“My Camino”
Two years ago, I set out alone on my pilgrimage along the Camino de Santiago.
I remember very clearly the moment that desire first appeared. At first, it was only a thought – when I first heard about the route, I remember thinking, “It would be wonderful to walk it one day.” Over time, that thought returned more and more often, until it finally became a decision. I also quickly felt that this was a journey I needed to take alone, in my own company.
Facebook recently brought back the memory of the first stamp in my pilgrim’s passport. That small mark was the beginning of something far greater.
Looking back on that time fills me with deep emotion. It was one of the most beautiful weeks of my conscious adult life.
That journey is still alive within me, as if it happened only yesterday.
On the very first day, I received a lesson.
I became distracted by the cows grazing beside the trail and missed one of the signs. I wandered quite a long way off the route.
Before I realised that something was not right, I had reached an area with several houses. In the garden of one of them stood a woman. She did not understand English, but somehow we managed to communicate, and she showed me that I needed to turn back.
As I returned to the trail, I thought about how often we miss the signs in life.
In our rush, in moments of distraction, and while moving through life on autopilot, we pass them by without even noticing.
On the second day, I received a very clear lesson.
A lesson in trust.
Twice, I reached the place where the trail began, and twice I turned back because I was unsure whether I was going the right way. I kept looking for someone who could confirm the path for me.
Then I met an older man. Once again, he did not speak English, and I did not speak Spanish.
And yet, somehow, we understood each other.
He told me I was heading in the right direction. We walked together for a while, communicating in our own way.
He led me back to exactly the same place I had already turned away from twice before.
A few minutes later, I knew with complete certainty that this was about trust. About trusting myself.
Every day brought me another lesson, another sign. About who I was.
For four days, I did not meet anyone at all.
Then, on the fourth morning, just before setting out, I came across a “pilgrim’s dining room.” I had been certain I would have to walk with nothing but a protein bar, because everything in those tiny villages was still closed so early in the morning. I ate there happily, and then a thought came to me that I still remember very clearly today.
All along, I had been carrying the thought that I needed to go alone.
Maybe that was why I was not meeting anyone.
In the silence, I said:
“God… what I meant was that I needed to leave home on my own.”
Not that I had to walk the entire trail alone.
Later that same day, in the afternoon, I met a family as I was leaving the trail.
Today, beyond the lessons I carried away from that journey two years ago, I can see that the pilgrimage showed me something deeply important: that I am an individual, whole and enough exactly as I am. I understood that I am complete within myself.
I do not need anyone else in order to be happy.
On that journey, I was truly alone with myself each day – caring for myself and moving at my own pace.
And I do not mean taking this to an extreme. It is beautiful to be surrounded by people who love you.
What I came to understand was that I could be kind and patient with myself. That I could care for myself and not feel an emptiness, as though something were missing.
I spent five days in a foreign country, in mountains I had never experienced before – not even in Poland – without speaking the language.
I had assumed I would manage in English, but once I reached the mountain villages, that was no longer so obvious. Most of the time, I had to try communicating in Spanish with the help of a dictionary.
And yet, not for a single moment did I feel lost, lonely, or incomplete without another person beside me. Quite the opposite – I was more than enough for myself.
From the very beginning, I knew I was being guided.
As I write this, I notice something else: how much I lack that trust in everyday life. Control quietly takes its place.
And yet I know I am capable of trusting completely – just as I did there in the mountains, one day after another.
So today, Simply Me reminds me:
Trust the guidance.
And trust yourself.
Return to the Camino whenever doubt or the need for control takes over. That is where you will find yourself – and your trust.
Today’s affirmation:
“I am learning to trust myself the way I trusted myself on the Camino.”
9 March 2026
Simply Me