Intro 1: Why and When

August 2026: During our family holiday exploring Spain, we crossed the Camino routes several times. A few years ago, I was very interested in the Camino de France and watched several videos about it, but then it slipped my mind. However, as soon as I saw the yellow scallop shell on the blue square and happened to walk a few metres along a section of the Camino, my curiosity was piqued once more.

And then another coincidence gave me a further push (thanks Javier!). I wrote an email to tell a very nice Spanish colleague that I was currently on holiday in his country, and he wrote in his reply, “
It’s really strange, but I thought about you more or less on the same day you sent the email. I was spending my holidays in a small village...
Well, this village is the first stop on ‘the Way of St James’ – I’m sure you’ve heard of it – so lots of pilgrims stop there to rest and sleep... and I thought, ‘It would be really nice to meet Dieter here’.”

Strangely enough, I never mentioned the Camino to my colleague.

And the solo adventures of one of my trainees also inspired me to give it a go myself. Thank you, Isabelle.

And if not now, then when? And especially now that I have no idea where, how or when I’ll be getting back to work, this is surely the ideal time. So what am I waiting for?

So I started looking into the options on the Camino network and wondered which Camino would be best suited to an inexperienced first-time pilgrim for a two-week trip.

It didn’t take me long to decide on the Camino Portugués, but not one of the usual routes to Santiago de Compostela; instead, I chose my own version, avoiding the crowds on the paths within 100 km of the cathedral. Neither Santiago de Compostela nor the coveted Compostela certificate are important to me; the journey itself is my destination.