Tomorrow I will embark on my fourth Camino. Various walking routes to Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain.

Each route is unique in experience, geography, culture, etc. In past years I have walked the Camino Frances from Saint Jean Pied-de-Port (800km), Camino Norte/Primitivo from San Sebastián and Oviedo (750km) and the Camino Portuguese from Lisboa (700km). This year I will be walking the Camino Olvidado from Bilbao – about 750km.

Each route I have taken takes about 30 days plus or minus and I walk between 20-40km per day – 4-8 hours of walking. This year I might have some extra time so if I like a place, I might stay a day or two.

The Camino started out as a catholic pilgrimage to visit the tomb of Saint James the Appstle. In modern times there are as many varied reasons to walk as there are pilgrims. Some religious, some spiritual, some tourism, each with varied reasons. My reasons are personal but what I can share is it’s mainly introspective, physical health, and my love for hiking, food and culture.

For those interested, I will be posting fairly often about each day’s journey and my experiences. For those that are not, scroll on by.

Buen Camino – see you on the other side.