Walking the Camino while we still can

Some journeys are planned years in advance. Others begin when opportunity appears.

The Camino de Santiago had long been on my wife Lyn’s bucket list. When a friend invited us to join a group, I did not hesitate.

“Let’s go,” I told her. “We should do it while we’re still in our 60s.”

The decision seemed simple, but the weeks before our departure were not. Episodes of high blood pressure and elevated blood sugar raised a more serious question than flights, backpacks or shoes. Would my body allow me to do this?

At our age, health cannot be taken for granted. Yet that uncertainty also deepened the meaning of the pilgrimage.

Now, writing from Madrid, I am beginning to grasp what brought us here. We have traveled thousands of kilometers from home, not for business or official commitments, but to share an experience with my wife, our friends and, in a way, God.

For centuries, pilgrims have followed the Camino to Santiago de Compostela for many reasons: faith, reflection, healing, the hope of finding themselves. I carry all of those hopes with me.

Much of my life has been shaped by responsibilities, deadlines and the constant need to be somewhere else. The Camino offers a welcome change, a slower pace, a clear direction and the company of those beside me.

We often postpone our dreams, assuming there will always be another year or opportunity. But growing older reminds us that time is not guaranteed. My recent health concerns made that truth impossible to ignore.

So when Lyn wanted to fulfill her dream, the question became less “Can we still do it?” and more “If we can, why not now?”

We do not know what lies ahead. There may be aching feet, tired legs, difficult climbs and moments of doubt. There will also be beautiful landscapes, quiet reflection, laughter and memories we will carry home.

At the beginning of this adventure, I am reminded that life’s most meaningful journeys are measured less by how quickly we reach a destination than by whom we have beside us.

I am grateful to be here with Lyn, the woman whose bucket list brought us to the Camino.