Camino Magic

I told myself I would look for a sign. 

The prior week, a special group of strangers-now-friends and I ended our walk of the Camino de Santiago at the famed Cathedral (Walking the Way).

My friends departed. As some pilgrims do, I carried on.

I was now three days into my solo walk to the Atlantic Ocean.

If I learned anything on the Camino, it’s that you always find a sign if you are looking for one.

But over three days—nothing. 

I stood at a literal fork in the road, marked by two stone sign posts. 

Fisterra or Muxia? 

Walk left? Or walk right?

I still had no opinion. The distance to each Atlantic coastal city was about the same—90 km. And the choice of which to walk to first didn’t matter as I planned to visit both.

I stared at the sign posts. I took a photo. I walked behind the posts. I walked closer and looked at them from the top.

Then I saw the graffiti atop the Fisterra sign post.

“To the end of the world. Would you follow me?”

It was a sign.

I walked left. Two days later I arrived in Fisterra.

Such is the magic of the Camino. 

Fisterra is the westernmost point on the Iberian peninsula, believed by the Romans to be the edge of the world. It’s a popular final ending point for walking the Camino de Santiago.

I relish magic moments in Fisterra. I take off my hiking boots and walk almost a kilometer towards town barefoot in the surf. I find the perfect Camino shell on the beach. I treat myself to mussels and Albariño for lunch. And fish and Albariño for dinner.

The next morning, I leave my hotel before sunrise to start the final 30 km to Muxia. Perhaps I’d pull it off in one long day, or stop somewhere along the way.

As I stop to watch the sunrise, I’m joined by two gentlemen—Bob and Shamus. Longtime friends from the U.S. East Coast, they had walked this path together countless times. 

“There’s a cafe ahead—want to join us for a coffee?”

I end up walking with Bob and Shamus all the way to Muxia.

Our banter started early.

Brother Shamus is a Franciscan Friar. Bob is a retired tennis coach. They met five decades ago when Shamus was Bob’s tennis coach. 

They bicker like an old married couple. Shamus has a particular fondness for windmills. Bob hates windmills. I make sure to point out every windmill on the horizon.

We overnight at a private home in Cee. We celebrate over dinner in Muxia. We share a taxi back to Santiago.

After we part ways, I realize I forgot to tell them my story about the sign post graffiti.

It was as if they’d written the message for me. 

Such is the magic of the Camino. 

With a full day in Santiago to myself before my train back to Madrid the next morning, I visit the Santiago de Compostela Cathedral.

My first Cathedral visit was the week prior with my Walking Mentorship friends João and Nuno. Entering at 7:00am, they brought me to corners of the church typically mobbed with afternoon visitors. We explored in silence, taking in the morning light and open space.

My current visit is late morning before the tour busses arrive. I take my time exploring the crypts and quiet naves. In one nave, I light a candle. I think of my Roman Catholic ancestors in Poland. For them, the Cathedral of St. James would be a religious mecca they could only dream of visiting.

Yet here I am—an American—doing so generations later.

A tear falls down my cheek. A woman next to me I hadn’t noticed silently hands me a tissue.

Such is the magic of the Camino. 

I exit the Cathedral and find the temperature and the crowds have grown. 

I seek shelter in a building overhang. There’s a sign for the Museum of Pilgrimage and Santiago. The lobby is so ill-lit that I think it’s closed. I’m rewarded with a quiet air conditioned experience overlooked by the tourist masses. 

The museum tells the full history of the Cathedral and the Camino de Santiago—as well as pilgrimages around the world—in an easy-to-understand manner. While I’m aware of the pilgrimages to Jerusalem, Rome, Santiago and Mecca, I learn there’s evidence of pilgrimages in ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt and Greece, and in the Hindu, Buddhist and Shinto religions.

Today, only about a third of people walk the Camino de Santiago for religious reasons. 

Like me, most are lured by broader motivations—physical challenge, cultural exploration, personal growth and human connection. 

I make my way to Mercado de Abastos de Santiago. I had accidentally found myself there a week ago when trying to find my way to the Camino’s end at the Cathedral. Enjoying a last Galician “pulpo a la feria” (octopus) and glass of Albariño, I make a decision out loud.

“I’m going to commit to an annual pilgrimage somewhere in the world.”

Such is the magic of the Camino. 

For me, pilgrimage encompasses a walk carrying my own small backpack for a week or more. I might journey on my own, with my husband, or with a small group.

I’m keeping the commitment.

In 2024, I hiked a stretch of the Congo Nile Trail near Lake Kivu in Western Rwanda with my husband Bob and guide Fred. Combining a physical challenge and jaw-dropping scenery, there’s no better way to explore Rwanda’s diverse landscape, culture and wildlife.

My future goals include walking the Via Francigena in Italy and the Kumano Kodo in Japan.

But I was itching to share the gift of walking and nature with others. 

I returned to my friend João, who led our Walking Mentorship Camino experience.

We decided to lead a walk together.

In the first week of Spring 2025, João and I brought the magic of the Walking Mentorship to a group of eight people walking the last wild coast in Europe—Costa Vicentina in João’s native Portugal.

So special was the experience, we decided to plan another, blending two sources of magic.

In Fall 2026, we will co-lead a Walking Mentorship walk on the Camino.

And you are invited!

Named the Camino de Berobreo, we will spend a week walking an ancient route that connects parts of the Camino de Santiago (Portuguese Coastal route) and parts of the spiritual variant (through Armenteira Monastery). Expect the distance to be about 145 km, and to collect your personal Camino Compostela certificate at the end (learn more).

If you’ve ever walked the Camino, you know there is a Camino magic. It’s hard to explain, but it pulls you back. With the added Walking Mentorship magic, it’s a fully new angle on the Camino.

If you have yet to take the Camino journey, I can’t fully explain the magic beyond sharing my own story.

You need to experience it for yourself. My wish? To make it easy and special for you.

Because that is the magic of the Camino.

Inspired create your own magic? Join me in Venture Travel. When you travel differently, you think differently.