Camino hiker Amy Tie took five with Great Walks to share her experiences and advice on walking a pilgrim trail.
What Camino/s have you walked and how long has it taken?
In 2017 at 21, I walked the Camino Frances solo 800km from St. Jean Pied de Port, France, across the Pyrenees into Spain and through the 7 provinces along to Santiago de Compostella. Later I travelled by bus to Finisterre (meaning, ‘the end of the world’) which mind-blowingly carried me the same distance as 4 days walk, in just over an hour. It took 43 days for me to complete my journey.
Did you have a personal reason you wanted to take on a pilgrim walks that you are willing to share?
Although some people choose to walk or cycle the camino for purely fitness reasons, there wasn’t a ‘thumb it to the summit’ kind of vibe on the trail. There are so many humble and deeply personal reasons why people choose to embark on The Way. Most commonly and likened to mine, were people seeking to process something deep within themselves, waiting for it to be fully drawn out by the journey and unravel in front of them, shooting forth an answer to take back home.
Although some reasons might have been heavy, the reality of meeting people and hearing about them was quite the opposite, walking has a way of softening the emotion. A spiritual journey didn't necessarily mean a religious one for me though, despite the Camino’s traditional Catholic grounding.
For me, feeling the wind soar through the hairs of my arm as it also moved across the grasslands or sipping from the Camino’s ever flowing wine fountain, was a spiritual experience. I wanted to create a sense of momentum and presence in my life. I guess I walked to meet the wilderness for the first time alone as a young woman. To observe the rhythms and cycles present within nature through the lens of my own.
A lot of people talk about the camaraderie of other walkers. How did you find it?
There is a saying along the way that proved to be true for everyone that I met, ‘the camino always provides’. Whether it be joining forces with an also bed-less pilgrim in search for an albergue with just two spare beds left, or suddenly finding yourself not alone at a restaurant because a pilgrim had also been sitting alone and recognised your shell, asking to join your table.
Often people from all over the world would speak to me in their own language, one that was not English and one that I did not understand. Even though we spoke beyond verbal comprehension, I learnt that a willingness to connect trumps all, and facial expressions along with body language could tell stories far beyond words anyway.
My experience of camaraderie really started back home though - an hour and half journey from my then little cottage in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne. I had arrived at a man's house, about to pick up a bundle of hiking gear for sale off Facebook Marketplace. He asked where I was going? I stood there anxious to admit my 800km dream to a stranger and also the first person that I would tell since making my decision.
He said in awe, ‘I’ve just been there, and this was part of my gear!’ He disappeared to the back of his house and returned with a first aid kit and a few other items that he thought I would need. And then and there he gifted it all to me for free, thrilled that his gear would be journeying back to Spain, for another round. I cried most of the way home. On my tough days, I thought about his walking pole, the one that I held in my hand. He gave me more than a physical gift, he gave me trust and belief in that walking pole, that it had been there once before and would not fail to show me The Way.