Why I Would Walk the Camino Again

I would walk the Camino again, and that still surprises me a little. Not because I hated it. I loved it. But love on the Camino is complicated. It comes with blisters, cold showers, snoring strangers, steep climbs, sore knees, and mornings when your body looks at you like you have lost your entire mind.

Still, even with all of that, I know I am not finished with the Camino de Santiago. Something about that road keeps calling me back.

Maybe that is how you know a journey got inside you. It does not end just because you reached the cathedral.

The First Camino Was My Teacher

My first Camino taught me what I could carry, what I could release, and what kind of strength was still waiting inside my 50-year-old body. I did not walk perfectly. I did not prepare perfectly. I did not glide across Spain like some serene pilgrimage influencer with matching socks and eternal patience.

I struggled. I cried. I laughed. I adjusted. I kept going.

That is why the Camino changed me. It did not hand me a fantasy. It gave me evidence.

A Second Camino Would Be a Different Conversation

The first time, everything was new. Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port felt like the edge of a life I had not entered yet. The Pyrenees felt enormous. Albergue life felt strange. Every yellow arrow felt like a small miracle.

If I walk again, I will bring more wisdom. I will pack differently. I will choose gear with fewer fantasies and more honesty. I will take my sleeping bag seriously from the beginning. I will listen to my knees before they start writing angry letters.

But I also know a second Camino would not be a repeat. The road changes because the walker changes.

I Want to Meet Myself There Again

That may be the real reason. I want to meet myself on the road again. Not the same woman who started in 2025, but the woman I am becoming now.

The Camino gives you room to hear yourself. It strips life down until you can recognize your own voice underneath the noise. That kind of clarity is rare, and I do not take it lightly.

As I wrote in The Camino Taught Me to Trust My Own Pace, the road taught me that my pace was enough. I want to keep practicing that lesson.

The Camino Community Still Pulls at Me

I miss the moving community. I miss the casual kindness. I miss the way strangers become familiar because you keep finding each other in cafés, albergues, churches, and village squares.

That community is not perfect. Nothing human is. But the Camino family has a tenderness I have rarely felt elsewhere. It reminds you that people can still look out for each other without needing a formal reason.

If you are curious about that part of the road, read The Camino Family I Did Not Know I Needed. That piece explains why the people often matter as much as the path.

Next Time, I Would Walk With More Mercy

If I return, I want to walk with more mercy. More mercy for my body. More mercy for my budget. More mercy for the days that do not unfold beautifully.

I would still prepare. I would still use official resources like the official Camino de Santiago in Galicia and the Pilgrim Reception Office. I would still consider travel coverage through SafetyWing and budget lodging through Hostelworld.

But I would also leave room for grace. The road needs both planning and surrender.

The Camino Is Still Speaking

I would walk the Camino again because the first walk is still speaking. It speaks when life gets loud. It speaks when I overthink. It speaks when I forget that simple living can be full living.

Maybe I will return to the Camino Francés. Maybe I will try another route. Either way, I know this much: Santiago was not the end of the story. It was the beginning of a relationship.

For the full collection, visit my Camino de Santiago hub.