Soulmates on the Camino

Sitting in a cafe along the Camino Portugués with a good friend met mere hours ago, I think how this world is full of soulmates of all different kinds. Romantic or not, strong connections form when you find part of yourself in another, something that happens along the Camino with seemingly great frequency.

Maybe part of this can be attributed to similarities in the type of people inclined to venture out onto the Camino, but, undoubtedly, the Camino itself fosters an environment where boundaries between people are broken down and vulnerability and connection become easier than the so-called “real world.”

In the winding paths that can feel worlds and centuries apart from traditional bounds of society, those on the Camino are not separated by our ages, nationalities, jobs, or status–everyone is a pilgrim. This is the communitas that Victor Turner writes is a product of liminality, where the Camino exists in a world with its own rules.

Constance, a 69-year old Dutch woman who has walked the Camino seven times alone, considers the people she has met the most important part of her Camino, and notes, “Age makes no difference. You can spend only a day with someone on the Camino and make a great friend.”

These friendships made possible by the Camino are enduring. There’s Nola, an Australian woman in her 80s who made such good friends on the French route that they all returned  8 years later to walk the Camino Portugués. Jian, a young South Korean woman, walks with the passport of an older man she met on the Camino five years ago who is too sick to join her this time around. She began the Portuguese route walking in silence with a young man from Lisbon. They were separated by language, but soon became inseparable.  As time passed he would answer questions for her when she could not find the words.

On the Camino there is a unique spirit of openness, where people are free to ask near-strangers questions unfathomable outside of the Camino–and receive honest and vulnerable answers. Not even an hour into our conversation, a British woman turns to me and asks, “Are you in love?”

People divulge their fears, hopes, failures, and loves. Alfonso, an older Christian missionary who opens his home to pilgrims, calls the Camino “one big confessional.”

Mike, a South African grandpa, compares this spirit to those he’s seen in endurance races. When everyone is struggling, their boundaries are torn down and everyone is suddenly down in the mud together, helping each other. This reminds me of Commonweal, a cancer treatment center near San Francisco where patients come together to heal (not cure) as part of a community. There, group discussions and sharing burdens plays an important role in healing. “It is our woundedness that allows us to trust each other,” comments the director.

Constance jokes that people on the Camino are cut from the same cloth, who understand and accept you, not just “the saintly parts.”

There are many types of people who come on El Camino de Santiago, with diverse experiences and backgrounds. Yet, something brings all these pilgrims together.  A concept we learned in class was communitas.  Communitas is defined as a feeling of warmth and unity in a group that leaves behind the roles and hierarchies of everyday life.  Beyond the structure of paths leading from many points in Europe towards Santiago and the commercial aspect of the Camino, very little structure is imposed on pilgrims. There is a unique interplay between the pilgrim community and individuality on the Camino.  Trudging on through rain or shine for most of the day made me exhausted, but I was always happy to greet another pilgrim on their journey.  Similar to the use of “fight on” on the USC campus and around the world with fellow Trojans, the well wishing phrase of “buen camino” is used in greeting, good bye, and sometimes with irony.

Each day you meet new people. There is an odd feeling knowing you may never see these amazing people again. Even with the digital age, I felt awkward asking for their contact information.  It felt like an invasion of the Camino self and a distraction from the pure interactions on the Camino. Keeping up with their lives and manufactured profiles seemed to take away from their pilgrim selves you met on the Camino.

As an active older woman named Constantine from the Netherlands said, “The Camino is people.”  This sentiment was repeated often throughout my journey.  A British woman named Olive was expecting to meet few people, or at least walk by herself mostly intentionally. However, as she walked she “learned to enjoy walking and meeting people.”  Two women from Norway described the Camino as “all a new experience, but it is good. Everything in life is good when you are meeting people”.

While walking with Bill and Jennifer, a Canadian First Nation individual about to enter architecture school and an upcoming anesthesiologist respectively,  I noticed the comfort of walking with others in silence.  Even while walking with others, I was alone with my thoughts.  There is a beautiful balance on the Camino of being together and a respect for each other’s personal time, particularly since many do the pilgrimage for reflection: whether spiritually, religiously, or to make life choices.

One day I met a German woman named Stephanie who did not enjoy her work as a pharmaceutical quality control officer, seemed like she was going through a midlife crisis. After several hours of meaningful conversation, she kindly said, “Don’t take this the wrong way, but after we stop at this cafe I will continue on alone”.  After a long day of talking with a retired Australian school teacher named Jan, she hinted that she wanted to be alone when she said, “I’ll let you have the next 6 kilometers to yourself.  I don’t want to hold you back any longer.”

Hiking to Muxia, I met a man in his 40s from Norway who managed to get 11 weeks off from his job in the health profession.  He had spent the past few days walking with a group of 25 South Africans he could not avoid.  They were loud and rambunctious, and he felt the group aspect at that size “takes away from the Camino”.  But then he went on to talk about great things the pilgrim community has done.  He had stayed in a hostel that fit 60 people, all donation based with dinner and breakfast, built in 2003 to accommodate pilgrims who wished to help clean up an oil spill from 2002.  Apparently there are other hostels like this, and I think it is inspiring that as a community, pilgrims gave back and cleaned up the environment rather than continue on their way.

Author contemplates a sunset at the end of the world, Finesterre

Overall, the Camino brings people together while also letting them have their alone time to contemplate life.

Meal with pilgrim friends

People from all over the world come to walk the Camino, each having their own traditions, culture, and language. Sometimes you’ll easily connect with someone over a shared background or experience, while other times a language barrier or aversion to meeting new people may leave distance between pilgrims. In these times especially, music (be it singing, humming, or playing an instrument) creates a welcoming environment and engagement that anyone can experience.

Our first night of the Camino, we found ourselves in San Pedro de Rates — the albergue was filled with exhausted pilgrims traveling from far and wide, many massaging their feet and trying to alleviate various aches and pains. The volunteer working the desk eagerly asked if anyone knew how to play the guitar — when I answered yes, she excitedly brought it out and asked if we could play something that everyone could sing together. With a makeshift pencil capo, we launched into a classic rendition of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.” Almost instantly, other pilgrims stopped what they were doing, and many came from other rooms to listen or join in. For those few minutes, we were all able to come together in song, smiling and focusing on joy and connection rather than the pain of the day’s walk.

A few nights later, we were fortunate enough to stay at Casa Fernanda, a private, intimate albergue run by Maria and her family. We shared a meal with people from Portugal, Denmark, the Netherlands, Germany, and parts of the US. After dinner, the guitar came out once again — despite our different ages, languages, and backgrounds, we all sang together. Maria and her husband even shared a piece of their culture, performing traditional Fado songs. We all left Casa Fernanda with our bellies and hearts full, bonded together by one beautiful night of song, dance and wine. For the remainder of our Camino, we maintained close relationships with the other Casa Fernanda guests.

Music on the Camino doesn’t always have to be a grand performance like these, however. One rainy morning, I was walking alone, humming John Denver’s Country Roads to myself to pass the time. Up ahead, an older man slowed and began to sing the words out loud with me. When we finished, I asked him where he was from, and in as much English as he could muster, he told me that he was from South Korea and always loved John Denver. We couldn’t really communicate past that as we didn’t speak each other’s languages, but for just a few moments we shared an experience and connection that neither of us will forget. Although walking the Camino sometimes feels exhausting and lonely, I always cherish the times where just for a few special moments with music creates a connection and gives us all a reason to smile.

Saint James dressed as the Pilgrim to Santiago with the shell on his hat.

While walking the Camino de Santiago I asked pilgrims about what they knew of the history of the Camino. I assumed that in medieval times people knew the story of St. James (his preaching, his martyrdom and the transfer of his body by his followers). Today I found few pilgrims who knew the sacred legends of the Camino.

Now, when asking people about their knowledge of the history or roots of the Camino, the answer rarely extends beyond “Saint James walked this route!”. Or as one 26 year old British woman said “I don’t know anything at all about the history of the Camino, besides that in England it’s called the Way of Saint James.” She also added one piece of knowledge that Compostela means “field of stars”.

It’s curious that although the rates of people doing the Camino have gone up thousands every year recently, the majority of pilgrims I’ve talked to so far know the bare minimum, or nothing at all about the sacred history of St. James. From 278,232 pilgrims receiving their compostelas in 2016 to 301,036 in 2017, it is clear that the tally will be even higher at the end of 2018. This leads me to wonder at the marketing, the reasons people are walking the Camino, and what their thoughts of the Camino are. Is the structure and form of the Camino changing. Because what is the Camino, besides the people that are walking it? What matters more, takes precedent for identity, the thousands of pilgrims walking, or the reason for the walk in the first place?

Only one pilgrim, a 38 year old American man, knew about the history of the Camino. He knew the roots in Catholicism, that it was through the church and semi-recently the European Union has popularized the Camino. He knew that St. James’ remains are supposed to be at the end, and that his followers brought him.

Besides that, there was a shocking lack of common knowledge on the history of the Camino, the history of the “moor slayer” (which no one had heard about) and the original rules and reasons surrounding the Camino.

St. James in his guise as the Moor slayer in the church in Tui. The legend says that St. James was invoked in a battle against the Moors in the Spanish crusades. St. James appeared on a white horse in the clouds and led the troops to a victory.

However, one 40 year old American woman from Washington DC said that while visiting Fatima the tour guide told her about the Camino and described it as a “spiritual journey”. Perhaps this is the essence of the Camino, and the most important aspect that one needs to know coming into it. It is a journey of self, a reflective experience that ties one to the Camino whether or not the reasons or knowledge are the same as they were a thousand years ago.