Joey and I just completed the Camino de Santiago via The French Way, from Ponferrada. That’s about 200 km officially… and then probably another 40 to 50 or so on and around the trail. I’ll happily invoke the cliché here: it was a once-in-a-lifetime adventure… and if you possibly can, considering walking it.. for many reasons, some of which you won’t understand until you’re somewhere out there, exhausted, hungry, and maybe even in pain. There’s a reason so many people walk to Santiago de Compostela more than once. And – truth be told – at almost every step along the path, I found myself wondering how or why anyone would do this again. Now… a few weeks after… I get it. I want to go back.

I’ve been asked a hundred times about the Camino over the last two weeks. To describe it. To comment on any insights or inspirations gained, spiritual or otherwise. To my surprise… because I’m not one to hang back… this question makes me pause, stop dead in my tracks. I just don’t know if I can do it justice. I’m unsure if those insights and inspirations can be fully explained in any kind of meaningful manner at this point. I think I need some time and space.

There were beautiful moments. There were unforgettable people with indescribable personal stories, often of struggle and triumph. There was the silence. There was the pain. And then there was the walking. The hills and valleys. The struggle. The joy. It was life. It was, very simply put, life.

I don’t know that I will ever be fully capable of describing the Camino in a way that would do the experience justice, though I suspect all that will trickle out eventually, but in smaller fragments. Perhaps I’ll someday be able to put it all together in a way that is complete. I suspect my son will do just that and in short order.

In the meantime, here are some additional images to at least give you a visual sense of what we experienced: click here.