Why do you have to go to Spain to go walking?

That’s the question I get from most people after I tell them I’m going to go on a pilgrimage in Spain. Here’s how that came about. I have often felt that I should have gone through a military boot camp at some point while I was growing up. And since I never did I feel I’m lacking some of the self-discipline I need to be successful at the highest levels. While I was growing up, I did what my parents wanted. In college, I did what the professors wanted. And at work, I do what my bosses want. But who am I underneath all of those expectations? What is my purpose? How can I find out who I really am and what I should be spending my life doing? Where do I need to be making a difference that matters?

Those were the questions I posed to my friend, the amazing counselor and therapist, Lynn Motley. A few days later, I received some emails from Lynn suggesting I might find the answers I seek by attending a class on writing as a spiritual practice or possibly by walking the Camino de Santiago de Compostela in Spain and she included links to the related websites. After digging through the sites I decided to walk the last portion of the Camino from Sarria to Santiago.

[Click here if you would like to check out the Camino de Santiago de Compostela...]

I could go walking in the U. S., but here we don’t have inexpensive hostels you can sleep in, so you have to carry camping gear and stay out of doors or you have to carry enough extra money to stay in hotels. All along the Camino routes there are hostels called albergues where you can spend the night for just €5. If you use this method, you can make quite an extensive pilgrimage without breaking the bank. And on a pilgrimage you get hours and hours to think through the deep questions while you are unplugged from the fast paced culture we live in and take life at a walking pace.

As a bonus, if you walk at least the last 100 km of the Camino, you can get a completion certificate called a Compostela from the cathedral in Santiago written in Latin. That would be cool, I thought. And that is why I have to go to Spain to go walking.

- Jerry