Camino de Santiago

Ara and I have been looking forward to this summer for a multitude of reasons. We’ve had our sights set on summer 2026 for the last several years. One huge reason…he retires from active duty Air Force service after 20 years! The second reason is that we will all be walking the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage in Spain!

For many years now Ara and I have talked about walking the Camino. We watched the movie, The Way, about 12 years ago and it really struck us in a monumental way. (If you haven’t seen The Way, this will be your homework after reading this!) We’ve wanted to walk it but never really knew when we’d have the opportunity to dedicate such an extended amount of days to it when life seems to always be calling with obligations. Once we figured out Ara would be retiring in the summer of 2026 we started setting our sights on how he’d be able to walk the full Camino Frances route. Without the obligation of everyday work for him, this seemed like the most opportune time to dedicate the whole summer to walking in Spain. We started contemplating how we’d make it work and integrate our whole family into the journey. Before long we had developed quite the extensive Google spreadsheet to detail our journey and have been planning our pilgrimage for the last year.

We’ve been procuring our packs and supplies throughout the last year for our “Big Trip.” Ara has been rucking with his pack in the early mornings with added weight to get acclimated to wearing his pack. I’ve been doing weighted vest walks around our neighborhood and incline walks on the treadmill. We’ve also been hiking as a family once a month with our packs in preparation for the hiking.

What is the Camino de Santiago? The Camino de Santiago (the Way of St. James) is an extensive network of ancient pilgrim routes stretching across Europe and coming together at the tomb of St. James in Santiago de Compostela in northwest Spain.

How long is it? The Camino Frances route is the longest at roughly 800 km (500 miles) starting in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, France and ending in Santiago de Compostela. Nora and I will be joining Ara for the last 116 km of the hike (72 miles) starting in Sarria, Spain and we will all finish in Santiago de Compostela together. We will be hiking 8 days all together as a family before we finish at the Cathedral in Santiago de Compostela.

Where will you stay each night? Along the route there are places to stop each night, typically albergues. The albergue is similar to a hostel where there will be bunk beds, bathroom facilities and typically a restaurant or communal dining area. There are also opportunities to stay in monestaries and churches along the way. When Nora and I join Ara, we reserved private rooms for us to stay in that have a total of 3 twin beds and a private bathroom.

Since this is called a pilgrimage, are you hiking for religious reasons? I think we are hiking for a lot of different reasons! I can’t speak for Ara and his reasons but I see this as such a pivotal time in his life and the most amazing time for him to do this pilgrimage as he leaves his active duty military career and begins a new journey. I’m excited for him to start his journey solo and see where it takes him along the way. It’s very symbolic that he will start solo, just as he did with his military career and then we will join him during the journey, walk together and finish as a family. I plan to dedicate each day that I walk in honor of someone and keep their memory present as I journey that day. Nora is hiking for the gelato stops we have told her will be along the way.

What will you be hiking with? We’ve each got our own hiking pack that we will be carrying all our belongings in. We’ll have our clothing, toiletries, sandals, and snacks with us—just the bare minimum! Nora’s pack has a special spot on the outside for a special “lovie” to bring.

We are all so excited about this adventure and our “Big Trip” for the summer. I’m looking forward to all the new sights we come across and people that we meet along the way. Nora is at an age where she will be able to remember this journey and I’m excited to see how her experiences shape her for the future. Overall, I can’t wait to see how it stretches us all and makes us grow as individuals and as a family.