And Here We Go…

Directionality is a crucial part of walking the Camino. It is very easy to get off course and wind up having to back track or worse yet walking an additional three miles, which trust me no pilgrim wants to do, EVER! To avoid taking a wrong turn, we look for signs, literally. A yellow arrow, a blue plastic plaque with the Camino symbol (the shell) and an arrow, or a concrete post with arrows and mileage left to get to Santiago. Here are some that we’ve seen.

In addition to these signs, there are apps to help navigate you and are actually very reliable and handy. The one we use is Camino Ninja. This app was especially helpful between Lisbon and Porto because the way was not well marked with the signs I have included above. Between the apps and the physical signs, we’ve been able to navigate our way through this journey with very little hiccups.

However, in our every day life, we don’t have yellow, spray-painted arrows telling us which path to take. There are paths in our life that come with curves,

with lots of shaded areas,

or with stoned surfaces where we can fall.

We don’t know when these challenging paths are coming or how difficult they may be. We may not know what we are capable of enduring, both physically and emotionally. One thing is for sure, staying present in the moment is crucial to figuring out how to approach the challenges that come our way. Vigilance is key to our ability to get through it all.

Would it be better to have the signs in real life too? For me, I don’t believe it would be. We learn so much about ourselves, about our surroundings and about life in general when we don’t know which way to go. Figuring it out makes us stronger. And if we make a mistake along the way, we learn a great lesson that will stay with us forever. So, right, straight or left? Whatever you choose, it will be the right decision for that moment. You got this!