We Get a Feel for What it Takes to Complete the Camino De Santiago

The Camino De Santiago is an 800-kilometer, almost 500-mile walk in Spain that has been considered to be a “Pilgrimage” since pre-Christian times. In his book, The Way, My Way: A Camino Memoir, Bill Bennett wrote about his personal walking journey along the entire Camino. Bennett was an independent filmmaker who had some successful films. He made a film starring Martin Sheen about his Camino adventures, but generally the book is considered better.

Thanks to Lydia, who has friends who have walked the Camino, for presenting this book to us! One of the first questions we discussed was whether we liked the author from his book and whether we’d like to spend time with him. Joyce described the author as introspective. He had a strong opinion that pilgrims should walk the Camino if possible and shouldn’t take buses or taxis. About that, Joyce quipped, “Misery loves company!” It was interesting that the author met the couple with the beautiful wife and encountered them many times, with the wife asking him whether he had taken a taxi or bus every time they met!

We talked about Bennett’s obsession with returning the towel to Laszlo. I said he was very grateful for the towel and had used it for important needs, and that he also wanted to see Laszlo after he had finished the walk, to show that he had been successful. Self-satisfaction can certainly be enhanced by sharing a success with others who would relate to its value. Susan thought the towel represented the help Bennett received during the trip. Bennett became more helpful to others as the trip progressed and felt good about that, so the towel might have represented some of Bennett’s personal growth to him.

Another question we discussed was how Bennett became pain-free after suffering a lot of pain and blistering, and how he also found his eyesight remarkably improved. Bennett learned a lot during the trip, including how to take care of himself, navigate the dynamics of the days using his intuition (as he called it, his “GPS”) to help him make decisions, and ways to interact with other pilgrims. His final chapter was a sort of “laundry list” of important things he learned. He began that list with an entry about gratitude that included being thankful when he had clean laundry! Marcia diagnosed Bennett a little, suggesting that he might have begun the walk in a prediabetic condition, and the exercise, weight reduction and sugar reduction could have been responsible for his leg recovery as well as his improved vision.

After reading the book, the reader can find information about Bennett’s blog, which was probably an important part of his journey. It seems that it was from Bennett’s blog that he wrote the book and the movie. After reading the book, it’s impressive to imagine Bennett finding time and energy to write detailed blog posts or even just notes about so many aspects of the long days on the Camino! He had walked many miles, felt a lot of pain or marveled and wondered at its absence, and stopped at mostly busy resting places, many of them with limited comforts beyond a bed to sleep on. With everything happening as he depicted it in his book, it is rather a wonder how he recorded the details that he published in the book!