I started with the idea of walking alone. I needed silence and I didn’t want to adjust the pace to anyone. On the first day I greeted everyone, but I avoided stopping too much. In the evening, in the common space, I recognized the same faces met on the path. Without organizing it, we shared dinner, patches and impressions on the stage.
The backpack weighed less than eight kilos, but after hours it seemed much more. I had tried shoes and equipment, but not the daily succession of the stages. I learned early to prepare all evening, to leave calmly and listen to the first signs of the feet instead of waiting for the pain.
The group that was not a group
In the following days I walked with Ana, Roberto and Sam. We had not established rules or booked together. We found ourselves at a fountain, we lost after a climb and we looked back at the accommodation. This freedom prevented the company from becoming an obligation.
Everyone brought something: Ana remembered the breaks, Roberto always had more fruit, Sam knew when they didn’t need words. I was checking the traces in the less clear wires. The group formed around the needs of the path, not the personal similarities.
The blisters and the shorter stage
On the fifth day, a bladder forced me to slow down. The temptation was to ignore her not to lose others. I stopped, cured my foot and decided a shorter stop. I wrote to the group saying we’d probably live back later. Ana responded that she would walk with me to the next country.
I didn’t ask for that gesture, and that’s why he hit me. We took hours for a few miles, talking about life out of the way. The others reached us in the evening. No one had lost anything: the reduced distance had opened time to meet us.
Rain and routine
In Galicia the rain accompanied several mornings. I protected the contents of the backpack with separate pockets, kept a light jacket and changed the socks as soon as possible. The routine was simple: walking, eating, drying, sleeping. This repetition freed the mind.
In the dorms we respected spaces and silence, preparing us without lighting strong lights. Small gestures of attention made the closeness between tired strangers bearable. The path taught community even when no one named it.
Getting together without having to
We arrived on the same day, but not in the same way. Everyone has crossed the last kilometers with their own pace. We waited until the end. I had left alone and I had remained in the most important sense: responsible for my choices. Friends found along the road had not filled a void; they had made the path wider.