Travelogue: My 173-Mile Walk on the Camino Portugues
12 days of discovering (in hills and high water mind you) that perhaps my solo travel life is over and that a new more "people'd" part of my life is beginning.
Hello from the other side of my long walk through Portugal and Spain!
I’m writing to you from a cozy cafe in Porto, Portugal. Through the window, I can see the rain gently falling on the cobblestones outside and, for the first time in nearly two weeks, I’m warm and dry indoors rather than swimming in a poncho and soggy socks outdoors. I’ve just finished my second Camino de Santiago, this time on the very wet Portuguese Coastal Route from Porto. It took 12 days and 173 miles to complete, 70 miles of which my Dad joined me for and 6 days of which were positively rain-soaked.
It’s been about 3 days since we crossed the “finish line” in Santiago de Compostela, Spain and already the impact of the experience is beginning to sink in. I set off from Porto fresh off my two-week trip through Ireland with hardly a second to shift gears from one adventure into the next. A flight delay on the Irish side meant I had just enough time to check into my hostel in Porto, grab some dinner (and a pastel de nata for dessert of course!), and prep my bag for the Camino start bright and early the next day.
As a Camino veteran (I walked the Camino Frances in 2022), that quick turnaround for a rather involved adventure actually didn’t phase me too much. I roughly knew what to expect and what I needed to do the next day to find the trail and start walking. Two years ago, I would have been a bundle of nerves, over-preparation, and second-guessing. This time I was so relaxed I didn’t even bother to sort out my lodging night 1, and actually made the last-minute decision to let that just be the way I did this Camino - no reservations-style - full and well knowing how risky that might be with how crowded the trail has become.
While it was a beautiful evening when I arrived in Porto, that sadly didn’t carry through to the next day, or even the day after that. That’s right, the first two days of my Camino were almost entirely rain, and I won’t sugarcoat it - it sucked. BUT it was because of that rain that I met Krisdee, a flight attendant, travel agent, and fellow pilgrim from the United States.
Just as we were both leaving the plaza of the Porto Cathedral, freshly credentialed and taking our first steps on the Camino, we actually both lost the trail. We knew we just needed to get to the river and we’d be back on track, but both of our phones kept glitching in the rain and service wasn’t great in the confusing narrow lanes and tall buildings of Porto. In trying to find our way, we ended up just walking together and, to both of our surprise, never stopped walking together for the next 9 days. It was such a blessing to have a buddy on the trail, too. I honestly can’t imagine walking it without one after all that transpired in the days to come. To put it simply: it was just better together.
It was her first Camino, and as I’ve mentioned, my second. I know it helped her to have someone with her who knew the Camino apps, the general how-to’s of the trail, and some of the bigger picture perspective of the power and magic of this trail. For me, it helped to have another mind to bounce ideas off of, learn from, chat with, and split the cost of laundry loads, private rooms, and meals with. We supported each other and it made the going easier for the both of us.
As I learned on my last Camino, the people who cross your path aren’t by accident. Krisdee was yet another reminder of this. She and I are so similar in the sense that we both live a life of travel and have a level of freedom to explore that many don’t. I’m still amazed that of all the people I could have met on the trail, she and I crossed paths.
The first few hours of our walk together out of Porto were spent chatting about all of the places on the planet we’ve both made it to and swapping tips and contacts for places we were each missing. It was later in the walk that I also started to see how we’ve both also been a bit lucky in the way our lives have come together to allow for this incurable desire to travel and explore.
Walking and talking with her was a reminder and a reflection for me that the whole universe does in fact conspire for you when it’s your path to walk. It’s the desires you just can’t put down, the ones that come from the deepest recesses of your heart, that indicate what’s truly possible for you if you just lean in and trust that it’s all coming together. Both of our lives are a living testament to that. It was nice to see that reflected back at me through another.
So, as you can imagine, we quickly became good friends on the trail, so much so that the people we met along the way couldn’t believe that we’d just met and that we weren’t friends previously.
On the second day of my Camino, I was faced with the choice point that defined my whole walk. The trail was about to split in two with the Coastal Path going one way and the Central Route going another, not to rejoin for days. In retrospect, it was really the moment I chose “we” over “me,” to walk alone or to walk together.
Going into this Camino, I thought I wanted to walk the Central Route, a route I imagined might feel more like my last Camino with quaint countryside villages and gorgeous forest and farmland trails. I was gripping a memory and hoping to recreate it, with no real guarantee that I could or would, while what was really meant for me, what was already well on its way of coming together, was right in front me - walking the Coastal Path with Krisdee.
I left the decision for the literal moment that the trail split, so when I woke up that day I really didn’t know what I was going to do. I just trusted I would when the decision actually needed to be made. Sure enough, it became crystal clear just before the fork in the road. By sticking to the Coastal Route, I not only got to keep walking with Krisdee, but it meant my Dad could qualify for his Camino Credential, as the Coastal Route passes right through the town he was already booked on a bus to pass through. It meant he and I could walk together from there, a distance just over the 100km minimum required to qualify for a Compostela, the official Camino accreditation given out in Santiago.
As soon as that decision was made, I really settled into my experience and felt right at home on the Coastal Route. And guess what? I got my quaint villages, forest trails, and farmland, plus ocean and even a secret sea glass beach!
The rest of the Camino was full of the usual magic. Krisdee joined in with my no reservations experiment and we always managed to find a couple beds when we arrived each day, despite almost every town being fully booked. Once, in the pouring rain after walking a surprise extra 5km (long story), we ended up being put up in an albergue host’s aunt’s apartment, as all the albergues were booked - truly lucky! Another time, we snagged the last two beds in another fully booked town by a matter of minutes, getting the best room in probably the best albergue, with views of the ocean out of one window and the cathedral out of the other and fresh croissants delivered to our doorstep in the morning.
There were perfectly timed meetings and then re-meetings with other souls we’d met together and individually on our path, including the way John and KJ, an American duo we met on Day 1 and had lunch with before parting ways and walking different trails, re-emerged at the exact moment my Dad arrived and Krisdee started actually needing some reservations (I had pre-booked for my Dad and I for his sake). John and KJ just so happened to have had a friend drop out for the final three days of the trail and had an extra room booked in each of the remaining towns. That timing also allowed for a seamless transition from walking with Krisdee to having some quality time on the trail with just me and my Dad. It was truly perfect.
My Dad couldn’t have really known what he had signed up for when he agreed to meet me and walk the Camino for five days, but in his words: it humbled him. He’s a pretty active guy, but this was a different level of activity…and foot pain. We walked about 12.5 miles each day, often in the pouring rain and along some of the steepest terrain I’d experienced the whole Camino. I didn’t even know that was what I was asking my Dad to come over and do until there it was right in front of us.
But, he did it! All 70 miles of hilly, flooded trail from Vigo to Santiago with a heavy pack on his back. We accrued quite the collection of lifelong memories in the process. It was so fun watching him take it all in and transition from Dad joining his daughter for an adventure to Camino pilgrim having his own experience on a trail that means so much to me, and now him. He flew back home today a pilgrim in his own right, and deservedly proud of it too.
I always knew I’d walk another Camino when I finished my last one two years ago, but I never imagined I’d have my Dad by my side to walk some of it with me, or that I’d walk the whole thing with a perfectly complementary companion named Krisdee by my side either. When I set out, I thought I’d be walking mostly alone, with perhaps a few days of chatting with whoever I met along the trail. Instead, I was never alone, from start to finish and that was exactly right for me this time around.
When I really think about it, what this Camino has shown me is something I’ve been realizing for awhile now. I really have entered a new stage in my life where I no longer want to walk alone. I no longer want to go off and have my own adventures if I can help it. I prefer the shared kind now. In the past, I relished the solitude. Now, I prefer people by my side. This solo traveler is ready not to be, and if this Camino is any indication, I can trust that I don’t actually have to be. The right people just tend to appear, even if I take the first step solo.
I did post daily stories to my Instagram sharing the full Camino tale as it unfolded. I’ll be turning those stories into a Camino book, similar to what I did for my last Camino (you can find that one here). This time, I’ll also be including the details of the route I took, the towns and albergues I slept in, and some of the notable meals and attractions discovered along the way for anyone who plans to walk their own Camino Portugues someday. I’ll share that link when it’s live.
Thank you so much for reading this far. This was a long one, I know! I hope it conveyed to you at least a little bit of the magic of the Camino and how it has a way of giving you the exact experience you need at any given moment in your life. I’m so grateful for what it made so clear to me and for the new and strengthened relationships it’s left me with. Per usual, the Camino’s left its lasting mark. It’s time to travel together.
With love,
Amber
P.S. I’ve finally polished up a dedicated page on my blog for all Camino content. Check it out here, and as always, if you’re ever appreciative of my storytelling and content, you can always support me by either becoming a paid subscriber here on Substack or by clicking and purchasing through the links on my Travel Resources page. That sends a bit back my way at no additional cost to you for things like hotel bookings, travel insurance, tours, and flights.
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I feel your story. I may have lived it. After my first Camino, also solo, I was a huge proponent of walking it alone. But I too have come to the same conclusion as you, it’s about the people and the importance of social connection. I can’t wait to read to read about your next adventure. Tell your dad hello!