Camino stories: Finding connection along the Way

Sarah Burke on facing challenges and finding love on the Camino de Santiago

Feb 02, 2025

Camino de Santiago, Louise Stevenson, May 2022,

The Camino always gives you what you need, but not necessarily what you want.

Welcome to Camino Stories, our new four-part series exploring the Camino de Santiago from different perspectives. Every fortnight we’ll meet up with a different guest to explore their journey along the Camino de Santiago and what they learnt from their experience. Some will be from pilgrims we met along the way, others who I have since met virtually here on Substack - there is something about the Camino that brings people together as a community, whether they walked together or not.

Mark and I walked our first Camino de Santiago back in May/June 2022 with two of our teenage children - since then we have met many people from all over the world who have taken all or a part of the journey. Each one has a different tale to tell, and today we’re starting with

Sarah Burke

, an Irish-American who emigrated to the UK and spends her time working as a Medium, going on big hikes, and writing about grief, spirituality, and community here on Substack.

Over to Sarah. 👣

Camino de Santiago, courtesy of Sarah Burke

Thank you for being here Sarah! First of all, what inspired you to walk the Camino de Santiago, which route did you take and how did you decide on your route?

In an entirely stereotypical Eat, Pray, Love kind of way, I was a woman seeking to find herself. I was newly divorced, had sold my home, and shut down my business to take some much-needed recovery time. In the endless hours of googling yoga and meditation retreats that I fell into in those dark, lonely months, one thing stood out to me the moment I saw it: the Camino de Santiago. The day after I first read about the Camino, I found out that a friend from university who was, either coincidentally or through divine intervention, back in Nashville that week, actually lived in Santiago. The day after that, I got coffee with another friend, and after mentioning it to her, she laughed and said, “Sarah, how have we not talked about this!? I walked the Camino a few years ago, and it completely changed my life.” Sign number two. I took the hint from the Universe, booked a flight, and so began my journey on the Camino Frances.

What was the most unexpected challenge you faced along the way, and how did you overcome it?

I unexpectedly got really sick on the Camino. We’re talking a 104 degree fever where I could barely walk to the bathroom, let alone walk 20km to the next stop on my list. There wasn’t much to be done to overcome it other than resting and getting a private room for a few days to keep my illness from my fellow pilgrims, but it does lead to a big piece of advice - plan extra days into your trip as a cushion just in case! Worst case scenario, you have a few extra days to explore some cities that you’re into, best case, it could be the difference between finishing your Camino or not if something goes wrong.

Was there a specific moment on the Camino that changed your perspective or left a lasting impression on you?

There were many life-changing moments on my Camino journey, but I’ll say this: the Camino is a deeply spiritual place if you want to connect to that energy. There is a point on the French Way that my fellow pilgrims and I nicknamed “Guilt Rock”. It’s the highest point on the Camino and, traditionally, people bring a rock from home, carry it to this place, and leave it behind as a symbol of the burdens and sins they carry in life being left behind on the Camino. Sitting in meditation with my partner under a tree at this location on a sunny Sunday morning as a church group sang hymns nearby, we had a really powerful moment connecting with his grandmother who passed away a few years ago. It was completely unexpected and not a moment I’ll soon forget.

What was the most surprising or memorable encounter you had with another pilgrim or local during your journey?

Well this is a funny one to answer because I actually met my partner walking the Camino. That was both surprising (because a serious relationship was honestly the last thing I was looking for at that point) and impossible to forget because we’ve lived together ever since! The short version of the story is that he was only planning to walk the first two weeks of the route with a friend, but we met at an albergue two nights before his flight home and had an immediate connection. After two days of walking and talking, we parted ways, only for him to text me a few hours later and ask what I thought about him staying and walking the rest of the way to Santiago together. He skipped his flight and, two years and another Camino later, we’re both so grateful he did!

What advice would you give to someone considering walking the Camino for the first time?

The biggest thing to remember is that nobody’s Camino is going to look like yours. In the first few days of the walk, I found myself trying to go at other people’s paces or make plans around what others were doing. You’ll make some amazing friends and meet wonderful people on the Camino, but it is so important to remember that you are there for yourself first and foremost. Something we would all say to each other as we walked was that the Camino always gives you what you need, but not necessarily what you want. This is a beautiful thing. I really recommend getting clear on the “why” of your journey and not doing anything that takes you away from that when you are on the path. Don’t rush or compromise what you want and need from this journey in order to fit with what the group is doing - you’ll be amazed at the magic that can happen when you listen to your own intuition!