Camino de Santiago: A Pilgrim's Way of Life

Pilgrim life has its own strange times and yet, by now, they seem normal. Up and out the door by 6:30 am, a second breakfast around 10:00 am after hiking 6-8 miles depending on hills and village locations, check into the hostel (Albergue) by 2:00 pm, shower, do laundry and then SIESTA! I have become a big fan of the siesta. After a one hour nap, you feel refreshed and ready for a late lunch and sightseeing around the village. Mass, if there is one in town, is around 6:30 pm and then a late dinner around 8:00 pm.

Lights out time is around 10:00 pm. Then repeat the whole thing the next day. It is amazing how quickly all of this has become routine especially since I took some break days in hotels. Yet it seems among the pilgrims that this has become our shared way of life. Strangers have become friends and almost everyone offers a helping hand to another pilgrim in need, whether it is a group of injured pilgrims sharing a cab to the next town or others giving money to the one who lost their purse. We worry about each other's feet, knees, and backs. We laugh about the fact that for the first time in our lives we care about someone else's feet. What I've enjoyed about this experience is noticing that despite our differences in nationalities, as pilgrims we share some of these common routines. As we notice these we become closer and what differences exist seem not to matter as much. Like I said earlier I hope that somehow this experience can transfer back to my "real" life.