Walking the Camino

Walking the Camino del Norte

In September 2016, I set out from my home near Chelmsford, walked to the railway station, travelled to Plymouth and boarded the overnight ferry to Santander.

Over the following month, I walked the 700 km from Santander to Santiago along the Camino del Norte, said to be the hardest and least travelled route.

What I learned from being a Pilgrim

When I walked to Santiago, this is what I learned about being a disciple of Jesus and following in the way.

I learned first that someone had been this way before me. Across the whole of northern Spain, there are yellow arrows pointing you to Santiago.

It is very difficult to get lost.

I learned that you cannot choose your fellow travellers or your companions on the road. If you are walking in the mountains in northern Spain and someone is alongside you, then unless you choose to stop or run ahead, they are your companion for the day. Is there anything more important that the Church needs to learn at the moment? That we are sisters and brothers and fellow companions. That we cannot choose our other travelling companions.

And I learned that there is a big and beautiful space between A and B, and that while in the rest of life I usually try to get between A and B in the quickest possible time by the shortest possible route, there is a spacious depth of loveliness in every moment and every footstep if you just slow down to God’s pace.

And I learned what enough looks like.