For centuries, pilgrims have walked across Spain following in the footsteps of St. James, patron saint of Spain and pilgrims. Even now, they continue to arrive in the Spanish city of Santiago de Compostela after making the 500-mile trek. Some people walk the听Camino de Santiagoas a spiritual听pilgrimage;听many are hikers who walk the route to challenge themselves, while others seek a sense of self-discovery and accomplishment.
This summer, CU Boulder dance major Amy Linhoff made the walk,听arriving at the end of 30 days with a new-found clarity about what she wants from her senior year and beyond.
While Linhoff made this a solitary journey, she rarely walked alone. People of all ages and from all parts of the world have been walking the Catholic pilgrimage route since the ninth century.
鈥淚 needed a break from my life and I wanted to be with my thoughts and just walk,鈥� she said. 鈥淢y roommate did it. The more she talked about it, the more I was drawn to doing it. The structure of the walk appealed to me so I wouldn鈥檛 be just aimlessly walking through Spain. I wanted to challenge myself in a different way.鈥澨�
Linhoff, who will graduate in fall 2020, is also earning a minor in Technology, Arts and Media, a program in the ATLAS Institute at CU Boulder.
There are a number of routes for the Camino de Santiago. Linhoff took the Camino Franc茅s (the French Way), which starts听on the French side of the Pyrenees Mountains. This route has听a network of albergues (dorms and inns for pilgrims), where Linhoff stayed at night.
This isn鈥檛 the first time Linhoff has walked a spiritual path. Two years ago, she studied in Bhutan听in the听Eastern Himalayas through听a Naropa University program. Much of the work she did there was hiking to different monasteries and spiritual sites to participate in the cultural practices of the community they were living in.听听
鈥淭here鈥檚 so much intention and positive energy that lives in a landscape,鈥� she said. 鈥淵ou become a part of a community with people from all over the world setting their own intentions with a shared goal at the end.鈥�
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As she walked, Linhoff let go of the need to focus on making a plan for what comes next and took a mental break from worry and stress.听
鈥淎s a dancer, I wanted movement to be a part of my meditation,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 so simple. You鈥檙e just walking. You鈥檙e moving through the landscape, which is not something people do. We use cars; we鈥檙e barely walking on the earth.鈥�
Linhoff found camaraderie from sharing the trail with others walking for their own reasons. She met a couple in their 80s who were walking the Camino for the 10th time. And she made friends she has been in contact with since returning home.
Although Linhoff is still figuring out what she wants to do after graduation, her path forward is clearer than before.听
鈥淏efore I left, I felt unclear about what I wanted to continue doing at CU,鈥� she said. 鈥淎long the walk, I had the realization that my life had been so serious. I was bogged down by the idea that I have to do something great, but I didn鈥檛 know what that was. Now, I鈥檓 actually OK with not having a structured plan yet. It will come. I know that I want to be fully present in my life, finish my degree and see what comes next. Time is short. I don鈥檛 want to spend it doing things that don鈥檛 serve me in a profound way.鈥濃��
On that last June day of her walk, Linhoff sat on the steps of the cathedral with a new friend听from Verona, Italy, she听met on the walk, and spent time reflecting on their accomplishment.
鈥淲e just sat there,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 felt every muscle in my body relax. I had no thoughts. After 30 days of the routine of walking, and then knowing I didn鈥檛 have to walk the next day was wild.鈥�
