September 2026: Three days after I’d decided to walk the Camino for two weeks for the first time in my life, I sprained my right foot and found myself lying on the ground. It wasn’t just my body, with its aching foot, that was down for the count – it was, above all, my plan to walk the Camino Portugués.

But I didn’t give up! With the help of my wife and AI, I looked after my feet as best I could, applied ointment dressings, got myself a bandage and went to physiotherapy.

I received some really helpful advice from the AI; as a patient with standard statutory health insurance, I would have had to wait several weeks for an available appointment with an orthopaedic surgeon in Germany anyway.

Speaking of AI, Chaisen Hale also gave me a boost with his song ‘Go Ahead Life’: NOW MORE THAN EVER!

After two weeks I started taking very short walks; after three weeks I was taking longer walks and began to test out some of my newly purchased Camino gear (rucksack, shoes, etc.). On a short 6-kilometer hike, I ended up on a Camino again, completely by chance. This time, it was the Carinthian Camino. It was now clear to me that the Camino was calling me.

And once I’d successfully walked 12 km, aided by walking sticks and kinesiology tape, without any pain or problems, I decided to book my flight!

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.