A Journey of Love!

Happy Valentine’s Day, pilgrims!

This year, we’ve been spreading the Camino love through our special Journey of Love promotion, and it has got us thinking about the different types of love that the Camino brings into each of our lives.

Valentine’s Day typically focuses on romantic love – and the Camino has certainly brought that to a few members of the Marly family! – but we have found many other types of love along the way as well.

Some of our favourite pilgrims are those who choose to come to the Camino with their families. It always makes us so happy to know that we are organising such a special experience; modern families often live very far apart from one another, and so for them to come to the Camino to spend quality time together is truly beautiful. The Camino is a space where they can disconnect from their daily lives and take time to share new experiences together. In fact, many pilgrims who walk the Camino with us choose to come back to repeat the experience with their family, and share the Camino magic with the ones they love the most!

The Camino is also a wonderful adventure to share with friends, both old and new. Lots of our pilgrims come to the Camino to reunite with friends from university or high school, and to use the time and space that the walk provides to catch up with friends that they might not have seen for years. However, no matter whether they set out solo or in a group, every pilgrim who walks the Camino finishes it with a close-knit group of new friends. Pilgrims have open hearts and all the time in the world to talk, qualities which mean that the friendships that form on the Camino have a unique and special character. One of the best things about the Camino is the pilgrim community that forms along the way. Everyone is walking the same way at more or less the same pace, so you will find yourself running into the same faces again and again until you finally step into the Cathedral square in Santiago, surrounded by new friends.

There are all kinds of reasons why pilgrims walk the Camino de Santiago. Some might be looking for answers at a moment of confusion in their lives, while others might be looking for a challenge: to test themselves physically or mentally. But whatever their reason for coming to the Camino, they are sure to find the last, most important kind of love. Whitney Houston put it best: “Learning to love yourself / It is the greatest love of all”. Walking the Camino de Santiago will push you out of your comfort zone, and into achieving things that you can be truly proud of. More importantly, the walk will take you out of your daily routine and allow you time to reconnect with yourself. Whatever it is that you’re looking for, the Camino has an uncanny knack of providing you with exactly what you need for your own journey of love.

Much love, and Buen Camino always,

Marly.