Camino de Santiago post (written 10/10/2016)

Day 3: Castrojerez to Fromista


In 2014, I walked the Camino from St Jean to Burgos with my wife. Two years later with that nearly 16-year marriage ended, I find myself on the Camino in a previously and unthought of state – alone.


And that scared me.


Two years ago, I had a Camino partner – someone who shared the walk, helped negotiate the obstacles, and (as she was a verbose extrovert) someone to help my introverted self through the multitudes of conversations.


I have now been on the Camino three days. This morning I walked into the heart of the Meseta in the province of Palencia. It is vast. It stretches as far as the eye can see. And it makes you feel small.


However, as I descended a plateau early this morning with no one in sight and only the vastness ahead and behind me, the one thing I did not feel was alone.


I reflected on this all day. In the three short days I’ve been out here, I have been anything but alone. I instantly bonded with a Canadian pilgrim at the airport (and subsequently changed my plans to catch a train with him to Burgos), had a communal dinner and countless conversations my first night in an albergue, had a heartfelt conversation over an afternoon and dinner with a gentleman who recently lost his husband, and instantly bonded with many others in the briefest of meetings.


There is certainly plenty of time out here for those peaceful, thoughtful, and contemplative moments all of us seek. But there is also a remarkable and powerful bond that connects us to all pilgrims on


The Way. I am not scared. I am happy. I am a pilgrim.