Travel: On The Camino

In today’s Y’all Weekly, Guest Contributor Amy Eagleburger documents her travels on a European pilgrimage that attracts those seeking both sacred and secular wisdom.

An hour before dawn, I woke up on the floor of a karate dojo.

It was September 18 of 2022, and I was in St. Jean Pied a Port, France. No, this wasn’t the result of some misadventure the previous evening. Rather it was the beginning of my pilgrimage on the French Way of the Camino de Santiago.

I had arrived the night before on a train from Paris, excitement growing as I identified other pilgrims with the signature scallop shell hanging from their backpacks. Their plan was probably similar to mine: find an albergue to stay in — a pilgrim’s hostel — and start the next morning at a reasonable hour.

The Author on day 2 of the Camino with 790 kilometers to go. (Amy Eagleburger)

The Camino de Santiago is a series of routes taken by pilgrims for 900 years to reach the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, the final resting place of St. James – Santiago in Spanish – one of the twelve disciples of Jesus Christ. We cannot say with certainty that the remains venerated in Compostela’s crypt are actually St. James’s; but, as it is with many relics, the truth is not as important as the meaning. The meaning of the Camino itself has evolved over time: once an exclusively Catholic pilgrimage, the 500-mile path is now trod by pilgrims for secular and sacred reasons.

The most popular route, the Camino Frances or French Way, is the one I would take. It begins in the picturesque town of St. Jean Pied a Port and sends pilgrims west, up over the Pyrenees and into Spain. The 500-mile walk passes through Pamplona, Spain’s Rioja wine country, and then finally into rainy Galicia. Last year, 439,000 pilgrims completed the Camino, a record number.

Without rest days, most guidebooks say you can complete the journey in 31 days.

Most guidebooks overestimated my level of fitness.

In St. Jean Pied a Port, I checked in at the pilgrim’s office to get my pilgrim’s passport. They offered to help me find accommodations, but I thanked them anyway. I didn’t need any help! I had read the guidebook! Behind one of these albergue doors, a magical experience surely awaited me!

Alas, there was no room at the inn — at any of the inns. I returned to the pilgrim's office and, along with 25 others, I was put up in the dojo for the evening. Surprisingly, a karate dojo’s padded floors are very comfortable. The price was also right, as we slept there for free. Before nightfall, I joined four others for dinner at a local restaurant, giddily toasting the start of an uncertain adventure. While some people walk the Camino with friends, solo walkers like me look forward to forming their “Camino family” along the way.

So, an hour before dawn the following day, I gathered my things and set out. The guys I had dinner with on the first night were my first walking companions and over the first few days I amassed more acquaintances, all soon to become friends. Over the next month, it was astounding to me how many times I needed a friendly face and one would miraculously appear. 

The morning I set out to walk to Belorado did not go as planned, for example. The walk from Santo Domingo de la Calzada is about 13 miles, and the previous day had ended in a downpour. The morning dawned with a forecast of rain, followed by more rain.

About an hour into my walk I stopped at a coffee trailer that catered to pilgrims. I had my standard breakfast of tortilla espanola and a cup of coffee. And then a second cup of coffee. I was considering a third cup, when Joanne, a woman who I had met two days before stopped to have her own breakfast. I ordered that third coffee and joined her, procrastinating. Then David and Jacinda arrived at the trailer. Amidst our cheery greetings we all finally admitted that the day, thus far, was a miserable slog with only more slogging ahead.

We agreed the proper course of action was a simple one: more coffee.

By more coffee, I mean we stopped at every single restaurant and café we could find, turning a long day of travel into a coffee crawl. I still earned some blisters courtesy of my soaked shoes, and in retrospect it is among my top five favorite days on the Camino. 

The author with her fellow pilgrims on a rainy, coffee-heavy day (Amy Eagleburger)

I could go on forever about the dinner invitations, words of encouragement, shared Compeed bandages, and glasses of vermouth that carried me along. I’m still convinced that at least one member of my Camino family is actually an angel sent to find us when we needed him the most.

While the planning I did for my walk began with a guidebook, an aspiring pilgrim could also avail themselves of their nearest chapter of the American Pilgrims on the Camino (APC). This organization provides resources and support for those dreaming of completing the Camino themselves and who would also like to be more prepared than I was.

Vince Pratt, a coordinator at the Charlotte, NC, chapter of APC, told me they host weekly coffee chats and monthly hikes for their members. They also host information sessions at REI locations in the area a few times a year, something abandoned during the pandemic that has since returned.

“We are very seriously interested in welcoming those who haven’t done the Camino and who want a community of friends,” said Pratt, who has done six of his own Camino journeys. Information about the chapter’s events is readily available on their website.

“The social aspect of it really is the simplest answer,” he replied when asked what kept drawing him back. “I really enjoyed my first Camino in Spain.… It just so happened that that year a man carried an oboe across Spain and played a concert in a little church every night.… It was just a joy to make these friends and get acquainted with people from all over.”

Pratt, who has also section hiked the Appalachian Trail, said the physical challenge of the Camino is different than the AT but still very real, particularly during long flat sections that can wear on feet and joints.

The Charlotte chapter of APC is one of three in North Carolina, with other chapters in Raleigh and Asheville. In 2022, Asheville was the site of the national American Pilgrims on the Camino. The annual gathering in 2023 will be held in Denver.

One of the numerous tiny towns on the Camino. (Amy Eagleburger)

The scallop shells I saw on pilgrim’s backpacks come from the Shell Ceremony, an APC tradition. Pratt said the official ceremony is in the spring, but APC will often do informal ceremonies at the end of a meeting if a pilgrim is about to begin their journey. He said approximately 12 individuals from the Charlotte chapter plan to complete the Camino this year, not all of them for the first time.

The last day of my Camino, October 26, was bittersweet. It had been 39 days since I woke up on the dojo floor and I had walked the last five of them with Jacinda, one of my rainy day companions so many weeks before. We were in Galicia, curiously similar to Ireland both in climate and culture. I was relieved knowing that tomorrow we did not have to pack our backpacks and walk again.

We took celebratory pictures and met up with other pilgrims for a glass of vermouth. We all wondered what would possess people to do the Camino more than once. Now, six months on, I’m looking at walking the Portuguese Route next year.

The Author with her Australian friend Jacinda in front of Santiago de Compostela on the final day of the Camino pilgrimage. (Courtesy Amy Eagleburger)

I’m ready to go back, but I still struggle to explain exactly what it is about the Camino that captivates so many. It’s imperfect but I’ve landed on this: walking the Camino is an invitation to be vulnerable.

So often we’re told to “fake it ‘til you make it” but there is no faking the Camino. Even those in excellent shape run into issues with blisters, old injuries flaring up, and the daily challenges both physical and mental. You cannot complete the Camino without relying on people that you meet along the way, both fellow pilgrims and locals. My Camino family quite literally bound up my wounds and fed my soul. I didn’t know any of their last names until a few days before our journey was complete.

In my post-Camino life, I often think of the lessons of the trail: walk the Camino one day at a time; contemplating the full journey is motivational killer; pack light because you need less than you think; and ask for help, you will never make it alone.

These are useful pieces of advice to anyone, whether or not they are planning their own pilgrimage. If you are planning a walk on the Camino de Santiago, I certainly encourage it.

Buen Camino!