Spanish Friday : { Camino de Santiago }

One of my friends recently walked the Camino de Santiago de Compostela. It’s traditionally known as the way of St. James, and is a popular catholic pilgrimage that has existed for over 1000 years. Today it is walked by people from all over the world, religious or not, for different spiritual reasons or personal goals. The end destination of the pilgrimage is Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain and there are various routes throughout Europe from which to choose, ranging from 1000km to just over 100km.

My friend Martin walked the French route and started his journey in León. The journey was just over 300km long, and by the sounds of it an absolutely amazing experience. A pilgrimage such as this is hard to put in words as it is such a deeply personal experience, but the stories he documented during and after his journey had me in awe. From moments of extreme silence and isolation to wonderful friendships he made along the way, from pain and exhaustion to serenely beautiful Spanish landscapes and villages, from endless kilometers into nowhere to the joy of reaching his destination.  It truly sounded like a wonderful adventure! Below are some of the amazing photos that document part of his journey, but to read some of his stories you can visit his travel blog here.

Which adventure have you dreamt of going on? I’d love to hear about it.




Photos by Martin Botha