Once people hear that I am about to head out on a 200-mile, multi-day hike in rural northern Spain, most ask if I am going alone. And I try to noncha- lantly answer, “yes.” After all, they say you meet people on the way and it ends up you are hardly ever really alone. And isn’t life kind of like that too?
I will be walking the “Camino Primitivo” to Santi- ago de Compostela. The Camino de Santiago is an ancient Catholic Pilgrimage trail that, coming from many different starting points, runs across northern Spain to the city of Santiago de Compo- stela, the supposed resting place of the remains of St. James. The route I am taking is called “Primitivo” not because it is “primitive” but be- cause it is the original way, the original pilgrim- age route. No longer is it strictly a Catholic expe- rience, as many people walk the Camino for secu- lar reasons and as Protestants.
Starting in the fairy tale city of Oviedo, capital of the Spanish province of Asturias (made famous by the Woody Allen film Vicky Christina Barcelona) and ending in Santiago de Compostela, the route can take anywhere from a very strenuous 11 days to a more leisurely 14 days. I am planning to take about 16 days and go an average of 12 to 15 miles a day, staying in hostels and municipal dormito- ries along the way.
As some of you know, I have been discerning the Episcopal priesthood. I have been meeting for over a year with a committee and spiritual direc- tors to learn about God’s call for me. In this ulti- mate act of discernment, I plan to spend time on the pilgrimage considering God’s true call for me and my life. So when people ask if I am going alone, I remind them that we are never alone. God is always walking with us, as he walks with us every day.
As a friend and I were talking recently about my decision to walk the Camino de Santiago, I gal- lantly said, “Once you decide to walk the Camino, you are already on it.” And so as I take my next stage of the Camino I am already on, I will fly to Spain on September 2. I return, hopefully the wis- er, on September 24.
As I walk the Camino, I will try to post some things on Facebook, even though I hope to avoid electronic communication; if you aren’t on Face- book and want to check in on me, you can see my webpage: tarascamino.info or my twitter account @tarascamino. For more information about the Camino de Santiago, see the 2010 movie, The Way, with Martin Sheen. The documentary, Six Ways to Santiago is available on Amazon Video, or see the web series Beyond the Camino, by Andrew Suzuki, on Youtube.