Reasons To Walk The Camino De Santiago Once

Camino De Santiago Is Special

The **Camino de Santiago is a special experience. I recommend everyone to hike it once in a lifetime for the following reasons.

Nature Is So Beautiful

Nature while hiking is so beautiful in some places that I enjoy it with a smile and sometimes a tear.

Everyone Is Equal

I chat with every pilgrim, but not every pilgrim suits me in terms of conversation. I spend days talking with one and with the other it's just greetings and polite exchange of how things are going and what the starting point is.

The Ugliness Of The Suburbs

I should see the suburbs of the big city up close. I walk for hours between the factories and the highways on my way to a city or nature reserve. There is nothing more boring and uglier than this in life except maybe learning to code.

The Amount I Can Eat

If I walk the Camino I can eat unlimited and still lose weight. I burn so many calories by walking a lot that I can hardly eat to stay the same weight. I even stop sometimes at markets, supermarkets, shops, and cafes on the Camino although I have already food in my bag. I never know how hungry I will get on the next part with nothing than nature.

The Source Of Energy

In terms of physical energy, the Camino is a battle of attrition. I am doing a little bit of robbery on my body, no matter how much I've trained. Yet I always find a source to keep going and reach the finish line every day and walk again the next day.

The Conversations

The conversations along the way are less about who I am in daily life in terms of work, but more about where I started, where I am walking to. How am I doing physically and what I hope to achieve by walking the Camino.

I Walk The Camino Alone

Even though I meet people and occasionally walk with people, I do the Camino alone. I sometimes choose to walk with my thoughts alone. I come to the most beautiful discoveries about myself.

More Questions

During the Camino I come up with solutions to problems, but questions about my life also arise. Often more questions than solutions arise along the way. And this what the Camino is for.

How To Get Ahead Of My Fears

I also walk for parts alone and sometimes my fears float by like a dark forest, but I still walk through it and conquer myself. This brings joy and also insight into myself.

Future Hikes

It was one of the most beautiful trips I made! I kept hiking after the Camino: NShikes, Pieterpad, beach walks, Nacht van de Vluchteling, etc. Hiking started for me with the *4 Daagse van Nijmegen in 2009. I will keep hiking. I know there are lots of trails calling my name in The Netherlands and around the world.

*I walked the Nijmegen 4Daagse Marches in 2009. And in 2016 I saw the walkers walking through Cuijk, after I hiked the Camino Portugues and before I moved to Arnhem. I have never been to the 4Daagse feesten and I will not visit the 4Daagse feesten in the future. Never been a party animal and never will be.

**I hiked the camino to think about what I wanted further from life and Databeet, not to party like some do on the Camino. I talked while hiking with my fellow hikers, but did not party with them or others. I am not a party animal and liked the quietness and calmness of the camino. 

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