Is there a right or wrong way to do the Camino? Spoiler alert: no, everyone does their thing. There is a lot of talk about this, and social media really likes to push extremes. If you go to the Camino pages on any platform, you will see what I am talking about. Pilgrims who walk from St. Jean or further beyond think they are better than folks who start in Sarria, stay in luxury hotels, eat gourmet meals, and have a luggage delivery service. This is obviously not true, but having said that, there is a difference between a pilgrim and a tourist, and that is ok.

Like everything else in life, you are going to get out of the Camino as much as you put into it.

It boils down to how willing you are to have your life changed; how open you are to being changed, and how much you are willing to do to have that experience. I remember the first time I stepped into an albergue and realized I had to share room -and bathroom- with complete strangers, something I had not done since college, a few decades before. That was a first eye opening and humanizing experience, never mind walking for over thirty days with a pack on my back.

The problem arrives when you are on a pilgrimage trail, but you have chosen not to be a pilgrim, or you are not willing to put in the effort to be a pilgrim, or you do not know the difference (I once saw a young lady walking in her bikini carrying only a water bottle, good for her!). There is no such thing as a perfect pilgrim, maybe if the only thing you are carrying is a chunk of old bread and a Bible, according to The Way of a Pilgrim, a 19th-century Russian mystical text (reference Richard Rohr’s Daily Meditation: The Way of a Pilgrim).

Before you start the Camino, ask yourself what your purpose is in walking to Santiago. Do you just want to check off this item on your bucket list, but have no desire for a spiritual journey? That is fine but be aware that you will walk with people who might have a deep spiritual purpose on the Camino. Likewise, pilgrims need to be aware that not everybody on the Camino is there on an inner journey but might just be there for the fun experience, the food, and the thread count on their bedsheets.

The whole purpose of a pilgrimage is letting go of the ego, a lot of that happens through letting go of other stuff… all your clothes -you only need a few, your privacy, a nice bed. It is easy for your ego to think that you are the best pilgrim, or that the only good pilgrims are the ones who stay in your Albergue. For more on this read about the Cosmic Egg here.

At the end of the day, it is all about tolerance. Yes, there is a difference between a pilgrim and a tourist, it is a mindset and attitude issue, but that is all right, we can all share the path.

Here is an interesting chart I found on Researchgate: Tourism – pilgrimage continuum based on spirituality and authenticity by Ivo Jirásek