Pilgrimage report

[Gladius]

This is a "trip" report from the pilgrimage I did by myself back in September in Spain (Camino de Santiago). I highly recommend it as a way to learn about yourself.

The most classic route of this traditional christian pilgrimage starts in the very south of France and finishes in the north-west of Spain, in Santiago de Compostela. This would take around one month. Since I only had two weeks, I took a plane to the middle (a city called "León") and started walking there.

Since it's such a popular route, you don't have to worry too much about where to sleep or what to eat. There is huge network of hostels and restaurants specially oriented for pilgrims. All along the way you find places ofering a cheap "pilgrim menu" for lunch or dinner. There is an average of a hostel every 2 km so you don't have to worry about that either. 

Your daily routine consists in waking up with the sunrise, walking around 25 km (5-6 hours), and dropping in the hostel of your choice. Then, you can spend the rest of the day eating or cooking, doing the laundry, visiting the town, or hanging out with other fellow pilgrims.

During the first week of my pilgrimage I had very deep insights. After couple hours walking, your mind clears up and your monkey mind shuts tfu. I met many likeminded people, tasted great new food and learned a lot about myself.

During the second week, things changed a little bit. As you're getting closer to Santiago, there is more and more people joining. That lowers the bar, if that makes sense. I felt there was a "colective" ego backlash there. I met more people from my area, and I started walking with them. After so many days by myself, I couldn't help to join them and gave myself permission to have some fun. That led to have some beers, party, sex, etc. I have to say I had a great time, although I felt kinda guilty to not been able to ignore the devil  

In the end, I reached Santiago after two weeks walking 320 km in the nature, overcoming many obstacles and with a nice group of new friends. Hope to do the whole thing some day!

[Sahil Pandit]

@Gladius 320km!! That's impressive. Amazing memories must have been made my friend, wow. 

[Vinnie]

Hey dude, can I ask why you did it? I've heard of the Camino de Santiago and I was wondering why people pilgrimage there. I heard it runs along a ley-line.

[Salvijus]

That's nice. Doing a pilgrimage is on my to do list How much did it cost you for 2weeks?

[Gladius]

@Vinnie Sure. That was on my to do list for some time. This year I wanted to spend my vacations doing something spiritual. I had done ayahuasca on my previous ones and I felt like getting away from the city. Also, I had very good feedback from everyone else who had done it before. I had two weeks off, didn't have plans with anyone else, and the timing (September) was perfect weatherwise. Besides, it is also a popular place to meet new likeminded people.

 @Salvijus To be honest in the end it was not as cheap as I thought. I took planes forth and back, ate in a restaurant every day, and drank a bit too much  I probably spend around 300 euros (excluding flight tickets and material). However, you can save a lot of money if you buy food in the groceries store and cook in the hostels. There are also many spots along the way where food is given away to pilgrims.

[Forestluv]

What a wonderful adventure! Thank you for sharing.

During your long solo walks, was your mindspace mostly contemplative or simply observing/being with the environment?

[Gladius]

@Serotoninluv I'd say mostly observing. In the end I was also curious about the surroundings and all the different forests, towns and landscapes I was walking through, so I was just 100% present.

[Forestluv]

20 minutes ago, Gladius said:

@Serotoninluv I'd say mostly observing. In the end I was also curious about the surroundings and all the different forests, towns and landscapes I was walking through, so I was just 100% present.

That’s what it’s all about. ??

It sounds like there were lots of other pilgrims. Did you get a sense that they were genuine, serious seekers? Was there a sense of community or comraderie?

[Gladius]

@Serotoninluv Sure, specially in the earlier stages. It's very easy to strike conversations if you want to, and walk along someone else. Actually the most authentic pilgrims are the ones who started at the very beginning. There are not many of them, but you can tell they take it seriously, and they are respected, since they had been walking two or three weeks by the time I met them. The closer you get to the destination, the lower is the consciousness bar. There are lots of people joining the pilgrimage during the final days attracted by the partying and the sightseeing. 

[Vinnie]

@Gladius That actually sounds wicked. I don't doubt I'm gonna do it the future now.