I’m happy and honored to feature a guest post by a German woman I met while walking the Camino Portugués. I caught up to Yvonne as we walked alongside a vineyard about halfway between Pontevedra and Caldas de Reis, and we started chatting. Not only did we walk at the same pace, but we also used similar trekking poles and hiking clothes—the uniform of a savvy peregrina.
As we got to talking at a deeper level, we were amazed by our commonalities: we’re exactly the same age and at similar stages in life; she’s been working in the same profession for about twenty years and is wondering what else life has in store for her; and we both have taken to writing about the Camino over the last year. (She authors a beautiful blog about her Camino entitled Mein Camino.) I think I found my German doppelgänger!
We exchanged contact information and parted company in Caldas de Reis. When Yvonne returned home to Germany, she wrote the following post about what the Camino provides for her. There’s even a German translation below!
What the Camino Provides for Me
By Yvonne Simon
Sitting on the Porto Cathedral steps, I reminisce about the past three weeks—feeling happiness and sadness, pride and humility. With the late afternoon sun shining on my face, I think about what the Camino has provided for me.
On May 16, I took my first steps from this very point on the road to Santiago de Compostela, feeling the mysticism of the path from the very first yellow arrow.
It is the encounters with people that make the Camino so unique. Thanks to an intensive exchange of pilgrims from around the world, one easily finds peace. All nations are united by a single goal: reaching Santiago de Compostela.
The Camino Provides 