The Camino de Santiago pilgrimage in Northern Spain was one of the most rewarding trips I’ve done in a long time. Over the years I have bicycled all over the world so I know what long distant travel under one’s own power takes.
What made the Camino walk different was the infrastructure in place to accommodate walking travelers, the quaint Spanish villages and the people I met along the from all over the world.
There are seven well-established routes of St. James; Camino Frances (the French Way), Camino Portugués (the Portuguese Way), Camino del Norte (the Northern Way), Camino Primitivo (the Original Way), Via de la Plata (the Silver Way), Camino Inglés (the English Way) and Camino Finisterre-Muxía.
I chose the St. James route because it seemed the oldest and most traditional as well as a better infrastructure that dates back thousands of years.
As a late bloomer I did this walk before I turned 70 years old. Older people have done the walk, I met a woman before I left from Gig Harbor in her 80s who did it. Many retired people walk the Camino and many of us without our significant other.
As I walked, what I called my Camino family took shape. This Camino family became a loose knit group that watched out for each other. We ate dinners together and our dinner group changed depending on who was in town, where people were staying and who needed some privacy for the evening.
It ended up the people who lifted my spirits day in and day out throughout the 474-mile walk made the experience. Something about the spirit of the Camino brings out the best in a person.
And I was no exception. Now I didn’t do the walk for religious reasons, but I have to say I did feel an underlining spiritual goodness along the way. This goodness was in the walking and in the people.
Hopefully sharing my experience will encourage those of you out there who have thought about doing the Camino but thought they couldn’t because you’re too old, not in shape, afraid to do it by yourself and all the hundreds of the reasons we think we can’t do something.
I’m looking forward to seeing all of you at the Camino de Santiago presentation during the Sequim travel journal.
About the presenter
I grew up traveling. At age 6 I moved from the Midwest to Japan. I’ve traveled to bicycle from point to point, I’ve traveled to do development work, I traveled to study.
The best thing about traveling for me is being a part of the community I stay in.
Walking the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage I had three goals: one, to challenge myself to walk the 470 miles; two, to walk through the small villages in Northern Spain; and, three, to become part of a community. I accomplished all of these. This is why I keep traveling.
About the presentations
Traveler’s Journal, a presentation of the Peninsula Trails Coalition, raises funds to buy project supplies and food for volunteers working on Olympic Discovery Trail projects. Shows start at 7 p.m. at the Dungeness River Nature Center, 2099 W. Hendrickson Road. Suggested donation is $5 for adults. To protect speakers and others, attendees must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to attend the presentations; have vaccination cards available at the door. For more information, email Arvo Johnson at amjcgj@gmail.com.
2022 Traveler’s Journal
When: 7 p.m., Thursday, April 14 (door open at 6:30 p.m.)
Presenter: Maridee Bonadea
Presentation: “Walking the Dream: The Journey on the Camino de Santiago”
Where: Dungeness River Nature Center, 2099 W. Hendrickson Road
