Pippa shares how being a pilgrim is the pathway to a new you!
Our Camino Women community never stops surprising us. The reasons our guests choose to do these adventures are as personal as the women themselves.
Some are celebrating milestone birthdays. Others just retired. Then there are the thrill-seekers – they want those mountain summit highs.
But the women who really get to us are the ones who take a chance to work things through, like an emotional obstacle weighing heavy on their hearts…
A relationship that’s run its course.
Losing someone who mattered.
Surviving a life-threatening illness.
They’re after something much deeper. Because when life has gone sideways, sometimes you need to get away and figure things out – a chance to work things through.
The Portuguese Camino de Santiago isn’t bad for a life reset. All 115 kilometres of it. Be warned though, the coastal views will mess with your head.
Lisbon. The start of one of the world’s oldest pilgrimages. People have been walking this thing for centuries. For over 1,000 years, everyone from kings to Templar Knights to pilgrims have been doing this walk. Pretty wild, really. You’ll cross old Roman bridges and eucalypt forested pathways to the Compostela de Santiago in Galicia, Spain – the burial spot of St James.
All in the name of love, loss, honour, faith and hope!
Last year saw a record breaking 530,000+ pilgrims receive their Compostela certificate. But you don’t have to believe in religion to embark on a pilgrimage…
For many, like our Booking Manager, Pippa, hers was a spiritual journey she took after staring down breast cancer.
Twice.
Whilst Pip took a different route on ‘the way’ to St James, she has a lot to share about her experience being a pilgrim and the life affirming benefits that taking a nice long walk in nature with others can bring…
The Beginnings of A Beautiful Quest
“I remember lying in hospital during the dark days of my breast cancer and chemo treatment, looking at a photo of myself from my travels and thinking how free, fit and healthy I looked. It reminded me of how strong I could be, and it got me thinking, ‘One day, I’m going to walk the Camino.’ I set that mental goal for myself to be strong again, so I could go and do what seemed like a beautiful quest”.
The thing about quests though is – they don’t happen overnight.
It wasn’t until a decade later, fit, strong and in full health again after having banished breast cancer for the second time, that Pip’s camino dream finally came front and centre.
“I’d done an awful lot of healing over that time, so I was in a really good place when I set out. I felt super healthy, free and without a care in the world, so in that way I was really blessed because I met some amazing people who were carrying quite heavy things emotionally, that they were trying to resolve.
Like this one lovely young man I became friends with. He was carrying his mum’s ashes with him and was going to sprinkle them in the ocean at Finisterre.
And a really sweet Canadian girl I spent time with, who shared with me that she’d been sexually assaulted. She was scared to travel alone, but she’d decided she’d go and put herself out there and do something challenging so that she could overcome her trauma.
There was a lady in her 70s I met too, who had a beautiful story. Fifty years earlier, she had met her husband whilst walking the camino. He’d passed away a few years ago and she was there walking it again, in his memory.”
Like the raw and emotional melodies in the fado music Portugal is famous for, walking the way is filled with sentiment for lots of pilgrims and one thing that Pip learned is that it’s rude to intrude…
“Yeah, it’s not cool to go around asking why other people are walking the camino. You kind of want to just let people be. As they get to know you, they might share why they’re there and that’s lovely, but you shouldn’t presume you have the right to dive into someone’s world and straight up ask them.”
A Journey in Self Growth
Starting in the big city frenzy of Lisbon, scenery along the Camino de Santiago route quickly shapeshifts. Tramlines and cobblestoned barrios…
morph into neck-bending monastery archways…
that frame sneak peaks of rural farming villages…
which soon swell into the world’s biggest waves smashing into the cliffs at Nazare.
Then, after a glass (or two) of encouragement from Porto’s finest for the final push…
you’re delivered (with emotion levels set to high), to the cathedral doorstep of the 1,200-year-old Santiago de Compostela Cathedral, Spain.
Unshoulder your pack here, and you can see how the changing terrain on this Level 3 trek could mirror the journey of self-growth that Pip says pilgrims often experience on their way to renewal…
“It’s said that the first part of your camino is where all the things you’re trying to deal with in your life come bubbling to the surface. They bang you in the face and it kind of forces you to take a good look at them.
Then, the second stage is when you’re out in nature and you have the space and time to begin processing those things and start dealing with them. It can be really challenging for some people to look at and assess their lives, but it gives you that mental distance to confront the things in your life you’re unhappy with.
The third part is where you glue yourself back together again!”
Around 4km out from Santiago is when you’ll want to crack out the Kleenex, because emotions start riding high when the Compostela finally comes into view….
“Santiago is beautiful and the square in front of the Compostela is filled with people – all there for the same reason. There’s a buzz of excitement and joy that everybody has because they’ve completed what they set out to do.
Some people cry because they’re overwhelmed with their achievement and there’s a really nice feeling across the entire city.
The whole experience really helped clarify some elements in my life and made me realise that being active outdoors in nature is my happy place.
I felt really fit, healthy and energised – metaphorically I’d ‘lightened my load’. I loved it. I didn’t want my camino to end!
There were a couple of big lessons that gave me a good ass-kicking too, to be honest.”
Her biggest one?
“If a charming 6’4 super handsome sportsman ever offers to teach you acro-yoga… stay away!” she laughs.
“The universe handed me my karma very swiftly on that one.”
Connections for Life
Whilst every pilgrim’s journey towards self-growth may be individual, it doesn’t mean it has to be a solo affair.
Sure, you could easily walk the Camino de Santiago on your own. Plenty do!
You’ll still feel the sense of community, that intangible bond that all pilgrims share knowing you’re part of something greater than yourself.
But going it alone means missing out on some truly sacred moments of human connection and camaraderie that can last a lifetime. Moments that become magnified when you share them in the company of like-minded women, as Pip shares…
“The camino is quite life changing. It’s very humbling to go on a pilgrimage and spend time in nature, focus on your well-being and get to know others and become part of their stories.
It’s a gift really. Especially when you walk it with a group of women because we tend not to put ourselves first – instead we put ourselves at the bottom of the queue. It’s a big step, especially as you get older for women to say, ‘I matter and there are dreams on my heart that I want to honour.’. That empowerment flows into the rest of your life afterwards.
I think that for anything you do in life, it’s worth doing with others because you’ll get to relive that experience forever afterwards. That bond you share will never go away if you have people to share it with.”
And her final piece of advice for anyone thinking about their own pilgrimage?
“My philosophy is, ‘You never know what’s around the corner.’
So, if something is on your heart, then find a way to make it happen because you’ll never regret the things you do, only the things you don’t.”
And on that note pilgrim, we wish you, ‘Bon Camino!‘
Want to know more about our 14-Day Portuguese Camino de Santiago adventure?
Book in for a chat with Pippa and she’ll happily take you through all the details to get you started on your own pilgrimage!
Plus… to help you on your pathway to a new you, check out Pip’s recent Campfire Chat with her breast surgeon, Dr Chantel Thornton. She shares some great insights on breast cancer and advice on the benefits of fitness for hiking and health. It could change your life!
Then afterwards, snuggle into the couch with this heart-warming film, ‘The Way’.
We loved it, and think you will too!