I wasn’t looking for answers when I set out on the Camino de Santiago. But over seven days and 75 miles, I found myself thinking about where I’d been, what I’d survived, the people walking beside me, and the life waiting for me when I returned home. This is a story about what we carry with us, what we leave behind, and the richness of earning your arrival.

Our first day in Porto had everything: beautiful architecture, incredible food, port wine overlooking the Douro—and a stolen backpack containing my passport. What happened next involved a suspected witch, a Portuguese police station, a sweet stranger from Hungary, and one very forgotten AirTag.

One month before our Camino trip, my mom and I returned to northern Minnesota for our longest training hike yet: 12 miles along the Mesabi Trail. What started as a test of our physical readiness became something else entirely—a walk through family history, childhood memories, old mining country, sore feet, Diet Coke, and the landscape that had always felt like home.

A reflection on preparing for the Camino de Santiago through a hike in Canada, exploring patience, repetition, and self-awareness, and how walking becomes a space for presence and quiet reflection.