3 Little Nuggets of Wisdom I Have Gained When Walking 1000 Kilometers

And all the obstacles leading to them

At the beginning of 2019, I was playing with the idea of walking 1000 kilometers. A major heartbreak led me to believe I have to walk in order to get a new outlook on life. Later on, I stumbled upon a quote from Hippocrates, saying:

“Walking is man’s best medicine.”

I saw this as a confirmation I needed to “carve my decision in stone.”

What is Camino de Santiago?

Camino de Santiago is a worldwide known pilgrimage network of paths that all finish in front of the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, Spain. Apart from religious purposes, many people decide to walk it as a part of spiritual growth. And I was one of them. I’ve had this romantic idea in my head that every aspect of the Camino (also known as The Way) will be some sort of enlightenment for me.

I’ve decided to walk the route Via de la Plata. The starting point for this route is in Seville, and the path is stretching from the south all the way to the north of Spain. Pilgrims walk through 4 different Spain regions: Andalusia, Extremadura, Castilla y Leon, and Galicia. This path is the longest of all Camino de Santiago paths. It is known for extreme temperatures — in the last couple of years, some pilgrims died because of heatstroke — and long distances between villages. That’s the reason why it is also the loneliest route.

There were all kinds of challenges.

I’ve had sore shoulders from carrying my backpack. I’ve had blisters, many of them. I’ve had blisters on blisters. I’ve had tendinitis. It also happened that the only time I didn’t pack enough water was the day I’ve had to walk the most. I was scared of bulls. I’ve cried on multiple occasions — in front of people, alone, in front of cows, in the monastery. I’ve had sunburn even though I was applying sunscreen every 2–3 hours, and in addition, I was wearing a ridiculous hat to protect my face and neck.

Somewhere in the middle of the journey, my knee started acting up. I have a torn meniscus, but I have figured out how to walk long distances despite the injury before coming to Spain. I’ve had to buy an icepack. Every time I came to the hostel, I ran to the kitchen to put it in the freezer, so it would be cold as soon as possible.

I was seriously questioning my decision to come to Spain and walk 6–8 hours every day. At one point, I broke down, ready to quit and repurchase my airplane ticket home. But there was one voice in my head, whispering: “Just don’t quit.”

Through all those hard times, my romantic idea about spiritual growth vanished. I’ve had so many difficulties on the way, and I didn’t have the mental capacity to be moved on a spiritual level. For me, this experience was more aligned with a quote from Winston Churchill:

“If you are going through hell, keep going.”

And that is exactly what I did. I walked, walked ,walked, until I finally came, came, came to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela.

Even though I am comparing my 1000 kilometer long walk with hell, I still came to 3 significant realizations.

1. We need less stuff than we realize.

When I was packing for the walk, I always had in mind that everything I pack, I will have to carry around every day for at least 6 hours. So, I’ve had to strip down my needs to the bare minimum.

I knew I had to be clean and clothed. I also knew I would need some First Aid supplies. Plus, a pen and a small notebook to capture my thoughts; a telephone to stay connected with friends and family; and an iPod for my music.

No multiple matchy outfits, no beauty products, and different creams. Now that I think about it, I am not even sure I took my mascara with me.

Before I got on the airplane, I weighed my backpack — it showed 6 kg. It was a 30L backpack, and it was at least half-empty. I had to make sure I had plenty of space for water and food since there were long distances without a hint of civilization during the long walk.

And guess what? It was pretty liberating not to think about what to wear every day. It was a good feeling not to have so many options. So many options which really don’t matter much.

Too many options can weigh you down — literally and metaphorically.

2. We don’t need to go on silent retreats to be quiet.

There were really just a few people on this path — I could count them on both hands. Most of them wanted to walk alone. Just like me. I wanted to “walk things off.” And I needed my peace for it.

So for the majority of the time, while walking, I was quiet. There were quite a few times where I didn’t run into anybody for a whole day. That meant plenty of time to be alone with my thoughts and process them. I was also enjoying being in nature while doing it.

My mind functioned so much better when I was moving my body. My thoughts became more clear, much faster. And I didn’t pay a fortune to do so. For my whole Camino trip, I spent a little bit over 800 euros (+ the cost of my airplane ticket).

Ali Wong says in her stand-up special, The Baby Cobra: “We do silent meditation retreats. That’s right. We pay $800 to shut up for a weekend.”

There is no need to be doing silent retreats — being in a vast room with people you don’t know, being in one place most of the time.

We need to move.

Forward.

3. Eating at the table makes us human.

During my 40-day walk, I was eating everywhere. It didn’t matter if it was comfortable or not — if I was hungry, I ate.

A lot of times, I was eating while walking to save some time. In most cases, the shade wasn’t an option, so I ate under the hot Spanish sun. I was also eating on the floor. On a rock. On the side of the road. Sometimes even in the bushes.

Every day after the walk, I’ve showered and put my clean clothes on. In the late afternoon or the evenings, I sat down at the table with my new friends.

Sometimes we threw together something simple ourselves; other times, we went to a restaurant and ordered the “pilgrims’ menu.”

Being able to take my time, sit on a proper chair at the table, and enjoy my meal with the company was a favorite part of my day.

I felt like a person again.

When I think about those times, it’s always a little reminder of how good I have it back home to be able to sit down at the table and have my meal in peace.

Would I walk 1000 kilometers again? Probably not.

Was it the right decision to make at the time? 100% yes.

Did I learn from my experience? For sure.

We complicate our lives. We buy too much of everything — things, services, experiences. We have too many options to choose from.

But in the end, we are left with too little of what truly matters.

We should revisit what we carry in our everyday backpacks. It would be much easier to walk through life if we were lighter packers.