comfortable. You wear the same clothes day after day, you have daily aches and pains, you deal with an excessive amount of snoring and distractions, and at times you find yourself walking further than you might hope before you find a breakfast or sleeping option. At many moments, walking the camino felt like a job.  It is very far from what I would call a vacation.

Like everything in life, your experiences are generally defined or shaped by the attitude for which you have going into them with and carry with throughout.  One of my favorite parts of traveling is the conversations with people from all walks of life.  Ultimately, we’re all from the same place if you look back far enough.  I love to try to always smile, make an attempt of a connection whether verbally or other means regardless of where they’re from, and bring a small burst of positive energy into the universe.

Several interesting observations that surprised me on this adventure is that most people show up solo to walk the Camino. I would put 60 years old as the average age of the pilgrims I met with the oldest person being 83.  The number 1 reason for walking the Camino I heard was they’re finally doing this now that they have retired. Throughout my month of walking, I probably crossed paths with several hundred people who I had at least a brief conversation with along the way.  During this time, the majority of the conversations involved your typical life stories.  Other times, I listened many stories of loss, tragedy, life challenges, and other various reasons for walking this path.  I am grateful that this was not the purpose of my camino, but I hope my positive energy was uplifting to their path of healing.  I met so many amazing people on this adventure. Thanks to all for the time, memories, wonderful stories, and laughs along the way.

Buen Camino

Thomas! A retired fire fighter, a marine, and a guy who was sick of walking.  When it was all said and done, he walked over 900 miles.  He wins the award for the guy with the least amount of gas left in the tank.

Almost 20 years of friendship can’t be taken lightly.  Juan is one of the greatest people on this earth. 

Andy retired from the Navy after serving 36 years.  He had landed a fighter jet on an aircraft carrier over 1100 times.  As I’m sure a lot of you could guess, he had some pretty good stories.

I was honored to have my wife and son join me for my last day of walking the Camino.  It was truly special to introduce them to some of the wonderful people I had met along the way. 

Matt and Eva are truly amazing. I am excited that they live close enough that I will have an opportunity to continue our friendship without requiring a vacation request to see.

Phillip, Juan, me and my family, Angelica, Maria Carolina, and Garth.  By the end of this day, I was starting to wonder if Juan and Phillip had any interest in being my friend still.  Those two were like peas and carrots.

And this guy wins the award for the most interesting way to complete the Camino.

Phillip and I spent many hours walking and covering all topics under the sun.  He’s a father of five, a pediatric doctor, an ultra marathon runner, a dedicated volunteer for search and rescue, and an incredible person to enjoy an endless amount of conversations with while walking across a country.  He wins the award as my favorite pilgrim.  Although we got split up when I backtracked to travel with Jack, he made the effort to catch back up in Santiago to meet my family and friends. I am thankful for our time spent together.

Go Pennsylvania!

It is said that if you walk the entire El Camino, you are guaranteed admission to heaven.  My troubles are over.

My little world.

There’s no greater love.