Personal pilgrimage
A long walk provides many benefits. Walking is simple and safe, can be done anytime, anywhere and is suitable for most people. During periods of high stress, long walks through natural landscapes can be therapeutic in loosening tension’s grip and freshening perspectives so as to navigate life’s challenges with greater insight and wisdom.
One long walk is the famous Camino de Santiago, the road to the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela, home to the alleged remains of St James the Apostle. This 800km-long trek across the top of Spain follows in the footsteps of centuries of pilgrims.
The Camino meanders through medieval villages and the cities of bygone kings and queens, over hills and plateaus, through forests of plantation timbers and broadacre fields. As one of the world’s great Christian pilgrimages, walking the Camino is said to be insurance to access heaven. In days of old, wealthy noblemen would send their slaves to walk it on their behalf. Others have referred to the Camino as a “white man’s dreaming track”.
Some have suggested the Camino was originally a pagan quest to understand where the sun goes each evening. The pre-Christian human may have walked towards the setting sun until finally reaching the western peninsular coastline. Two coastal towns,
