On Strong Women

Day Twenty Three - (Camino del San Salvador Completo, Camino Primitivo Completo)

Camino Finisterre/Muxia, Day Two Negreira to Lago

“I marvelled at friendship. At how strengthening and sustaining it could be. At the strength of the women I had walked with, and the women who had supported me throughout my life. At friendship and the resilience of middle-aged women. Women who kept going when those around them buckled; who bandaged the broken, made them dinner and got them back on their feet. Unfettered women, who no longer cared how the world regarded them, powerful and free.”

Carolyn Gillespie

Pilgrim: Finding a New Way On The Camino de Santiago

Jude Carroll walked with me (truth told, I ran like crazy to keep up with her) into Burgos last year. In Paladin this year, I met the adventurous Manon, and we walked (and laughed) our way to Lugo. finished her Portuguese Camino on the 20th, and we met again in Santiago the 21st, almost a year after we first met on the Camino Frances in 2022. On Thursday, I had the privilege of sharing lunch with these three women outside the Pilgrim Office in Santiago. As I looked around the table at these strong, confident ladies, I thought of all the others I have met and walked with during my past Caminos. Spanish, German, Swiss, French, Canadian - the nationality list goes on and on. I feel privileged to walk with these women, and I hope one day my own daughters will make a similar journey.

It is no small thing to walk across a country as a solo woman - but I would encourage you to not let fear of walking alone hold you back. The Camino is a place where camaraderie happens naturally. It is a place where women recognize the commitment other women have made to leave their lives behind and walk. It is a place where we applaude each other for every ascent, every descent, every kilometer. It is a place where we begin to understand how truly strong we are, both individually and as a collective force.