It is said that all roads lead to Rome, but one pretty long one leads to Santiago de Compostela. The Camino de Santiago is known as the Way of St James or the Pilgrimage, which leads to the relics of St James the Elder. Pilgrims here wish each other a safe journey or Buen Camino! Or a happy journey through life! The journey is only a metaphor. I think it can also serve as therapy for many. And that’s what this is all about! To completely turn off the brain for a while, to be in the fresh air and just go.

MY JOURNEY TO HAPPINESS ♥

We live in a time when even an ordinary journey can be an adventure. The journey is not conquered, the mind or the psyche is conquered. The Camino gives something different to everyone. What it will be, there is no universal answer. For some, a spiritual experience, for some an authentic knowledge of the landscape, for others a touching of their own physical limits. Or all together.

Before the trip, my friend Kate said to me, “Find what you’re looking for!” At the time, I told her I wasn’t looking for anything. It’s just that all along the way, I kept thinking, “I want to be happy! I’m happy here! I have everything here – the sea, a pleasant climate, exercise, the sea, the forest, the sun and good food! Fine people who smile and wish me a happy journey. I am on the road, every day a different town and village. This is what my real happiness looks like! ♥” I realised that even after my return, I wanted to live in peace and not allow myself daily stress.

ABOUT THE WAY OF ST. JAMES

The Way of St James originated in the early 9th century and became the main route of Christianity in the Middle Ages. And then gradually over the years a whole network of pilgrimage routes leading to Santiago was created. Officially, there are twelve basic routes that start in Portugal, Spain, France and England. Each person can choose his or her own route and you can walk a shorter section of it. It just depends on how physically fit you are or what your time availability is. The route is even a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its important role in the exchange of cultures and especially ideas. To officially become a pilgrim, you have to walk at least 100 km and cyclists have to cover a minimum distance of 200 km.

HOW I STARTED TO LOVE WALKING

Let me get this straight. Backpacking was never my dream. 🙂 I’m naturally quite comfortable and, as my brother says, a “lazy girl”. Basically, I’ve never understood people who carry a heavy pack and sleep somewhere in the backcountry. I stumbled upon the St. James Way during my covid when I started going out and came around to the taste of walking. Such a trivial thing, but so many benefits walking has for our bodies. 🙂 Because I was afraid that most of the accommodation would be closed, that the airline would cancel my flight or I would be quarantined somewhere, I postponed my trip to Santiago indefinitely and started walking the St. James’ Way in my country. I enjoyed the fact that I would always get somewhere and get a stamp. It suddenly goes faster somehow when you know you’re going to get something for the hard work. 🙂 And let me tell you, now I have a comparison. There are beautiful routes in the Czech Republic too and they can compete with other European roads.

DON’T BE AFRAID TO STEP OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE!

There are many reasons why pilgrims make this journey. Of course, there are various reasons, but among the main ones are:

Religious

Spiritual

Personal

Sports

The reasons are not mutually exclusive. On the contrary, I think that for most of you, as for me, they will overlap. I’ve put on quite a lot of weight during the last few months from stress and I’ve stopped feeling good in my body. I love walking and this way of moving is just divine. And if you want to, feel free to work up a sweat with it. Trust me, you won’t get any hills for free. And you’ll find out very soon that Spain is pretty hilly. I needed to turn my head off, too. No thinking about work for a while, no talking to anyone, no answering anyone’s questions. Just be with myself.

It is said that the journey could give you answers to questions that have been troubling you. Since I’m a renowned fortune seeker and I really wish to be happy in life, so of course I couldn’t pass up an opportunity like this to try and just “go” on a journey like this. As I said before, at first glance, walking or going somewhere seems like a trivial or even stupid thing to do. Well, I just pick myself up and go. What’s so cool about that? So wonderfully self-discovering? The journey isn’t so much about how many miles and how fast you walk them, but how you walk them. How you handle the unpleasant and the pleasant and what you experience along the way. It makes you realise that nothing can be taken for granted. That the pleasant things will make you happy and the more challenging situations will make you stronger.

THE OBSTACLES ARE ONLY IN YOUR HEAD!

I admit, I was very tempted to be alone for a while, even though I didn’t go on the trip alone, but with my family. Just to be out of my bubble for a while and step out of my comfort zone. Why? Why not! I enjoy trying new things. The mysterious kind. That people say, “Cool!” But they don’t know why. 🙂 So all I had to do was plan my trip, choose where I was going to come from, how long I was going to walk it, and roughly how much time I wanted to set aside for it. Do you think it’s not for you? Trust me, the obstacles are only in your head! I think the fun part is going straight from home. I know a few people like that too, and kudos to them. But I’ve decided to go pretty much by the sea. So I chose the Portuguese St James’s Way. I really wanted to see Porto and also walk Santiago, so I decided to skip part of the route for time reasons and walk all the way from Viena de Castelo. I still walked about 200 km.

PREPARATION FOR THE TRIP

When you have bought a ticket, you realize that you will be walking between 20-30 km every day for about 10 days. I admit, I haven’t trained at all. For about the last 14 days before I left, I was trying to get at least 10,000 steps. I knew it would be a challenge. But what’s important? For me, definitely good shoes and a good backpack! Because you’ll always have a place to sleep and food to eat! And that’s all you need on this journey of life!

Shoes need to be broken in, tested and properly accustomed to your feet. I can’t get enough of my INOV _8 TALON 290 shoes. I have walked the St. James trails with them in my country. They are just wide enough, they are also suitable for harder surfaces like roads. They grip great on smooth rocks, even when wet. They’re colorful, no one will miss you in them. I’ve resigned myself to kind of looking like a clown in them. I bought a very expensive backpack, the Gossamer Gear G4-20 , but for the feeling of lightness (only 678g!), I have to say I made a good investment for once.

When we talk about clothes, I think it’s clear here. You need to have clothes for the cold, the heat, the rain and the heat. I really like the RAB brand. These clothes don’t weigh much. No need to take a lot of it though. Choose a material that will dry immediately after washing. The important thing is that you feel comfortable. And you want to save space in your bag for your souvenir? It’s stupid to carry a lot of stuff. The less you carry, the less you carry. That’s true, isn’t it? 😊))

STONES FOR HAPPINESS

But what I didn’t underestimate in my preparation was to paint a lucky stone. Originally I thought I would leave it somewhere along the way, but during the trip I changed my mind and decided to bring them all the way to Santiago.

My husband’s first reaction, of course, was: “Are we still going to have to carry rocks?” Yes, we will!:-)

MY TIP

I have a tip for you. The best way is to layer. If you’re walking and suddenly you feel hot. Take off one layer right then and there, because then you might start to sweat. The first time you think you’re cold, get dressed right away because you might get cold. Neither is good. Either way, it costs you a lot of energy.

ACCOMMODATION

I knew I’d need accommodation for three people. So I didn’t want to take the chance of going somewhere and not having room for everyone. So instead of an albergue, I chose places that I could book in advance via booking. Yes you are limited by having to walk a certain part of the way each day. But if you know how to plan, it can be advantageous. You always know you don’t have to worry about having nowhere to lay your head. It wasn’t until I got there that I found out that a lot of them would be albergue, but on the internet they pretended to be a hotel. 🙂

YELLOW SHELLS AND CREDENTIAL

There are different ways to go. Most of the paths are well marked. You don’t even need a mobile phone, just follow the yellow shells or yellow arrows. And why the seashells? It’s based on history, of course. Pilgrims travelled all over Europe to Santiago de Compostela. They fished a shell out of the sea, put it on a stick, and walked across Europe back home. And that’s how the pilgrim knew himself.

Today, a pilgrim is recognized by carrying a student book – Credential. You can pick it up at the first point where you start or you can buy it here with us. In it you collect stamps to show at the finish line that you have walked the route. For each day, you should have at least two. And at the end of the day, you can also buy a shell and clip it on your backpack. That’s another hallmark of the pilgrims.

EACH OF US IS A PILGRIM IN LIFE – A LIFELONG PILGRIM

So what’s in store for you? Every day you go and keep going. You go in order to go. Not to get there, of course, you’ll figure that out after you’ve been walking for a while. And then you realise that the whole way you walk is a metaphor for the way you walk in life. Because you’re walking in life too. You’re going somewhere for something, even if you don’t think you are. 🙂

And as you go along, you start to run out of things. You have a lot of time to think, a lot of time to be with yourself, a lot of time to ask questions and wait to discover the answers. Questions about life, about the world, about relationships, about work, or about your self-actualization come to mind. And you start asking yourself: “What am I doing here in life? What do I want out of life? Shouldn’t I make some changes? etc.”

I also see it as a beautiful metaphor that every single step you take to Santiago is as important as any other in the flood of steps and kilometers. When you add up those steps and look behind you at the halfway point. Suddenly you stop and look back. You realise how many miles you’ve walked and you realise how good you are! Suddenly you’re moved, and you sing to yourself. And suddenly you start meeting different pilgrims, interesting and inspiring. And these people start to remind you, quite subtly, of someone in your life.

JOURNEY AS THERAPY

I think this journey can definitely serve as therapy. It’s for everyone. I met many young, old and disabled people in wheelchairs on the way. One mom was even pushing a pretty big stroller in front of her. You often find excuses in life why things don’t work out. And suddenly you have so many people from all over the world around you and you see that it can be done. I met a lot of nationalities from Florida, California, South Africa, Japan, Taiwan and of course from all over Europe. Not all of them, but clouds of nationalities from all over the world. And if you’re looking for an excuse that you don’t have time for this trip and think you’re indispensable? Wrong! When I arrived, I started dealing with all the emails until I thought to myself, this can’t be possible, how much people can spew out. 🙂 Especially some of them. But I found out that most of it was sorted. I mean, it’s not gonna get any worse without you guys. And frankly, if you have the balls (well, the money), you can get out for as long as you want. 🙂

MY WAY

PORTUGAL

DAY 1 – VIANA DO CASTELO – AEROSA (4,8 KM) – CARRECO (3,6 KM)

Total distance: 8,4 km (2 hours)

It’s “D-Day” and I’m flying to Porto. We got lucky when we booked the ticket. We came across very cheap business class tickets (they were cheaper than economy) with Lufthansa. To the point where we think we’re dreaming. I am thrilled! I’ve never flown like this before. It has the advantage of being one of the first to check in, to be seated, to have 8 kg extra to my hand luggage, to eat during the trip and I can even go to the airport lounges. I’m thinking, “Hmmm. So this is how the elite travel! I just don’t really fit in with the clothes and backpack on my back. :-)” As I wrote before, due to time constraints, I’m not starting my trip in Porto, but in Viana do Castelo. It’s very easy to get there by train from Port’s Campañha station. I also choose a very short journey. I don’t want to be too tired the first day and, most importantly, I want to see this little town by the sea.

VIANA DO CASTELO

This beach town is located in the northernmost part of Portugal, in a peaceful location bordered by the ocean on one side and mountains on the other. It has a rich maritime history. In fact, it was one of the most important ports from which Portuguese sailors set sail for parts unknown in the 15th century.

PRACA DE REPUBLICA

I stroll through the city, heading for the elegant Praça da Republica, dominated by the Chafariz Fountain, dating from 1553. There’s a cultural festival going on right now. I admire all the beautiful costumes. I’m glad my journey is beginning so cheerfully. 🙂

The costumes were traditionally made by young women in the evenings so that they could wear them on special occasions and local festivals. Women who worked in the flax fields during the day and tended the sheep to get the wool. Then in the evening they processed the same materials on traditional wooden looms.

The brighter coloured costumes (Traje de Lavradeira) were usually worn by younger women who hoped to impress their future husbands at the festival by showing off their skill and thus their suitability for domestic work. The elaborate stitching may also have contained coded messages about the wearer’s age, family and location.

Darker dresses were traditionally worn by women called mordoma. These women were chosen in the village to organise festivals and collect funds for pilgrimages. This darker dress became the girl’s wedding dress and was often buried with her when she died. They may also have been worn in times of mourning or when a loved one was away, usually at sea.

I also really liked the silk scarves, which I admired on women dressed like that. Oh, how I would love to stay and admire all the beautiful costumes, but I must go and get my first stamp, because my walking journey starts now.

IGREJA DA MISERICÓRDIA

This 16th-century church has a stunning interior. It is surrounded by blue and white “azujelos” and frescoes. It’s really a very beautiful church and I’m even more pleased that my first stamp will be from this amazing place.

One last time I walk through the streets of the town and come across my first yellow arrow. I’m thrilled! Little did I know that I would encounter these arrows on every corner. They’ll be different shapes and I’ll find them in places I never expected. Like a garbage can. 🙂

Before I go on my way, I’m taking a tour of the city. It would be a shame to leave so quickly. The streets are romantic. In fact, part of the St James’s Way runs through them.

THE HILL SANTA LUZIA

I pass the hill of Santa Luzia with its huge church. But it is almost noon, and frankly I am glad that the St. James’ Way just bypasses the whole hill. It’s only three kilometres north of town. I’m pretty stoked to go up there, but since I haven’t been training and it’s awfully hot, I’m resisting the temptation. I know I’m missing out on a beautiful panoramic view of the surrounding countryside. But I know my limits.

I’m at the end of town and an elderly gentleman is waving at me. He shouts to me, “Bueno Camino!” He puts a smile on my face and I start to walk out of town. The road goes through the Portuguese countryside, forest or field, but it seemed to me that there was quite a lot of climbing. But somehow I don’t mind, because I know I’ll be able to check in soon.

There is nothing in the village of Carreço, so we only buy dinner in a small convenience store. The choice is not great, but that doesn’t bother us because if you are hungry you can eat everything. 🙂

DAY 2. TRASA CARRECO – ANCORA (7,2 KM) – VILA PRAIA DE ANCORA (2,6 KM) – MOLEDO (4,7 KM) – CAMINHA (3,9 KM)

Total route: approx. 18.4 km (5.21 hours)

We wake up early in the morning (around 7am) to make the most of the journey without the heat. The road again leads through forest paths, fields, past uninhabited houses, between gardens or along the river. I quite enjoy it, even though it is very hot. I find it all so picturesque and pleasing to the eye. Sometimes I think it’s almost endless. 🙂

Somewhere in the hills I meet Mrs. Elza pushing a pram. She’s a real fighter! I have a problem with myself and every time I climb a hill I feel sorry for myself and at the same time I scold myself why I didn’t train at least a little. But how could I have? One time it was too hot, the next time it was too cold or raining. In short, always something. :-)))) And this girl has a double stroller with two kids in it. She smiles, she sings, she says hello to everyone and she doesn’t think it’s uphill at all. And I’m freaking out with 6 kg on my back! I’m touched and for the first time tears come to my eyes. Think about yourself, Sylva! 🙂

VILA PRAIA DE ANCORA

The first stop is in the former fishing village of Vila Praia de Ancora, which has been transformed into a popular beach resort. I have breakfast. And it’s amazing coffee and pastéis de nata. These are divine Portuguese puff pastry cakes filled with egg yolk cream. Absolute heaven in my mouth!! These are as typical of Portugal as port wine or the traditional blue and white tiles of azulejos. You can find them literally on every corner, from supermarkets to the most renowned bakeries.

Fresh air blows in from the sea. I really like the sea view and it’s kind of nice here. The coastline here is really breathtaking. It calms and inspires me. I sit on a bench for 5 minutes and just watch the sea. I think, “What if I moved to the sea when I was old? I would love that. Or I could work from the sea. That would be so beautiful.” I try to push out the second intrusive thought: “Where would you get that, you fool with your attitude to saving? No, not today!” I won’t let it spoil my mood.

When I walk past tourists who have come here on vacation, I’m quite envious. I’m dragging my backpack in the heat and they can just relax undisturbed. On the other hand, I probably wouldn’t trade places with them because I bet I’ll have more experiences than them at the end of our vacation.

The road here leads mostly around the sea. Even though it’s very hot, there’s a cold wind, so it can be quite treacherous. Be careful not to get burnt, like me! And I was exceptionally lubricated! 🙂 I meet a lot of Czechs along the way. It seems to me at times that this is a Czech camino and not a Portuguese one.

CAMINHA

Caminha is the town where I say goodbye to Portugal. I’m here on a Sunday and everything is closed. I go a little out of town, where I buy something for breakfast and dinner at the same time. You’ll find several gothic and renaissance houses and the remains of fortifications.

I read online that the beach attracts surfers. Well, I’m very happy. I’m supposed to cross the border between Portugal and Spain by water in the morning. Yes, you read that right. Well, I won’t be crossing it, of course, but there will be a boat waiting for me. Or rather, a boat.

A TRIP TO THE SPANISH COAST BY BOAT

We have a transfer booked for 8:30 Portuguese time. Later in the evening I get a message on Whatsapp that our captain will be waiting for us at the shore. And also a warning that there will be competitors at the shore who will tell us that our captain is not coming! That’s a nice start, I think to myself. 🙂

The link where you can order a boat (unfortunately there was no ferry at that time): https://xacobeotransfer.com/en/home/

My first encounter with our boat makes me uncomfortable. Firstly, how I’m going to get into it, because the captain of our boat, Mario, is coming ashore. At least I’m taking off my backpack so I’m not embarrassed. I remember the first time I flew to Asia, specifically Thailand, I was wearing a large loom and it pulled me right to the ground as I got off a similar boat. This must not happen again! I’m a sovereign, which Mario prefers to shake hands with anyway. What worries me more, however, is the slowly moving sea. I’m not going to vomit! I grit my teeth and sometimes my eyes and in 7 minutes we are on the other shore. Fortunately, there is a pier.

We’re on the other side. I’m in Spain! Attention, it’s 1 hour longer in Spain! Mario stamps my Credencial and I head out for my next adventure.

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AND DON’T FORGET TO READ PART TWO! 🙂