Horizons on the Camino
“Horizons are invitational edges between what is familiar and what must be imagined.”
For me, to walk the Camino is to move constantly toward a horizon we can see, yet over which we cannot know. I find this a powerful metaphor for life, work, and career: to walk is to move—through the known and toward the unknown.
The crunch of gravel and the smell of eucalyptus captivate as the miles unfold beneath our feet…. The distance passes behind us like the wake of a ship we are captaining and as the once-unknown places beyond the horizon become known.
Wonder turns into joy. Fog lifts to reveal sunshine. Nature offers a clarity we can never find behind the wheel of a car or while sitting at a desk. Movement becomes medicine for the soul, and the land flowing beneath our feet brings a sense of clarity to the mind.
If you’re considering joining a guided walk on the Camino de Santiago,
this is what the journey often reveals…
Poet David Whyte writes:
“Horizons are invitational edges between what is familiar and what must be imagined.”
For me, to walk the Camino is to move constantly toward a horizon we can see, yet over which we cannot know. I find this a powerful metaphor for life, work, and career: to walk is to move—through the known and toward the unknown.
The crunch of gravel and the smell of eucalyptus captivate as the miles unfold beneath our feet…. The distance passes behind us like the wake of a ship we are captaining and as the once-unknown places beyond the horizon become known.
Wonder turns into joy. Fog lifts to reveal sunshine. Nature offers a clarity we can never find behind the wheel of a car or while sitting at a desk. Movement becomes medicine for the soul, and the land flowing beneath our feet brings a sense of clarity to the mind.
As we watch our fellow pilgrims walk and hear their stories later, it becomes evident that deep and often unconscious problem-solving is taking place. Change—and sometimes transformation—happens. And it’s not simply because we finally have a chance to relax and reflect. A growing body of scientific research shows that our cognition improves in nature; the hormones released by the brain as we walk boost our creativity as well as our ability to focus. The fractal beauty of forests, flowers, birdsong, and endless landscapes—across all weathers, tones, and light—creates a structure that soothes, balances, and makes sense of the world in ways that no screen or AI tool ever could.
There is also the safety and comfort of our group, the wider community, and the strangers we may see only once. Yet even with a wave, a glance, or the heartfelt greeting “Buen Camino,” they remind us that this is not just a walk.
There may be many pilgrims—solitary or otherwise—but the journey we each undertake is done in a spirit of wholeness. There is a sense of oneness with our fellow travelers now and with those who walked centuries before us. Who knows how many will come long after us.
To walk the Camino is to cross the threshold between what we know—of the world and of ourselves—and to step gently yet boldly into the possibilities our imagination holds for our lives, careers, families, and loves.
Walking the Camino illuminates imagination. It breathes life into the dreams we already carry, and into dreams still wrapped, awaiting discovery. And as they reveal themselves we carry these dreams the way we carry something precious in our backpacks: with care, protection, and an intention to bring them home—
To bring them home….
Pilgrimage is simple. Yet it offers a profound opportunity to look ahead, to see, and to walk toward the horizon—both the one before us and the one within.
These are some of the experiences we explore together on our guided journeys.
If the horizon is calling, the Camino is waiting!