All we wanted to do was get to Porto; walking the Camino de Santiago would just be an added perk. When we first planned our Camino, it was the depths of winter at UMass Amherst. The fall semester was coming to a close, and I was about to spend my semester abroad in Barcelona, Spain.
I have never been the most outdoorsy girl. My friends can attest to that. But as someone who gets FOMO, when my friend Malena mentioned that she wanted to do the Camino de Santiago, I could not say no. The Camino de Santiago is a network of pilgrimage routes across Europe that lead to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. People walk these routes for religious, personal and spiritual reasons. Malena comes from a very adventurous family and thought it would be fitting to do the Camino while studying abroad in Spain. As I sat on FaceTime with my friends planning this adventure, the possibilities felt endless. Since we were spending a semester in Spain, we figured we might as well explore a new country: Portugal. Just like that, we booked our tickets from Vigo, Spain to Porto, Portugal, before we had left UMass.
preparing (or not preparing) for our camino
Time flew by. Before we knew it, we had spent four months in Barcelona, discovering Catalonia, walking by the Sagrada FamĂlia, lying on the beach, and drinking way too many Tintos de Verano.
All of a sudden, it was May, and we were leaving for our Camino in a week. No hostels booked, no itinerary, no backpack, and absolutely no plan. I can admit that I am not the most Type A person in the room, but this was too much even for me. As we sat in a random mall in Vigo planning our accommodations and routes, we realized something: every itinerary we found online was going in the opposite direction. Everyone wanted to end up in Santiago. Hence the name Camino de Santiago.
No one was doing our route. We were going in blind.
But we had to make it to Porto in eight days. So, we were about to do our own version of the Camino, in reverse.
On day one, I realized we had done one thing right. We had planned our trip around the Camino PortuguĂŞs, a coastal route that passes through Portugal and Spain towards Santiago. That day, we walked 17 miles. It rained all morning, and as we walked alongside a busy highway, I thought to myself, “I’m not sure if I can do this every day,” Eventually, the rain cleared, and the sun came out. Our route took us up a beautiful mountain overlooking the Spanish coast. There, we met our first fellow pilgrims, people walking the Camino, and exchanged our first “Buen Camino,” a traditional greeting between pilgrims.
They were from different countries across Europe and had each planned to do the Camino solo. After becoming fast friends at their first hostel, they decided to continue the journey together.
Everyone had different reasons for walking, but they shared the same goal: making it to Santiago.
finishing the route
I think going the opposite way made the experience more special. Being the only ones walking the other way made for an easy conversation starter. Our journey was unique, but we shared so many similarities with other pilgrims at our albergues (Camino hostels): blisters, cramping, and starting our mornings with a café con leche and a pastry.
My favorite day was our 22-mile day.
We crossed from Spain into Portugal by speedboat, which was a super cool experience in itself. We experienced every type of weather imaginable, from hail and rain to a beaming hot sun and a cold evening. We walked along beaches, through woods, and in little Portuguese towns. We even discovered an old lobster farm in the ocean. We also met many locals. They had seen people from all over passing through their towns for the Camino, but not many going in reverse. They thought we were going the wrong way, but when we explained our journey, they became intrigued. We learned about their lives, how they grew up, and the stories they had to share.
By the end, I could barely walk without limping. We all had blisters, and our shoulders were in pain. But watching the sunset over the coast, I felt indescribably happy and fulfilled.
I had no idea what I was signing myself up for. I just knew it sounded cool, and I did not want to be the only friend who missed out. But somehow, this unplanned trip ended up being everything I wanted out of my experience studying abroad, and more than I ever could have ever imagined.
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