LEAD MAGAZINE | 2019
KATRINA JACKSON
STEPPING AWAY
FROM LIFE
Stepping away from LIFE…
to go on a Pilgrimage. Why would YOU...
Wikipedia says “A pilgrimage is a journey or
search of moral or spiritual significance”
My motivation to walk 799km across Spain to
Santiago de Compostela was about challenging
myself in a way that was different to my
everyday life as a daughter, sister, mother,
wife, business owner and partner.
I had stepped out of life before and like before,
I was not going on my own. This time I was with
my 26 year old, mentally exhausted Masters
graduate daughter Chantal. It was Chantal who
had planted the seed of the Frances Camino 8
years before when she had travelled as an 18
year old to work as an au pair in Spain with the
vision of becoming fluent in Spanish.
Chantal wanted to celebrate her masters
completion by returning to Spain to refresh
her Spanish and to go on an adventure far
away from any books, lecture halls and late
nights, and she had asked me to join her.
I was excited and anxious in equal amounts.
The biggest hurdle leading up to leaving was
the mental one of dealing with questions
that crowded in….. how can I possibly step
out of our business and my life for 52 days?
Who would step into my role? What would
the impact be? How could my usual everyday
role in New Zealand continue to function
without me? These in tandem with the ever
present “guilt” of wanting to escape for this
adventure, is what drove me to spend many
hours preparing additional work instructions
and working documents to be followed in my
absence.
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Outside of leaving our business, my husband
and life behind was the other small detail of
traveling halfway around the world to walk
799km when my physical fitness consisted of
short pleasure walks on the beach with the
dog and weekly walks around the supermarket
aisles. I neither looked nor felt like the athlete
that I would need to be to accomplish the
journey ahead.
Nevertheless I had my gear and my backpack
packed and I was off before I’d even had a
chance to start my training in earnest BUT
I theorised that I’d be fine, actually better
than fine as I had Hoka sneakers which are
designed for endurance athletes so I told
myself that there would be nothing more that I
could possibly need!
As it transpired, for the journey itself I
would need more….. much much more. The
challenges were many but the rewards were
undoubtedly transformational. On the Camino
living is stripped back to the basics.
Walking,
walking,
walking,
walking,
washing, eating and sleeping day after day
after day after day.
Pack light was the resounding feedback from
online forums and people we knew who had
completed the walk. My backpack contents
had weeks of careful contemplation and
prior to leaving I believed my 8kg bag had the
absolute minimal within.
It was the first lesson the Camino provided.
We don’t need as much as we think we do.
I would have sworn to you that every item
in my backpack was a necessity on day one.
By day five I’d stripped the contents down
and dropped two kilograms of weight from
my bag. Having a bag that was comfortable
and manageable totally changed my daily
experience of walking and reminded me
how little we need. We provide ourselves
an opportunity to live more fully and
freely when we carry less on our journey.
While you’re walking you have hours of time
with yourself and once you fall into the rhythm
of life on the Camino your existence changes.
Life at home slowly falls away, you become so
aware of each step, each thought and each
moment that the feeling of being so present
takes your breath away, even more than the
last hill climb.
Imagine every day not knowing where you are
going and what you will find. Your only guide
are scallop shell signs in the pavement in the
cities and big yellow arrows spray painted
on fences, roads and trees in the country
to mark your way. Our choice to not have a
guide book meant I had to release the need
for control, planning and knowing. I had to
trust the universe and the experience it would
provide for us. The lesson here was all about
expectation. Once you release expectation
of what you think you will experience,
every experience you do have feels new
and unique. There is a sense of excitement
and anticipation that is incredibly refreshing
and energising from not knowing what you can
expect around the next corner.
Every day was an adventure and we were
not alone. Staying in accommodation only
for pilgrims on their way to Santiago meant
every night we shared our day, experiences,
lessons, knowledge and supplies with others
who had the same goal. People from all walks
of life, with different motivations, beliefs,
and faiths heading in the same direction. We