It has been some time since my first Camino “The Franch Way” in 2013 starting in St. Jean Pied de Port in France to Santiago, Finistere and Muxia in Spain.

The Way was painful, but rewarding in many ways.

When I came back from these 34 days of hiking across the Spanish country, I was full of positive emotions, I was strong physically and stable mentally. I was a grounded man and I had a vision to where I should be going and how to achieve my goals. But one thing I was lacking off – discipline in systematic work. It took me too much time between completing one task and moving to another. I found many distractions in-between and focussed on them, rather than continue original work flow. Time gone by and things were not done. And I found myself trapped in a daily routine once again.

But the fire burnt inside of me and I felt pressure to move on. It’s been two years and I decided to go again. This time I chose a Portuguese Way to Santiago.

It is not like I felt the same determination as before my first walk – it was more of an automatic thinking, planning and working, and whatever journey would bring I would adjust to it. In fact, my first few days I have asked myself so many times: “What am I doing here? How this has happened that I am here again, on the road, by myself in foreign country with no plans for more than half an hour in front of me, tired, hungry and thirsty?”.  But answer was very simple – to remind myself how it is to be independent,  to once again prove that I can trust myself – in strength of my body and in my intuition; and that I will find my way out of any difficulties stumbled along the way. I just had to get out of my Comfort Zone, from my cozy flat and Camino de Santiago was one of the best ways to do it. It’s not the Way that is difficult; its difficulties that make the Way. And I am very grateful for every single one of them.