Camino Pilgrim

I made it! Even with two consecutive 40+km days, I felt better entering Santiago than any of the previous Caminos.

From Irun to Santiago I walked 845 kilometers on foot. There were bus, boat and gondola bridge experiences during the Camino that did not count under distance.

Camino Norte is huge in elevation changes. Uphill walking during my Camino – 18.4km, downhill 18.2km. I did (relatively) more than two Mount Everests within a single month of hiking.

The average daily distance was 29.1km. That is definitely less than on Camino Frances. Asphalt walking moments on the Norte do go fast, but the constant shock to the knees (especially downhill) forces you to walk a bit shorter days. Physically, it was very difficult to be fully prepared for this kind of experience. Especially in a country as flat as Estonia. I am very happy and satisfied with the outcome.

Today, I walked almost all the time on the asphalt. It did not feel much of a difference anymore, but the route I took was quite flat as well. When I connected to Camino Frances at Santiago airport, 13km before the cathedral, I could clearly see that during the last four weeks I had started to walk very fast. I was passing other pilgrims like they were sticking to the mud. There was a lot of mud on the trail even from the few short rainfalls, just because thousands of pilgrims use this route into the holy city daily.

There is a strange sensation about walking to Santiago. Getting to the cathedral square itself does not feel special at all, but the whole walk inside the city feels more and more like returning home every time. I guess a piece of my Camino memories gets left behind each time.

It is hard to describe what keeps me coming back to Santiago year after year, but all the pilgrims I talked to on the Norte talked about returning for another hike in the future. It is really not about the destination, it is all about the journey. It is not the last 4 kilometers inside Santiago that make it special, it is the people and the hundreds of kilometers before Santiago that create the magic.

Life becomes very simple when you live one step at a time. While special moments on the Camino become greater when shared, walking alone generates a deeper personal experience. There is no right or wrong way to walk the Camino as long as the last 100 kilometers you do continuously on foot (200 if on horseback or sailing).

Like one management consultant of executive position leaders from the US that I met on the Camino said: “I can spend hours talking about what the Camino experience is and what it can do for yourself, but to really experience it you have to come here and walk by yourself. Only when you are completely alone and not distracted by music or daily issues, will you dive into the inner experience that happens during Camino.”