My third stop will take me to Portugal and Spain to hike an ancient Christian pilgrimage route called the Camino de Santiago. The Camino de Santiago is a hike that is increasing in popularity each year, and has gained more popularity outside of Europe since the release of the move “The Way”. When I started planning this hike, I decided I had to do it a bit differently than the majority of people. So instead of doing the most popular ~700 km route called the Camino Frances from St Jean Pied de Port, France ending in Santiago de Compostela, I will be starting in Lisbon, Portugal and hiking the Camino Portugues to Santiago de Compostela, then hiking the popular Camino Frances backwards to St Jean Pied de Port, France. One reason I decided to hike the Camino Frances backwards is that I thought it would be interesting to be crossing paths with people who, as I get further along in my hike are will be more and more closer to the beginning of theirs, and I will never meet or talk to the same person twice (unless someone is as strange as me and walking the trail in reverse at the same time!). I also think that a lot of present day pilgrims focus on the hike to Santiago de Compostela, forgetting that the pilgrims hundreds of years ago would have had to turn around and make the same pilgrimage back to their homes!

This stop was inspired by the world renowned author Paulo Coelho, who attributed his first hike of the trail to be a turning point in his life where he became attuned to his passion in life, two years later he publishing his worldwide bestseller “The Alchemist.” The Alchemist is a story about a Sheppard who while sleeping has a dream that he should travel to the Pyramids of Egypt where he will find treasure. In the process of following his dream he is faced with many challenges testing his courage and resolve while teaching him to listen to his heart and intuition. Since reading The Alchemist in 2006 I have considered it to be a guide in my life, at times when I am feeling lost or confused I will randomly flip to a page and find a paragraph that gives me perspective into my current situation. I have carried this book with me on all my travels since then always finding it to be a seemingly infinite source of wisdom, it also was a source of inspiration in my decision for not only hiking the Camino de Santiago but my whole year off as well.

Through this hike I hope to connect with my inner intuition more, learning to distinguish between when I am listening to my heart and when I am listening to fear. By tuning into my inner intuition, I hope I will be better able to not only find my career passion in life but also have the courage and determination to follow it through. When Paulo Coelho first published The Alchemist only 900 copies sold, and the publishing company told him that the book would never sell. Instead of being discouraged and giving up on the book, he trusted his intuition and sought out other companies to publish the book, now The Alchemist is considered one of the best selling books in the world.

Camino de Santiago Blogs

1. Age is Just a Number

2. I Have no Idea What I´m Doing

3. Homesick

4. Excess Baggage

5. Desaceleracao

6. Spiritual or Religious?

7. It’s not the Destination

8. Conversations with a Nun

9. Mindfulness on a Modern Camino

10. The “Wrong” Way

11. Camino: Community or Competition?

12. Advice for Walking the Camino