It’s All About the Journey (Not the Destination)
How often have we heard this and wondered what was meant in relation to the Camino? Some pilgrims boast about the number of days they took to complete their Camino, the fewer the better!
This could be due to limited leave and the desire to complete the whole Camino and arrive in Santiago de Compostela in the available time. Other pilgrims with more time are preoccupied with the least number of days taken to complete the journey.
A Camino memoir, ‘Camino de Santiago In 20 Days, My Way on the Way of St James,: St Jean Pied de Port to Santiago de
Compostela ’ by Randall St Germain, (2011), 946 ST, (Christchurch City Libraries, [3 copies], is a case in point. His raison d’etre being to get the job done!
Let’s unpack, ‘Its all about the journey.’
What is meant when this statement is uttered? Experience, and observation informs me that the arrival in Santiago de Compostela can be something of a let down. The city is crowded, pilgrims being a minority amongst the throngs of tourists. As the cathedral draws closer the commercialism increases. The few pop up stalls on the city’s outskirts are replaced by dozens of shops selling all sorts of bric-a-brac. The sight of the ‘Noddy train’ wending its way to a halt in front of the cathedral is almost the final straw! Gone are the quiet oak woods and the oasis of calm as one leans over the side of a medieval bridge to gaze at the reflections below.
The endless skies and trails of the meseta with the time and space to tend to the inner journey, is remembered fondly. Arrival is almost an anticlimax. A hankering for the journey past begins! Perhaps next time the opportunity to linger a little longer will prevail.
Ultreia Suseia
Philip
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