The reasons someone ends up on the Camino are varied. For some pilgrims, it’s the physical challenge of it. Others want a European adventure. It could be a desire to experience a centuries-old tradition or the glory of nature. Some are merely curious. Yet another reason is self-discovery. Naturally, the spiritual aspect is why some walk — it is the Way of Saint James, after all.
I suspect a fair many pilgrims aren’t sure exactly why they are there. Some may have heard tell of the Camino or heard tales from returning pilgrims that planted a seed for them to go on their own eventually. Of course, for many, it’s a combination of these.
In our case, it’s a mix of reasons as well. Being newlyweds, we were looking at setting goals as a couple and had discussed how we wanted to do something new together, travel, get more fit, and improve our spiritual life. On January 1, 2022 we were going through Matthew Kelly’s “Make This The Best Year Of Your Life — 25 Questions That Will Transform You and Your Life” to help us. (I was taking copious notes as I am wont to do.)
Question #3 reads, “If you could only accomplish one thing next year what would you like it to be?” Ours was a two-part answer:
- To make a meaningful difference in others’ lives.
- To do the Camino
As for Part One, we have some ongoing work that seems on track to make a difference in others’ lives, so we’ll be continuing that. Of course, it was Part Two, the Camino, that encompassed our goals and captured our hearts in that moment as the one thing we would like to tackle. In my notebook, Camino is starred with the notation “spiritual and physical” as it meets those requirements. As a bonus, this pilgrimage would offer us the opportunity to explore a foreign land together. We decided bringing the prayers of others along would be a way to make a difference and offer our trip to God. We began passing out small business cards with our mission of prayer on them. It had a little more detail on the backside (along with a typo of Compostela).
The Camino was definitely calling!
Now that we had the “what” and the “why” of what we were going to do for 2022, we needed to tackle the “when” and “how“. Much internet research was in order! Many pilgrims have shared videos and blogs on everything practical — from what to pack to how to train. John did the yeoman’s work in this area. Here is a list of useful Camino planning links.
Prayer Requests
Do you have a prayer request? Please let us know and we will pray for you on our next pilgrimage.