Typical lies about the Camino de Santiago (and the reality that slaps you with a sandal)
He Camino de Santiago generates more myths than a medieval legend. Everyone knows someone who did it, someone who “almost did it” and someone who has never stepped on a yellow arrow in their life but explains it to you with insulting confidence. Today we are going to dismantle, with a lot of love and quite bad temper, the most repeated lies of the Camino and the reality that you find when it is too late to turn around.
“That's easy, if retirees and children do it”
The reality: yes, retirees do it... they walk more than you, carry less weight and at seven in the morning they already have two coffees, three planned stages and a perfectly drained blister.
And the children... because they don't carry a backpack, they don't pay for shelter and they have nuclear energy. You, on the other hand, go with a backpack that looks like you have a washing machine inside and existential doubts from kilometer five.
“On the Camino you walk calmly”
The reality: calmly the first day. The second you start to look at the clock, the slope, the profile of the stage and the faces of those who pass you as if they were walking the dog. There are days when you walk zen... and others when you negotiate with yourself not to sit on that stone because you know you won't get up.
“You will surely lose weight”
The reality: a lie at the pilgrim's menu level.
Full breakfast. Mid-morning sandwich “just in case.” Menu with first, second, dessert, bread, wine and coffee. Beer upon arrival “because I earned it.” And “light” dinner that would feed a family of five.
Yes, you walk 25 km… but you eat as if you had crossed the desert.
“The hostels are quiet and the rest is great”
The reality: JA.
Snoring that defies the laws of physics, plastic bags at five in the morning, people who wake up as if they were on an expedition to Everest and the classic pilgrim who believes that his alarm clock only vibrates (spoiler: no).
You will sleep little, badly... and yet you will get up and continue walking. Mysteries of the Camino.
“You get lost forever”
The reality: getting lost today has merit. Yellow arrows, milestones, signs, apps, clocks, other pilgrims... If you get lost it is because you were talking, looking at your phone or convinced that "this shortcut is surely shorter."
The Camino always wins. Always.
“Everyone is a good person”
The reality: most yes... but there are also curious species.
The one who occupies three bunks with his things.
The one who gets up at four “because I get up early.”
The one who explains his entire life to you without breathing.
And the one who says “I never complain” while complaining non-stop.
Even so, you will end up laughing with everyone. Or all of them.
“The Camino is all spirituality”
The reality: there are magical moments, of course. Silences, landscapes, deep conversations…
And then there are the blisters, the smell of reflex, the socks that could walk on their own and that inner voice that tells you: “but who told me to do this?”
Spiritual, yes. Realistic, much more.
“You make friends for life”
The reality: you make friends for a stage, for two days or for a beer. And that's perfect. There are dramatic goodbyes at every crossroads: eternal hugs, promises of visits and a “see you in Santiago” that sometimes comes true... and sometimes not. The Camino teaches to let go, even to people.
“When you arrive in Santiago everything falls into place”
The reality: you arrive excited, tired, proud... and thinking about a shower, food and bed. The high exists, but it is not an immediate divine illumination. The real magic usually comes days later, when you are already home and something inside you continues walking.
The great truth
The Camino is not easy, it is not comfortable and it is not what they portray it to you. But it hooks. It takes away your nonsense, puts you in your place and gives you stories that you will tell a thousand times... exaggerating them a little, like a good pilgrim.
And yes: after all, you will surely come back. Because the Camino lies... but falls in love.
