prologue-My Way on the Camino Portuguese

Prologue

620 km (390 miles) from Lisbon to Santiago de Compostela.

260 km (160 miles) from Porto to Santiago de Compostela.

In September 2021, I walked my first Camino de Santiago on the French route, starting in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, France, at the base of the Pyrenees Mountains. I walked with my neighbor, Rick Boyd, and David Schuster, a military friend of Rick’s who lived in New Jersey. I climbed and descended the Pyrenees Mountains, crossed the long, flat sections of the Meseta, and trekked over the Lioness Mountains and the Galician Mountains. I enjoyed several Spanish Cities along the way that were bustling with life: Pamplona, Burgos, Leon, and Astorga. Each of these cities, replete with medieval history, featured a grandiose cathedral that was hundreds of years old. I passed through dozens of small villages, also hundreds of years old, a few of them abandoned with crumbling ancient buildings. The desolate villages lacked any signs of life. Those villages that showed signs of life often had a café for a quick snack, a café con leche, an iced tea, or a beer.  They survived on the pilgrims passing through.

A final climb and descent into the city of Santiago de Compostela, the resting place of Saint James the Greater, one of the original apostles of Jesus Christ, brought mixed emotions. When I reached the Cathedral, my heart and soul felt the elation of completing my pilgrimage as I gazed in wonder at the enormous structure. My heart and soul also felt a bit sad as I realized that this special walk had come to an end.

I would soon return to regular life. I wanted to return home, yet I also wanted to stay and continue walking another day.

The experience of walking the Camino Frances was amazing–a special life event. Walking 500 miles across a foreign country allows plenty of time to reflect on all aspects of life. Much of what I experienced is detailed in a book I wrote, Another Camino Story: Learning to walk my own Camino through life on 500 miles to Santiago de Compostela, Spain.

Upon my return to normal life, I knew I wanted to walk the Camino again. I had the Camino bug. In April and May of 2023, I walked again with my friend Rick. We decided to walk the Camino Frances again, but in the Spring to experience a different season. For personal reasons, Dave was unable to join us for that trip. A friend of Rick’s, Pam, had time off from work and joined us in Sarria for the last 100 kilometers.

It was another amazing experience, complete with the ups and downs of such an adventure. Not surprisingly, upon my return from my second Camino, I knew I wanted to do it again, but this time I wanted to walk the Portuguese route, starting in Lisbon.

This is my story about my attempt to walk the Camino Portuguese from Lisbon, Portugal to Santiago de Compostela, Spain.

( To buy the book, click here )