Walking the Camino de Santiago - with Guest Belinda Coker

Join Shannon Bednarova and guest Belinda Coker as they explore the rich history, routes, and spiritual significance of the Camino de Santiago, along with practical tips for planning your pilgrimage. Areas discussed include:

• History of the Camino de Santiago
• Routes and countries involved
• The Three Keys to Planning Your Walk - Time, Finances & Physical Fitness
• Preparation and logistics for the walk
• Spiritual significance and experiences
• Healing for Spiritual, Emotional & Physical Well-being
• The pilgrim's passport and certificate
• Practical tips for pilgrims that you can't find anywhere else

You can also read more about Belinda's adventures on her website, Facebook and Instagram and get her free packing guide for the Camino de Santiago.

soultreader.com - website

hello@soultreader.com - email to contact her with questions

Packing List for the Camino de Santiago:
https://soultreader.com/hiking-packing-lists/

You can also go to thehousesittingcollective.com to learn about her house-sitting business that links homeowners around the world with reliable house-sitters and offers courses on responsible house-sitting.

The House Sitting Collective
https://housesittingcollective.com/
10% discount code - hstravel for A Lady Well-Travelled listeners

DISCLAIMER: All opinions, recommendations and experiences shared on this podcast are solely those of the creator and/or her guests.  Please do your own research and consult the appropriate professionals before making any decisions based on content shared on this show. 

Thank you for listening!  I welcome your feedback and suggestions or you simply let me know if you are enjoying the show. You can reach me at Shannon@ALadyWellTravelled.com

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:29

Hello, and welcome to A Lady Well Traveled. I'm your host and creator, Shannon Bednarova, and I'm delighted that you've joined us today. Again, I am happy to welcome our wonderful guest, Belinda Coker. She's been a guest on our show before. Today, she is going to be talking about a walking tour that is also a pilgrimage and explaining all about the Camino del Santiago. I want you to again say hello to Belinda Coker. Hi, Belinda. Hi, Shannon. How are you? And thank you so much for having me back on your show. Absolutely. We had so much fun the last time. I couldn't wait to have you back on. And for those of you who aren't familiar with Belinda, Belinda is a world traveler. She is the person who created the House Sitting Collective website, which helps match people who are interested in house sitting with owners of homes all across the world who want people to sit in their homes, pet sit, take care of plants, and that kind of thing. Belinda's website also offers classes in how to house sit because obviously there's a lot more to house sitting than just going and hanging out in someone's home. There's a lot of responsibility involved. Belinda is also an author and a very, very talented lady. So I'm tickled that she's joined us again today.

SPEAKER_01 2:02

So that's a lot to live up to, Shannon.

SPEAKER_00 2:06

Goodness. Well, it's really not because you're all of those things and more. We have a lot to talk about today. Ah, we really do. Not everyone may be familiar with our topic, but we want to talk about how walking the Camino de Santiago can be a life-changing experience for travelers. This path is traditionally trod as a pilgrimage, but certainly those of faith and those who have little or no faith can find beauty, renewal, and joy in one of the most beautiful walks on earth if they choose to follow this well-worn route that's been used since the time of the Romans and before that. To get us started, Belinda, I'm just gonna ask you to give our listeners maybe a brief overview of what the pilgrimage of Camino de Santiago is about.

SPEAKER_01 3:01

Absolutely, Shannon. Um it it started in the early ninth century, and they they they they're sort of guesstimating between eight thirteen and eight. So that that's an you know an awful long time ago. And uh it was following the discovery of the remains of Saint James the Apostle in Santiago de Compostela, so Spain. So that is how the pilgrimage started. 18 813 and 830, Dark Ages, I think. Absolutely. That's um thought of as the Dark Ages. So pilgrims have been following the the route to Santiago to pay to pay their respects to St. James the Apostle for what 1300 years now. And a lot of people are aware, oh yes, it's a road in Spain. It is so much more than a road in Spain. In fact, there are over 200 recognized distinct Camino de Santiago routes across 22 countries in Europe because the the pilgrims came from all over Europe, like as far away as Sweden, the United Kingdom, the Ukraine. So pilgrims could heard about the about the remains of the apostle of St. James, and so and so they started this pilgrimage. So these routes are very, very old. Most people, while there's hundreds of paths that do exist, the majority of pilgrims today walk one of the four major well-marked routes. Start off in France, but most of them are in Spain and Portugal. And because the Camino historically starts from one's doorstep, there are technically hundreds of variations throughout throughout Europe. Um, and and they are all signposted with a yellow scallop shell on a post. And pilgrims, anyone who walks the camino is known as a pilgrim. And you all wear a a scallop shell, and some people tie it to their backpack, some people hang it around their necks, and that identifies you as a pilgrim. There's a few other things that identify you, but secondly, this is what the Camino is, and there's a lot more to it. And yes, we were going to talk about it. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 5:22

Yeah, so you were talking about all the different countries that are involved. What are the countries that you can see on this walk?

SPEAKER_01 5:30

There's 22 um countries recognized distinct Camino de Santiago routes across uh 22 countries in Europe. Okay. We were to walk the Romantic Road, which is a 500-kilometer walk through Germany. It's absolutely beautiful. My husband um actually walked that about three years ago, and and he looked on a signpost and there was a Camino, there was a Camino shell, and it was actually part of the German, of the German route. All of these routes from all over Europe all connected on the Camino Francis route, and they all end up in Santiago, which is a city um on the far northwest um of Spain, and is a huge cathedral and a huge square in front of the cathedral, and that is where everybody ends up. And yes, I can tell you about that as well. It is one of the most amazing experiences.

SPEAKER_00 6:29

That's before we get into all of the details, because we are definitely gonna do so, what is the best way to arrange a walking or hiking trip like this? I mean, is it gonna be depending on the amount of time you have, your physical condition, your finances, countries or cities or cathedrals or churches you most wanna see? How do you decide where to go? Because you have so many choices. And you can do a very, very long walk, a short walk. So tell me for the lay person or the person who's just starting out, what's the best way to make that decision?

SPEAKER_01 7:11

The majority of the people do one of the four main camino routes that run through Spain and Portugal. Now, some people do the entire length of those routes, and the longest one is 800 kilometers. The longest one, longest one is actually the Camino del Norte, which actually runs across the right at the very top of Spain. Cino Francis is roughly 49% of all pilgrims do the Camino Francis. And this is this is the main one. And that's um 800 kilometers or um almost 500 miles. Wow. So it's a long way. What happens with the with the Camino, how it works, what at what stages people actually hop on and start the Camino depending on finances, depending on their um fitness ability, and depending on how much time they have. Just because a a Camino is 800 kilometers, it doesn't mean that's to say that you have to do the whole lot. In fact, in order to complete the pilgrimage, all you need to do is the last 100 kilometers. Okay. You have what's known as a pilgrim credential. So this is something you get at the start of your journey and and you get it stamped, and we'll go into that in a minute. Um, but when you get to the Santiago, the main cathedral at the end, you get what's known as a compostella, which is the pilgrim certificate. And this is a beautiful certificate, all written in Latin. It is just it is just absolutely magnificent. And your name is down forever with uh millions of other pilgrims from from decades, from centuries, who have actually walked pilgrim as um the pilgrimage as well. So your name is one of those that is included. And in order to actually get that, get to the Compostella, you have to have walked the last 100 kilom kilometers of a Camino route, or if you're cycling, at least 200 kilometers. So you don't have to just walk, you can cycle it, you can go by horseback. So lots of people do it all sorts of different ways as well. If you're very, very short on time, maybe just the last 100 kilometers, or if you're if you're if you've got a lot of time and but you're not very fit, you know, maybe you still want to do the 100 kilometers, but you only want to do about 10 kilometers a day. Um so how you do it really depends on fitness, finances, and time. And that's just basically, you know, that's just basically it. Now there are tour groups that organize this for you, and there are uh hundreds of tour groups, and you can just Google tour companies that do the Camino, but it is very, very easy to do without without the expense of a tour, um, tour group. It's very easy to actually just start walking. And I have a guide on my website of what to take when you are walking on the Camino. And you basically you just need probably around about eight kilos of gear. You need some changes of clothes, you need some basic necessities, and you just need to start walking, and you can actually organize the accommodation day by day. It's kind of easier to do it that way because then you know if if you're gonna have a bad day or if it's gonna be raining, or you're just gonna be very tired, or you're gonna have blisters, you want to be able to have a day that you can build in.

SPEAKER_00 10:55

Now, you talked about gears. You're talking about backpacking it through the walk. Okay. And that's perfect because one of the things that I had talked about a little bit was I certainly enjoy walking, but then I also enjoy being able to have a nice hotel and nice accommodations and nice food. And after a long day of walking, I might want to jump in a bathtub. Now, is that a possibility too, if I want to do it like that?

SPEAKER_01 11:29

Absolutely, and a lot of people do. And I'm gonna be totally honest with you, that's exactly the way my husband and I did it as well. We did the Portuguese Camino and we did that last year, and we stayed in our own accommodation. We didn't stay in the Albergos, which is the uh hostels that everyone else stays in, because we like our privacy, and I can't sleep with a lot of other people as well. I I find that very disruptive at nighttime, but that that's just me. Other people love it, other people thrive on it, and uh and we just kind of like our own space.

SPEAKER_00 12:05

So we stayed in private rooms all along our um all absolutely, and I think that's very important for our listeners to know. There are a variety of lodgings along the way. Can do it and stay in hostels, which are the Albergers, which maybe for folks who are definitely trying to do this on a strict budget, then there probably are more mid-range accommodations available, and then there are probably high-end accommodations, just like anywhere else. And you can get Airbnbs along the way if you're deciding, hey, I want to stay in a particular area or city for a few days and enjoy, and then I'm gonna finish the walk. So I'm sure the options are basically limitless.

SPEAKER_01 12:52

Absolutely. And do you find that a lot of people uh a lot of people do book the nights as they go? Um and it's and it's a lot easier to sort of it's very easy to do that. There are so many options along the way. Okay. Now, also with the Albergas, they will never turn anyone away. So I don't think they're actually allowed to turn anyone away. So people will turn up and and if they have to find a mattress for you on the floor, they will find a mattress for you on the floor. Okay. They can be as cheap as five to 15 euros a night for a hostel bed. So that's very cheap. And a lot of them will include dinner and breakfast as well.

SPEAKER_00 13:35

Okay. Wow. Well, that is definitely budget friendly. For those of you who may be interested in doing this and who maybe are are wanting to do it on a budget. That's a wonderful piece of information to have. You and I have talked about this, Belinda, because when we say hiking and walking, it can be very off-putting for folks because people are a hike. What does that mean? What does walking mean? Am I gonna be walking 20 miles every day uphill on volcanic rock and it's gonna be slippery and I'm gonna be falling? No, we don't necessarily mean that at all. When we're talking about walking, can you specify what you mean? Can you talk about the variety and types of walking that are available to folks? Even people who are like, I can walk maybe up to five miles a day, or maybe I can walk three miles a day if I have some breaks. So talk about that for us.

SPEAKER_01 14:38

Absolutely. All of the four Caminos that we were mentioning before, so there's the Norte at the top, there's the Francis, then there's the Portuguese way, and then there's the Primavido, which is the oldest Camino, they all have different levels of um of difficulty. And the Portuguese Camino, it's there's two Portuguese Caminos, actually, the coastal Portuguese and the inland. Now we started the postal Portuguese when I was coming off a Achilles tendon injury. So this was my first walk that I did, and it is flat. Literally the the entire way, it's fairly flat. So it's fairly easy. And the terrain, the terrain was easy. There's no rock scrambling, there's not a lot of no mountains to climb or anything like that. On the Francis and the Camino Norte, which are the two ones that run across the top of Spain, but there are some there are some higher elevation that you need to be aware of. But the last 100 kilometers coming into Santiago for all of them, there's not a lot of there's not a lot of elevation at all. In fact, it's really quite, it's it's really quite easy. The other thing is, is that if you do have are struggling with carrying weight, you might have bad knees or you know, you might have an Achilles problem like I did, then to be able to have your luggage transferred is another option where that can make your Camino so much easier as well.

SPEAKER_00 16:14

Yes, absolutely. I I would think, especially if you're older, I'm 62 and I've had a knee replacement. And even though I love to walk and I walk pretty much every day for miles, I still get tired after a while. And carrying a backpack, you know, that's got 30 pounds of weight on it or 40 pounds of weight, I can imagine that will tire you out a lot more quickly than just walking with a walking stick and a small pack with some water and and snacks. Exactly. Uh yeah. I can see where that would come in very handy if you've got someone to transport your luggage from stop to stop. I think that's really a neat piece of advice as well. I do think it's important for our listeners to know that you're not gonna be walking all day long for hours straight without a break. You're gonna be stopping for coffee and you're gonna be stopping for lunch and you're gonna have an Aperol spritz in the afternoon, and you're gonna stop and have a rest here and there. I assume those types of things are gonna be built into any itinerary, or if you're planning your own trip, you should be doing that. Is that correct?

SPEAKER_01 17:29

Absolutely. So after breakfast, you know, you can maybe walk about an hour and you will come across a patisserie and coffee is 1 euro 50. I mean, then the coffee's good and the pastries are just to die for. And don't worry, you will walk them off. And and also they have a great thing for lunch called uh the menu del deo. Menu del Dea is well, yes, menu of the day. And so you'll walk into these little sort of family-run restaurants and you ask for the menu del deer. And in Portugal it's menu do dare, and you will get a a starter, a man, and either a dessert or a coffee and a wine. And in port and in Portugal you will get half a liter of wine. I kid you not, half a liter of wine. And then you stumble down the walk for the w rest of the day. For the cheaper ones, uh, Portugal's a lot cheaper than Spain. But so Portugal, some of the menus are as cheap as 10 euros, and then in Spain that, you know, they can go up to 15 euros. Often we would treat that as our main meal.

SPEAKER_02 18:37

Of course.

SPEAKER_01 18:38

And then we'd sort of do a little bit more walking and you know, then maybe stop at uh, you know, somewhere for a you know, a beer and a sandwich or something like that, a little tostada. So many places to stop on the way. And some of these little cafes and family restaurants are so quaint. They're really lovely. They really, they're really beautiful.

SPEAKER_00 18:58

Oh, I bet.

SPEAKER_01 18:59

So yes, plenty plenty of places to stop.

SPEAKER_00 19:01

Great. Okay. And that's to me half the fun, too, is because the people that you meet along the way when you stop and and sit down and have a coffee or an Aperol spritz or a glass of wine, or so I also would assume that along the way you're stopping to see the important sites that you come across. If there's a beautiful church, a cathedral, a museum, a lookout, a viewpoint. Tell us about that and how you work that into the walk.

SPEAKER_01 19:31

Well, absolutely. Now, first of all, I'm just going to tell you about the credential, which is the passport that you get when you first start, when you first set foot on the Camino. And it's called the Credential Del Peregrino. It's the pilgrim passport, and it's used along all of the Caminos. And pilgrims, you collect stamps and you collect them from the Alberges, from the churches, cafes, and town halls. It is the one thing that gives you access to all the pilgrim hostels to the Albergues. It gives you it's a record of your journey, but it's also proof of distance for the Compostela. So you need to show that when you get to Santiago. So one of the places I kind of liked the idea of with um with my credential that I would have all the churches' stamps because some of the churches' stamps are absolutely beautiful, they're really exquisite. You would walk into um the churches every day and and get a and get a stamp. And most of the churches are open in Spain and Portugal, they're open all the time for people to sort of go in and worship and have a look around and all that sort of thing. And often, quite often, you would stamp your own, but sometimes there would be a priest there or someone there to actually stamp your um your credential for you. So actually walking in and having a look at the churches and admiring them is something that that you actually have to do anyway for the credential. And it's it's really it's really lovely. Then there's um there's so many beautiful viewpoints along the way, and of course, there's some lovely little villages that you can sort of just stop and stay for a couple of days in a place that you like. You can. That's the beauty of it. You are on a pilgrimage, you're not on a uh on a rushed tour.

SPEAKER_00 21:22

Okay, and that's so nice. And I love the idea of your little passport that you get stamps in, and what a wonderful memento of your pilgrimage and all the places that you've seen. And I think that in itself is probably such a special remembrance of your journey. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 21:43

Absolutely. And the rules are that you need one stamp every day, but for the last one hundred kilometers, you have to get two stamps a day. Okay. So that is the rule in order to get the Compostela, and they and they check it when you get to Santiago. Okay. But it's fun.

SPEAKER_00 22:00

We talked about you can take some time and stay in certain places. Can you describe for us what a typical day on the community de Santiago? What would that typical day on a walking tour look like for you or anyone that's relatively fit and is planning maybe a two-week tour? Okay.

SPEAKER_01 22:23

If you are staying in Alberga, you I think they wake everybody up at about seven and you have to you have to leave by 8 30. I think they s I've only stayed in a couple and we stayed in private rooms. You some of them do actually have private rooms. Most people have left their accommodation by around about 8.30 and had breakfast. And then we would start looking for a cafe to have around about 10. We'd know, or we'd know that we were coming up to a little village and we'll stop and have a coffee there. Most little villagers will have a cafe. They might not have a little general store or they might not have anything else, but they'll have a little cafe with a bar. So all the cafes serve alcohol as well, by the way. So if you wanted to have a if you wanted to have a glass of wine first thing in the morning, you are more than welcome to. But I don't recommend it when you've got a whole day of walking around around. But it is quite interesting because you see all the, you know, the older men sitting there having their brandy at 8 a.m. in the morning. It's it's it is rather funny. It's just a different culture. Sure. And yeah, and so then around about 10 o'clock we'd have our we'd have our coffee, and then around about 12, we would start looking for somewhere to have lunch as well. Now, some sometimes that just might be walking into a market and grabbing a bread roll and some cheese and some ham. When we say we walk, might walk, you know, four to six hours a day. Um, I think we've estimated that with every hour that we're talking about, we only walk maybe three quarters of an hour of that because you're stopping to take photos, you're stopping to have a drink of water, you're stopping to go to the bathroom, to tie a shoelace, all sorts of reasons why you might you might be stopping just because you want to stop. When we're saying that you're walking for six hours, you're not marching down the road for six hours straight. You do stop. And I stop a lot. I I stop to admire the view, I stop to have a rest, um, stop for all sorts of reasons.

SPEAKER_00 24:30

That's I think very logical, but there's a lot of reasons that you might want to stop, or you see a shop that's got a beautiful piece of art you want to check out.

SPEAKER_01 24:39

And the other thing is that when you are doing the pil uh the pilgrimage, you will meet so many other people and you see those the same people on the trail with you. And so you'll stop and talk to them as well. Uh it is the camaraderie is just incredible. It is just one of the most amazing things about the pilgrimage. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:00

I think that must be fabulous. What do you recommend for a first timer or maybe somebody who hasn't done a walking vacation? Do you recommend they need to start walking ahead of time? Do they need to start fitness programs? Maybe only do a week-long pilgrimage. What are your suggestions for someone who wants to do this but has never done one before?

SPEAKER_01 25:24

Right. I would start by by walking with the same type of shoes that you would be walking on the Camino and put a backpack on your back and fill it with five kilos, which is about 10 pounds of uh weight. And by weight, I would say bags of oatmeal, bags of rice or towels. Use that type of weight. Never put never put weights as in hand weights that you you would use to exercise with, because then that weight would be localized and it would really be uncomfortable on your back. You want something which weighs, and and the great thing about a bag of oats or a bag of rice, you say, Well, that's one pound, two pounds, three pounds. You know, you can kind of know how many pounds you're putting in, and it's a cheap way to get weight and uh, you know, add weight to a pack. It's not it's not something it costs uh costs a lot of money. Start off with maybe five kilos, ten pounds, and then after a couple of weeks, increase it to maybe ten, ten kilos, and ten kilos would be the most that you would do, and and just start walking with weight on your back to try and get used to to walking. I would buy walking sticks. I think walking sticks of necessity. I always walk with knit walking sticks, no matter how what the terrain is like. I I feel it gives me the stability, even when I'm tired, and it just gives me the ability to move my body forward and exercise all of my body and takes a lot of the pressure off my lower back.

SPEAKER_00 26:59

Okay, yeah. I purchased my first set of walking sticks for my upcoming trip to the Galapagos. I agree with you. I'm excited about using those. Those are all very good recommendations, so thank you for that. We talked a lot about those who are wanting to save money, but there are also people who want to go on this pilgrimage for spiritual reasons. And those who are undertaking a sacred pilgrimage, they want to be more introspective and they want to perhaps fast or eat very little, choose very modest accommodations and want either contemplative or silent lodging for prayer and meditation as they complete their journey. What options are available for them? Are there any monasteries or abbeys or anything that take in visitors?

SPEAKER_01 27:53

Yes, there are monasteries that will take in pilgrims. They aren't as common as one would like. And the albergues can be quite noisy. If someone was to uh want the quiet and the peace for prayer and reflection, I would say that the actual walk is where you would have your prayer and reflection and your alone time. As far as fasting goes, that is something that I would never recommend because you do not want to be calorie deficit. You want to have um, you want to have the sustenance to be able to sustain you on your pilgrimage. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 28:36

Um in our last podcast, you and I talked about worshiping abroad and what a wonderful experience that can be for anyone who chooses to do so. Are you able to choose a level of spiritual involvement like going to a church, worshiping at a church, going to a musical service, going to a lecture, for example, that is talking about maybe the life and service of St. James? Are there services and lectures or seminars that are offered that you can participate in on these tours?

SPEAKER_01 29:12

Yes, absolutely. And especially in the larger cities, there are the extracurricular activities for finding out a little bit more about it from the spiritual point of view. Most of the churches are Catholic that we're talking about. You know, they're not evangelical churches where a few more options, maybe a Friday night. But the good thing about it is that you can walk into all of these beautiful churches at any time of the day and just sit there and have your own contemplation and worship.

SPEAKER_00 29:44

Yeah, that's a wonderful thing as well. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, absolutely. For a person who is not a person of faith, because we talked a lot about that here, and you know, being contemplative and thinking about God and thinking about following Christ and in the footsteps of Saint James and what service that Saint James offered and but him being a martyr in the name of Christ. So if you're not a person of faith, what can you expect to gain from undertaking this journey?

SPEAKER_01 30:18

That's actually a really interesting question because I have met people who are uh people of faith and people who are doing it for the experience of the Camino. And I think everybody gets the same, the same out of it. Everybody comes away from the Camino with a sense of fulfillment, whether or not people are doing the Camino because they're ill or they've had cancer and they're a cancer survivor or they've lost somebody. It just seems that so many people who do the Camino are searching for something at the beginning of the Camino and they don't know what it is. And by the time they get to the end, by the time they walk into the square and face the huge cathedral, cathedral in Santiago, it's like they've found what they were looking for. It really is interesting like that. And everybody says it's your Camino, you know, your walk. And people walk and it's very healing for almost everybody. I found it so satisfying. I've done a lot of hikes before, but the Camino really is special. When you get to the end um and you're you enter the large square and you're with all the other pilgrims who have come from all the other um Camino trails and everybody is everybody's in the main square in front of the in front of the uh the cathedral, it is one of the most amazing experiences. And then they hold mass in the main cathedral four times and they read out everybody's name, and it is just one of the most magnificent feelings. Really is.

SPEAKER_00 32:03

Yeah, that's wonderful.

SPEAKER_01 32:05

And whether or not you're a person of faith or not, that really is incredible.

SPEAKER_00 32:10

Absolutely, I can imagine. What are the two, if you can narrow it down to two, what are two of the most memorable things that you can share with us about your walks along this sacred trail?

SPEAKER_01 32:23

I I struggled with this because I think every single day was fantastic. And I would just say the people I met along the way. Um I and this has never happened to me on another trail. Well, it it I meet people on other trails, but with this, the camaraderie is just insane. Everybody looks out for everybody else. Somebody might have bad blisters, somebody might help soothe their blisters or help bind their feet or whatever. Everybody is in it to help each other, and that is it's something you just need to experience. It really is great. And the second one is entering the square, seeing the cathedral, and walking into um the Cathedral de Santiago. It is just beautiful.

SPEAKER_00 33:13

So not just it's an undertaking that you're doing together and it's drawing everyone close. I love that. It's a beautiful experience that you're having with so many other people. That's that's fantastic. What do you feel are the most beautiful sights that you're gonna see along the way? What are the things that really stick out in your mind that like take your breath when you're walking?

SPEAKER_01 33:38

Okay, so I have only done the Portuguese Camino. Okay. We have the um Camino del Norte scheduled for this year.

SPEAKER_00 33:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 33:49

October. So I'm very excited about that. I think to me, it's some of the churches. Really is some of the churches would just blew my mind. Uh they were really quite because some of them are, you know, some of them are 500, you know, 800 years old. We walked into one church and it really was 800 years old, this cathedral. It was absolutely amazing. And then you've got the absolute beauty of the Portuguese uh the coastline. We walked the coastal route. And the absolute beauty is just something that I will never forget. Sitting there, we we we had a packed lunch one day, and we sat there on the cliff overlooking the sea, and we were just amazed at just how beautiful it was. I think you can find beauty on every Camino. They seem to have chosen beautiful routes for them all.

SPEAKER_00 34:43

That's fantastic. Yeah, Portugal's coast is breathtaking. Yeah. So pretty. Well, our final question that I'm gonna ask you is how did walking, the Camino del Santiago, change your life? And tell us in what way.

SPEAKER_01 34:58

I think before I started it, I had had a um Achilles problem. Um, and I'd I'd had a bit of I'd had a bit of a tumble um in and I don't uh I mean a uh figurative tumble. Well, I did I might have had a uh literal tumble as well to actually have this Achilles problem. Then I think that my Camino for was very healing. It was healing for me in a lot of ways. I had had some emotional hiccups in the previous few months, and I and I walked the Camino, and when I came off it, I had a huge sense of peace. And that that is what that really means to me, and that's what I got out of it.

SPEAKER_00 35:39

That's great too. Many of us have talked about the healing properties of travel and especially something of a sacred nature and how doing a pilgrimage can bring such healing, peace and joy to your soul if you just let it, if you just are there and you're letting the peace and the joy wash over you. Christ will bring you that if you let it happen. I appreciate that. Thank you so much. Again, it was a fabulous discussion. And uh, I just appreciate you sharing your knowledge and experience with us. Before we close, would you please tell everyone listening how they can contact you and how they can up your information on the house sitting collective and how they can find your information on walking the camino? Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 36:31

Um, in terms of hiking or walking the camino, please go to soultreder.com, which is s-o-l-t-re-a-d-e-r.com. And I also have a hacking list for the Camino, which people will find very interesting and helpful. Uh, it has everything that you need and nothing that you don't need, which is uh really important as well. And I might actually edit it to include a few things that you don't need for people to know not what to take because the kitchen sink is definitely not needed. Then if you are interested in house sitting, the house sitting collective where we teach you how to house sit, which uh is a great way to travel cheaply because you don't pay for accommodation and immersive travel. It's a way to really enjoy travel, slow travel, and immerse yourself into the culture and the town or the city where you are at.

SPEAKER_00 37:33

Yeah, absolutely. And if you haven't listened to our podcast uh that Belinda and I did about the House Sitting Collective, make sure that you tune in to a Lady World Traveled on all the streaming platforms and you can find our discussion there. Thank you so much, Belinda. We're gonna do it again because we just have a great time every time we get together. I just want to remind everybody that you can reach out and uh let me know how you like the show at Shannon at aladywelltraveled.com. That's Shannon at a ladywelltraveled.com, traveled with two L's. And you can also find me on Facebook and Instagram. And please refer us to your friends and family if anybody likes to travel and wants to learn more about all the wonderful places in the world that they can go. I think they'll enjoy the show. Remember that this is a huge, big, beautiful world that God created just for you. All you have to do is get out there and see it until we meet again. Until next time. Bye-bye.