What is the Camino de Santiago and Why do it?

Sculpture of St. James in the Pilgrimage Museum in Santiago de Compostela

The concept of pilgrimages has been around for thousands of years, with many examples riddled throughout history, including the Old and New Testaments. For example, Moses and the Israelites were basically on a wandering pilgrimage to their promised homeland for 40 years. In the Middle Ages, the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela (where the Apostle James [brother of John] was allegedly buried) was popularized and became the third most important shrine within the Catholic tradition. Over the centuries, traditional pilgrimages have waxed and waned in popularity, however The Camino de Santiago (The Way of St. James) has been revived and promoted, largely thanks to the tourist industry.

Most common routes of the Camino de Santiago in Spain and Portugal

Traditionally, one’s “Camino” started from his or her own doorstep. So really, there are endless possibilities of Caminos…they just all share the same destination. Nowadays there are a few main routes that are most common and have more services for pilgrims. People normally choose to start anywhere they want along those routes and then return home via plane, train, etc. Back in the day, pilgrims had no choice but to do it round-trip, taking a year or more easily if they came from northern Europe.

Yes, some people do the Camino to party.

So why go through all of that? Here are a few reasons people did it historically and do it nowadays:

• Penance for sins—suffering on the Camino to help cleanse oneself of sin and impurities in attempts to make payment or retribution for said sin.
• Healing—coming in contact with the shrine could bring physical healing to the pilgrim or someone for whom he or she is representing.
• Spiritual enlightenment—coming into contact with God, Christ, or the universe/higher power and gaining more understanding of self, the world, others, and God.
• Personal reflection—Time away to process and reflect on one’s life direction, problems etc. while removed from daily life.
• Tourism—a cheap and unique way to see parts of Spain or Portugal up close.
• Fitness—a goal towards which people desiring to accomplish some sort of physical achievement train.
• Meet interesting people from all over the world. (This includes partying for many young people).
• Bragging rights—yes, many people do it in part so they can brag about how many kilometers they did in the shortest amount of time possible.
• The Compostela–a certificate to authenticate having completed the pilgrimage that for some people carries a lot of significance. This is a modern version of a plenary indulgence that is accessible to all who meet the requirements.

I probably first heard about the Camino de Santiago about 10 years ago, but it never made my list of things I actually would like to do if possible until a couple of years ago. As an American who is totally accustomed to the luxury of the personal car, the thought of me biking or walking from one city to another was basically totally foreign to me and it took a while to warm up to the idea. I personally did the Camino for a mix of some of the above reasons, namely, tourism, spiritual enlightenment of sorts, personal reflection, and fitness. You can read a summary of my trip here.

Despite everyone’s different reasons for going on the Camino, everyone agrees it’s almost inevitable that you will be challenged in some way and you will learn something about yourself. I think this can be true of anything that challenges us and takes us out of our comfort zone. That’s a huge reason why I’m such a huge proponent for non-luxury travel, and the Camino is a great example of that.

What will you experience on your Camino?