Hiking the Camino de Santiago

Part of the fun of being on the road is the experiences to be found with the great new people you meet while traveling. The road can bring us some hilarious, wise, and challenging characters. However, like many vagabonders, I relish my solitary travels. There’s nothing quite like striking out on your own, literally all alone. Sometimes I find myself looking back on my solitary travels with slightly more gravity. Many vagabonders bring a solipsist’s appreciation to their travels, and find the richest of experiences in the intensity of nature and the purity of their thoughts.

Hiking the Camino de Santiago is an experience that glistens with all of the pensive promise that travelers romanticize in the pages of Henry David Thoreau or Carl Jung. The European mountain chain that serves as the frontiers between France and Spain makes up a large part of the historic Way of St. James. The route stretches from as far north as Paris, meanders south and across the Pyrenees Mountains to the Cathedral of Santiago in Compostella in northwestern Spain. However, travelers are known to come from all over the world to make this historic route.

The route carries its own repertoire of legends. The tradition of making this pilgrimage springs from the belief that the remains of St. James were carried along this route before laying to rest in what is today the city of Santiago de Compostela, and at one time the pilrimage even served as a penance. Though to some this route is significant as an important early trade route before Christian times. Some even believe making the pilgrimage serves as a fertility ritual, explaining the route’s scallop shell symbol.

Today the route is clearly marked and hostels and small accommodations are easily found along the way, most of them for under 10euros or free if travelers have registered for a Credencial for the pilgimage. These papers are easy to obtain for a few euros from the local Spanish tourist agency.

Regardless of your spiritual inclinations, the Camino de Santiago is a profound experience for any traveler. While travel in Western Europe can sometimes be an endless procession of cafés and historic monuments, this is one way to step profoundly off the typically beaten path and throw yourself into the beauty of the European countryside.

(photo credit: bugbog.com)