The Two Caminos: Magic and Mystery on the Camino de Santiago

By Mitchell Smith

After a health scare, Mitch starts a series of life changes that ultimately lead to the most unlikely of journeys: walking 800 kilometers across northern Spain along the Camino de Santiago. Setting out with his wife of thirty years Mary Lou, and a promise to "follow everything and every opportunity that crosses my path", they are woefully unprepared for the journey ahead; and would have to quickly adapt to the physical, mental and spiritual challenges that at times seemed far heavier than the packs they carried. Through backaches and blisters, bug bites and sunburns, and old injuries that threatened to end the pilgrimage shortly after starting: the Camino challenged, encouraged and called them on. Coincidences and visions, questions and epiphanies, triumph and tragedy, old burdens and new friends, all began to weave a powerful story that challenged long-held beliefs.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tellwell Talent
• Release date: Mar 6, 2019
• ISBN: 9780228805830

Mitchell Smith

Mitchell Smith is an engineer turned songwriter, author and drifter. With his head steeped in the sciences; his heart was always on the road. Finally taking the plunge, he strapped on a backpack and wandered two months through Mexico and Central America, before being beckoned by the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostella. In 2016, he embarked with his wife Mary Lou on an eighteen month round the world journey: to thirteen countries. This husband, father and "Dude" to his grandchildren, has twice walked the Camino Frances: yet it still calls.

Book preview

THE TWO

CAMINOS

MAGIC AND MYSTERY ON THE CAMINO DE SANTIAGO

MITCHELL OWEN SMITH

The Two Caminos

Magic and Mystery on the Camino de Santiago

Copyright © 2019 by Mitchell Owen Smith

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Tellwell Talent

www.tellwell.ca

ISBN

978-0-2288-0582-3 (Paperback)

978-0-2288-0583-0 (eBook)

THE TWO CAMINOS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Dedication

Acknowledgements

Preface

SECTION ONE: FINDING THE WAY

It Was Meant For You

I Shall Not Walk Alone

SECTION TWO: THE PHYSICAL WAY

So Here We Go

First Step

I Feel The Earth Move Under My Feet

The Long March

To Where The Bulls Run

Welcome To The Mediterranean

Days Of Wine And Olives

An Unexpected Journey

Logroño Bound

In A Crowded Place

Breakaway

SECTION THREE: THE MENTAL WAY

An Eclectic Collection

Burgos Baby Or Bust

Game Changer

Don’t Worry Dad

New York, New York

Knights To Remember

Redemption

The Pagan And The Priest

Run Will Run

Forgiveness

Hop, Skip, And A Jump

SECTION 4: THE SPIRITUAL WAY

No Big Hero

Heaven And Hell

Heavenly Cell Phone And The Angel From Bulgaria

Rocky Mountain High

The Last Big Hump

Hallelujah

Compostella Here We Come

Sunday Morning Coming Down

Them’s The Breaks

Change The World

The Awakening

Epilogue

The End Of Conformity

Bibliography

DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to Lyle, Shirley, Winnie, and Owen; my parents and grandparents, or the Four Corners as I call them; my wife Mary Lou, who has walked with me for thirty-nine years in all kinds of weather; my children, Jennifer and Jeffrey—our best work to date; and the newest additions to our family, our beautiful granddaughters Elizabeth and Annabelle.

All have made me proud, and I hope this book does the same for them.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

While Mary Lou and I planned our trip to the Camino and walked it together, this incredible journey would never have happened (nor would it have been the same experience) without many others. For that I am grateful.

Thanks to my friends Valerie, Lori, Jan, Paul and Steve who each played a part by planting the seed, providing encouragement and guidance for the walk, and even lending the manuscript an eye. Your input was as important as it was appreciated.

To the hundreds of people who followed The Two Caminos blog (http://www.thetwocaminos.blogspot.com) and gave me the courage to write this book, thank you.

My sincere appreciation goes to Irene and Jennifer, of the Humber School of publishing, who provided invaluable editorial input and copy edit in helping to turn a travel journal into a story of adventure and discovery.

And last, to our Camino family: what can one say? How quickly we became close friends, sharing our lives and insights, and becoming for each other what the Camino de Santiago is truly all about. To Nick, Judi, and Will; the Freddy Girls: Cheryl, Lynne, Pat, Barb, Susan, and Bev; Bruno, Terry, Juanita, Mary Kay, Tammy, Cheryl, Nadine, Rick, Gaye, Laura, Adam, Tom’s family, and many others. With some we shared brief moments, while others walked much of the path with us. But all touched our lives in some way, and I can think of no greater gift. As Nick would say, this is communion.

PREFACE

It is funny how the smallest thing can be a catalyst for the biggest change. My tipping point came on November 16, 2008, setting in motion the whirlwind that became my life for the next half a decade.

Mary Lou took the streetcar to work early Sunday morning to clear out her inbox, taking advantage of the uninterrupted time that only an empty office presents. The plan was for me to head downtown mid-morning from our home in The Beach, making the five-kilometre drive to Bay Street on the empty Toronto roads. She would be waiting outside, ready to make a run to the Tango Palace for our ritual coffee.

At five past ten my cell phone rang, penetrating the morning fog between my ears. It was Mary Lou. Where are you? she asked. Only then did I realize I was on Highway 404, just past Steeles Avenue twelve kilometres in the wrong direction. I had become so used to this daily run to the office that the car seemed to steer itself, unmindful of my purpose. I did not remember taking the Lakeshore exit to the Don Valley, could not recall crossing Highway 401, and would likely have parked and made my way up the elevator if her call had not come.

The sad part was this was not the first occurrence of driving blindly, but this time it struck me like a two-by-four to the head. I had a wonderful wife, two wildly successful kids, and a well-paid job working on a high-profile project. I had a great home, and close family and friends scattered across the country. But my life had become one of routine, my actions repetitive and predictable. The fire inside was fading. Like some bad cliché, I was yet another overweight, middle-aged man simply going through the motions.

From this point on I began questioning every aspect of my life, tearing it apart piece by piece: heart, mind, and soul. I agonized over how to put it back together, searching for the life I was meant to live. I could never have imagined it would all finally come together some five years later, as Mary Lou and I, surrounded by our Camino family, entered the cathedral in Santiago de Compostella.

This book is a personal account, from my decision to walk (and initiation to) the Camino de Santiago through to the inevitable self-examination that happens once the journey is over. It is not a travel guide, although you will find useful information in these pages about making the walk. Neither is it a history book, though it is full of historical snippets and details on Spain that I hope will help readers understand the how and the why. And, finally, while it is not meant to be a religious or spiritual tale, walking the Camino brought so many insights, coincidences, affirmations, epiphanies, and purely magical moments that at times it may seem that way. Walking the Camino is both an intensely personal journey and a shared quest. Hence the name of this book, "The Two Caminos."

When you are finished the story, my hope is you will feel the way one does after a chat with an old friend.

SECTION ONE

FINDING THE WAY

Pilgrimage

So, what exactly is a pilgrimage? It’s actually quite simple; a pilgrimage is a journey undertaken to some place (or something) that is said to be sacred. The word pilgrim derives from the Latin peregrinus, meaning traveller in a foreign land. One who embarks on a pilgrimage is, surprise surprise, a peregrino, or pilgrim. Pilgrimage predates Christianity by centuries, with some of the earliest practised in the holy cities of India along the banks of the Ganges. Pilgrimages were commonplace with the Egyptians, Greeks, Jews, and Romans well before the Christians.

Christianity began as a religion without temples, sanctuary, or ceremony; kind of a pray-as-you-go deal, so there were few destinations for pilgrims. But by the third century churches began to be constructed at holy sites as a memorial to Christ and the idea of pilgrimages took off. The faithful came from every walk of life: from the poorest of the poor to those with money, power, and status. While these journeys were originally a sign of devotion they evolved to include the forgiveness of sins from the confessional or courts, and as a way to search for answers to the trials and tribulations of life.

During the Middle Ages, a visit to ad limina apostolorum (or threshold of the apostles) became an important part of Christian life and popularized pilgrimages to Rome, Santiago de Compostella, and Jerusalem. An often-treacherous journey, the protection of pilgrims by both church and state would ultimately be a factor in the Crusades and future nation-building.

CHAPTER 1

IT WAS MEANT FOR YOU

It is what a man thinks of himself that really determines his fate.

– HENRY DAVID THOREAU

"YOU’RE DOING WHAT? HONEST TA GAWD, SMITH, WHERE DO YOU come up with this stuff?" A pertinent and oft-repeated question!

At first blush, walking the Camino de Santiago did seem an odd thing for me to do. I was planning a hike spanning over eight hundred kilometres on two bum knees, along a route travelled by Christian pilgrims for over a thousand years; I am not much of a fan of walking and my religious views ran somewhere between agnostic and atheist. Nevertheless, ten minutes into watching The Way, I knew I would be making the pilgrimage. And I did not mean someday, I knew it would be soon as the burning desire would not leave until I did. Such was typical, never really knowing what will give me the pull to travel, or anything else for that matter, but fighting it only causes inner turmoil. I have learned just to run with it, to set things in motion.

In reality, my openness to completing something like the Camino was planted long before. The previous five years had been one of personal growth. After a series of health scares and growing disinterest in day-to-day life, the decision to change was forced upon me. I started small, cutting out processed sugar as the first step in fighting an ever-increasing girth. As my weight started to fall I began to exercise, dusting off a sadly underutilized bicycle. I was soon riding all over Toronto’s streets and trails. As my fitness level improved and my body moved away from middle-aged slump, my interest in getting the mind into shape took priority. I became a voracious reader of philosophical and self-improvement writings. My old paradigms were shattered. I grew my hair and a goatee, started writing poetry and songs: my mind opening to ideas and views I would never have considered. For those closest to me the change was gradual, but for others I had not seen in some time it was as they were meeting a different person. I still chuckle thinking about it, reminding me of the old saying, free your mind, and your ass will follow. For me, it was the other way around.

So by the time my friend Valerie called to say, "Mitch, I just watched this movie called The Way. You have to see it; it was meant for you, I had already planned a two-month leave from work to backpack around Belize and Mexico. I had not yet seen the movie myself and what followed was an interesting conversation: It is a movie about what? … The Camino de Santiago, is that right? … An eight-hundred-kilometre walk through Northern Spain! Okay. … You sleep with a bunch of other people in hostels, ah. …Thanks, V, sounds interesting. I’ll give it a look."

Laughing as I hung up, my exact thought was, What the hell ever gave her the idea I would be interested in that? So on I went, planning my southern adventure: shortlisting countries to visit, looking at how to get around, understanding travel risks, and so on. I also perused online for bars for sale, toying as I was with the idea of changing career. By the spring of 2012 the general plan for the trip was in place and I purchased a one-way ticket to Cancun, leaving on Halloween. Hiking the Camino de Santiago could not have been further from my mind.

Fate came knocking that summer. In hindsight, I suppose it was fitting and maybe I should have seen it as a sign of things to come. Browsing through the discount movie bin at HMV, I reached to the bottom and pulled out a DVD with an interesting cover. It was The Way. At first the title did not ring a bell, but after perusing the liner notes I remembered the conversation with Valerie a few months earlier.

The DVD sat around in the heap of other movies in waiting for another month. It was not until early August, when Mary Lou had arranged a weekend away, that I sat down to see what this Camino thing was all about. Shortly after the opening credits rolled, I was hooked. To this day I cannot understand exactly why, but I had an immediate conviction I was meant to do this, a feeling I was being called. This did not make sense; I should be thinking of nothing but my imminent two months of freedom. Too late! The wheels were already rolling.

The rest of the evening was spent finding whatever information I could about the Camino—and there was a lot. With my mind rolling at warp speed, I knew there would be no sleeping. By the time I eventually nodded off on the couch, it was as if I had been there already. I could picture much of what the journey would be like and I dreamed vividly of the walk, like all my dreams.

Mary Lou arrived home the next morning to find me still on the couch. Awaking somewhat groggy from a short but comfortable rest, I said, I am going on a pilgrimage to Spain next year; why don’t you come? You need to watch this movie.

Thirty-four years of marriage tends to give spouses a good understanding of one another. Not always, I suppose, but it certainly was that way for Mary Lou and I. When to stay silent and knowingly nod, when to offer advice or simply a comforting shoulder, when space is required and when it is time to rattle the cage. As a big dreamer and a schemer—or a seeker according to some who know me best—it is not always obvious to me when I am simply thinking out loud or whether an idea has taken hold and has me hooked. But Mary Lou learned long ago how to read me, and the look of horror in her eyes made me understand fully that this was happening.

I thought the Camino was a great fit for Mary Lou. She loved to walk and loved to meet strangers. Already in the midst of her own spiritual quest, she held strong religious convictions: not an easy thing to do, living life with a near-atheist. I could see her interest growing as our discussions progressed, but she first had to deal with some things that no longer saddled me; namely reality and practicality. Take the plunge and see how it goes is my attitude, versus Mary Lou’s make an informed decision and proceeding with necessary care. My wife and I are two very different people who take two very different routes to a decision. But she would have plenty of time to rationalize whether she would be going or not while I was backpacking Central America.

A few weeks later, when enough time had passed that backing out was not an option, I called Valerie to tell her the news.

"Hey, V. Watched The Way a couple of weeks ago."

Neat. What did you think?

I’m going next year, somewhere between May and September.

That’s great, Mitch! I’m happy for you.

Yeah. Could not believe it; I was hooked and had my mind made up five minutes into the movie. It is like it was meant for me!

Oh, really.

Translation, I believe, was no shit, Sherlock.

Saint James

Early Christianity was more about making things happen than recording the events of the day. Roman historians pretty much ignored the Christian legacy and destroyed much of what was written. It is difficult to say what really happened, but does it matter what is fact versus myth? Saint James’s impact over the generations to follow cannot be disputed.

James, along with his brothers John and Peter, owned a fishing company with their father, Zebedee. When Christ called to them from the banks of the Sea of Galilee, the three brothers left immediately. (Must have been quite a hit for their father, losing all his partners to this new band of apostles.) After the ascension of Jesus, all twelve apostles fanned out to spread the gospel. James headed as far as the Iberian Peninsula, although there is nothing to confirm he ever went to Spain. But if he did, the trip wasn’t a rousing success. What is certain, however, is that James became the first martyred Apostle upon his return to Jerusalem, beheaded by a nervous Herod Agrippa.

Legend says James’s disciples spirited his remains back to the Iberian Peninsula, arriving at Iria Flavia in 44 AD. After some politicking and miracle working with Queen Lupa, he was buried and a church was constructed around the remains. It would be eight hundred years later, when the bones were miraculously rediscovered, that Saint James the Greater, Santiago, would achieve in Spain that which he was unable to do in life.

CHAPTER 2

I SHALL NOT WALK ALONE

Be realistic: Plan for a miracle.

– OSHO

FROM A HAMMOCK ON THE BALCONY OF THE QUAINT CONCH SHELL Inn in Ambergris Caye, I watched the orange sun peek over the east horizon of the Caribbean Sea. It was December 21, 2012, and I was soon headed home after two months roaming Central America. Over my travels I had learned to live with less, wondering why I ever felt the need to bring half my wardrobe on previous trips. Travelling had shown me the freedom of walking out the door with nothing but a backpack. I had stayed in places smaller and seedier than anything I could have imagined, mingled with locals, ate a steady diet of street food, and broke free of my evening television addiction. I felt physically and mentally ready for the next adventure, the Camino de Santiago.

My arrival home was met with bad weather and good news. An ice storm had wrecked all kinds of havoc on the city, and adjusting to temperatures below freezing proved difficult. But on the bright side, Mary Lou was fully on board: we would walk the Camino together.

This had been no easy decision for her. Mary Lou had struggled most of her life with self-esteem. Even after achieving degrees in arts and computer science, not to mention obtaining a Master’s degree and many award-winning accomplishments over her career, she still felt the need to prove herself daily. Work was the vessel in which to do so, and walking away for an extended period of time, in her words, was just was not possible. But all of the questions and second guessing—What about my projects? It’s not fair to my staff … What if they are able to do it all without me?—had given in to the feeling that it was important for us to share the experience of walking the Camino. Like I said, Mary Lou and I take two different paths to any decision. The original plan had been to head out in May, walk the Camino in six weeks, then relax a couple weeks more before heading home. But Mary Lou’s ongoing projects meant we could not leave until September, and had but five weeks to complete the trek. So five weeks it was. I happily made the adjustment, securing two tickets on Air France to Paris for the thirty-first of August.

As the winter passed, family, friends, and coworkers got wind of our plans. It became a source of much amusement to hear the reactions: Are you friggin’ nuts? to I wish I was going with you. But the most common response was one of interest, inevitably followed by a nice, but it’s not for me. As word spread, it was surprising to hear of the number of people who had taken the walk. Paul, our friend and real estate agent, had made the pilgrimage in 2005 and was still feeling the effects. My former physician from Fredericton, New Brunswick, had made the pilgrimage just the year before, as had the blind aunt of a bartender at my local pub. In coffee shops, bars, on public transit, reading a book on the Camino inevitably initiated a passionate conversation with someone who had either walked it or knew someone that did. This was to be my first real introduction to the mystique of the Camino de Santiago.

Once again immersed in the day-to-day tribulations of work, winter flew by. As May rolled in, it was time to prepare. Putting all the pieces together is often the most rewarding part of any endeavour, and I was in my element. First up was equipment. One message from the literature heard loud and clear, was that the success of our walk would be greatly affected by the choice of backpack and footwear. So I was determined to get it right. The difference in our personalities showed clearly as we moved back and forth between Mountain Equipment Coop and Europe Bound. When Mary Lou chose an item at one store, my preference for the same was from the other. Despite this, in less than a couple of hours we had selected our backpacks, shoes, and hiking poles.

With figuring out what to wear over, it was now time to decide what to carry. This proved to be the easy part, becoming more of a whittling down process than checking off a list. And there was a lot to whittle. Our approach was simple: carry as little weight as possible, making sure to take only things that would be used daily and might be difficult to find locally. Relying on my experience backpacking down south, we laid out a surprisingly large number of cannot-do-without items, only to realize we would need a few backpacks each (and sturdier legs than we had) to lug it all around. So we culled.

Ah, we can probably get energy bars on the road.

I suppose I don’t need two pairs of jeans.

Hair dryer. What do you need a hair dryer for?

You’re kidding, right? Your laptop!

After a dozen iterations, discussions, and purging’s, we had it figured out. Fully loaded, Mary Lou’s pack was fifteen pounds and mine was twenty-two. Both were less than the recommended range of no more than ten percent of your bodyweight. Three months before leaving, we were packed to go.

As June rolled in we readied to take training seriously. Toronto and the surrounding area are blessed with an abundance of parks and walking trails. We found many local paths similar to the terrain of the Camino. Every Saturday and Sunday we hiked fifteen to twenty kilometres; during the week we did quick, ten-kilometre walks into the Don Valley or around the city. Gradually we walked further up harsher terrain with much less effort. Eventually our legs no longer ached for days and the weight of our backpacks was no longer noticed. By August we were lean, mean, walking machines. Okay … Not really lean, but we were ready. We rested the final two weeks before departure.

At last, there we were; we were ready to go. We had spent the better part of four months training and breaking in new equipment. We had read as much as we could on the Camino, and had worked out a fail-safe plan for all kinds of potential scenarios. Everything said the Camino leads you through three distinct phases: from the physical to the mental to the spiritual. We felt ready for it all.

But the most important preparation was understanding, that notwithstanding all the preparation, we were about to embark upon a journey unlike anything we had before. It would require reacting differently than accustomed, and being adaptable to situations out of our control. So I made this commitment, a mantra to be recited as the walk progressed:

"I will undertake this journey with an open mind and open heart. I will set aside blocks that steer me away from things in which I have no interest, those that prevent me from opening doors to places that aren’t on my path. I will participate in ceremonies I avoid at home. I will follow everything and take every opportunity that passes in front of me. Over these weeks of walking and reflecting, I will find what it is in life I was meant to do."

Following this mantra would lead to the most incredible experiences.

SECTION TWO

THE PHYSICAL WAY

The Camino de Santiago

For over eight hundred years Saint James’s burial site faded from memory, lost behind dense forest growth, crumbling walls, and a covered tomb.

Much happened over the centuries. The Iberian Peninsula suffered multiple occupations: by Romans, Franks, Suebis and Visigoths, and eventually the Moors in 711. The Moors were for the most part benevolent rulers who allowed religious freedom, while advancing in the arts, sciences, and architecture as the rest of Europe remained mired in the Dark Ages. But no one likes unwelcome guests, and some northern mountain tribes continued resisting: fighting for centuries to recover conquered lands. Yet with relics of great power from the prophet Muhammad, the Moors proved formidable foes.

As the years passed, rumours of angels and unusually bright lights over Iria Flavia led to the discovery of an ancient tomb. The church quickly confirmed the remains were those of Saint James, giving Christians a much-needed talisman. Reconquista began in earnest in the eleventh century, with the ghost of Santiago himself said to be the one to lead Christians into battle astride a great white steed.

With successive Christian victories the legend of Saint James grew. Bit by bit the northern tribes reclaimed lost lands, ultimately driving the Moors from the peninsula in 1492. By this time, pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostella had been ongoing for four centuries.

CHAPTER 3

SO HERE WE GO

"There’s no destination. The journey is all that there is, and it can be very, very joyful."

– SRIKUMAR RAO

IT WAS TO BE A LONG AND MOSTLY SLEEPLESS FOURTY HOURS.