The Camino de Santiago is a religious pilgrimage which has always been of interest to me. It is known as “The Way of Saint James” an important pilgrimage that dates back to the middle ages. There are many different pilgrimage routes that lead to the city of Santiago de Compostela. Some of the routes are considered main routes for the pilgrimage. All routes however lead to the shrine of the apostle Saint James the Great where his remains are located in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela.

I began my preparations for the pilgrimage nearly a year in advance. Walking and training with my camino partner Mark for the journey which would inevitably take me through steep hills, valleys and other challenges. Reading many articles and conducting research it became obvious that planning and the right equipment was key.

The day finally arrived and we set out by train to our starting point of Sarria Spain.

Once we boarded our train, we settled in for the eight hour train ride.  We toasted to the adventure that would follow.

We enjoyed the train ride and we met other great people heading to Sarria for the Camino adventure. We arrived tired but excited to start our camino the next morning.

At the start of the Camino de Santiago I felt that the adventure would be a challenging walk and a hiking experience. I did not realize that the camino de Santiago experience would change me forever.

“Deja que comience la aventura”