Whether it’s someone’s first Camino or they return to hike every year, people are often happy to share wisdom that they have gained while walking The Way.

Advice is freely given on the Camino

Lessons Learned: What Really Matters in Life

A pair of Polish sisters have walked the Camino around 10 times, for example, and tell me that The Camino is “humbling”. The younger sister in her thirties explains that “The Camino shows you that you don’t need a lot in life to be happy-just music, food and good company”. When she comes back home she often donates many of her things since she realizes that they aren’t necessary. “Other things are more important, like people, and what’s inside” she elaborates pointing to her heart.

She continues saying that the Camino teaches her how to be in the moment. She laughed, “If I see a bar I stop- I don’t know the next time I’ll see one!” She takes each day as it comes, seizes every moment, and allows herself to really take advantage of all of the beautiful moments while on the pilgrimage.

Lesson Learned: Love on the Camino

Another woman shared some advice with me as we walked. She is a southern Californian in her 60s and although this is her first Camino, she had already learned a huge travel lesson. “Don’t make travel plans with people you haven’t been dating for very long; don’t make plans too early”. After things didn’t work out with a man she had been dating for a while she wrestled with the awkward situation of having him come along on the trip as just a friend. Needless to say that things were a little rough and she wished that she would have just come alone.

I talked to one young Australian man who told me that love was the biggest component of his pilgrimage. He explains that the Camino “is all about love, loving yourself and loving others”. He says that traveling with five strangers for almost a month “requires a lot of respect”, especially when you learn about all of their quirks and have to sort out opposing opinions. He also learned about “what it means to be a young Catholic person in modern days” since “it’s not cool to be religious” and most of his friends aren’t. As he prepares to become his niece’s godfather, he figured that he needed to learn more about his faith so he could know the answers that she would one day ask as a young Catholic herself.

Lesson Learned: Lean into Discomfort

48 yr. old Camino friend

One of my favorite conversations was with a 48 year old man from Northern California. He stressed that “life begins outside your comfort zone” and that “it’s hard to learn about life from the warmth of your house”. It is when people put themselves in challenging situations that “you have to have faith in yourself, have faith in your abilities, and have faith in other people’s kindness”. Doing so allows people to learn more about themselves and grow into a more self-actualized individual.

All in all, I have enjoyed hearing the words of wisdom from fellow pilgrims as well as learning lessons of my own. I am thankful for being able to hike this journey, meet amazing people along the way, and apply the lessons that I have learned to my life once back home from pilgrimage.