In 2025, I Said Yes To The Camino

In 2025, I said yes to the Camino

I recently had the opportunity of a lifetime: walking the 825-kilometer Camino del Norte in Spain. Over 37 days, I averaged about 14 miles a day along rugged terrain and a stunning coastline that often reminded me of home. It became the most meaningful experience of my life-second only to having my amazing kids.

Each day settled into a simple, grounding rhythm: walk, eat, rest, connect. Along the way, I met pilgrims from all over the world-people I never would have crossed paths with otherwise-many of whom have become friends. We still check in on each other regularly, bound by a shared experience that’s hard to explain unless you’ve lived it.

Receiving my Compostela certificate on my 55th birthday felt like the perfect ending. Walking into the square in Santiago-the finish line, the culmination of weeks of effort and intention-I was overwhelmed with emotion. And what surprised me most was that the feeling didn’t fade. Every time I returned to that square before leaving Santiago, watching others arrive for the first time, the emotion came rushing back all over again.

This experience changes you.

I’m deeply grateful that I trusted the nudge, took the leap, and went. What stayed with me most wasn’t what people had accomplished in their lives, but who they were-people still searching, still open, willing to slow down, to want less, to feel more. There’s a shared understanding on the Camino that “the Camino provides.”

That things work out.

That you keep going.

That you breathe, trust, and let go.

Just. Be.