Ryan Gibson (students choice- Camino de Santiago trip)

After having such a pleasant time on the CNU Appalachian Trail class trip, despite all of the hardships like sickness and equipment malfunctions, I am now considering going on the Camino de Santiago. I know students who attended last summers trip and all had very good things to say about the pilgrimage to the tomb of St. James. The Camino trip is about three times as long at the A.T was, about 6 weeks I believe. This extra time provides students with a long separation from their current surroundings, which is optimal if one hopes to gain any spiritual growth while there. While two weeks on the A.T did seem like a long time looking back, it was very short compared to what many through hikers go through which which is months of pilgrimage. The Camino is also flatter then the A.T. which in some parts like the first days hike up the tall PUD mountain were killer. The lifestyle once arriving at ones destination is also much different then the A.T. allowing students to sleep indoors and eat nice cooked meals. The A.T. and camino are both very popular pilgrimages walked by people all across the world, which is one of the main similarities between them. In our class, we were meeting new hikers every day, learning about their lives back home and why they made the trip. This was one of my favorite things about the hike and I have heard the Camino is the same way. In fact, I was able to meet one of the pilgrims the Camino class met named Yop. He had come down for his birthday party and was able to talk to our class about his time on the Camino. Separating from the normal to venture out into the unknown and meet new people from different cultures is very in powering and a good reason for everyone to make a pilgrimage at least once in their lifetime.