Stepping Into My Next Chapter: Preparing to Walk over 100km on the Camino Portugués Coastal Route

By Dirk Ebener - July 2026

Stepping Into My Next Chapter: Preparing to Walk over 100 Kilometers on the Camino Portugués Coastal Route

For months, I have pictured the steady tap of my trekking poles along the Camino Portugués Coastal Route.

I imagine those first steps, the rhythm of walking day after day, and the realization that something I have spent years thinking about has finally become real. In September 2028, I plan to walk approximately 100 kilometers toward Santiago de Compostela.

But I am beginning to understand that my Camino will start long before I take my first step in Spain. It begins every morning I lace up my shoes, every kilometer I train, every piece of equipment I research, every article I write, every book I read, and every conversation I have with someone who has already walked the Camino. Spain will simply be where thousands of small preparations finally come together into one unforgettable journey.

This is not simply another vacation for me. I see it as a chance to step away from familiar routines and enter a new chapter of my life without knowing exactly where that chapter will lead. After decades of professional life and travel around the world, I find myself looking toward something different, something slower that challenges me physically while giving me time to think, listen, observe, and connect.

My Camino is not a religious pilgrimage, or at least that is not why I am beginning this journey. I am walking because I want to challenge myself physically, because I am curious about the experience, and because I want to discover what happens when life is reduced for a while to something as simple as getting up each morning and walking toward the next destination. I also know that my reasons may change along the way, and perhaps that is part of the Camino.

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Preparing for a Journey I Have Not Yet Walked

Right now, my Camino exists in research, maps, training walks, conversations, and decisions that are still being made. There are shoes to test, socks to compare, backpacks to carry, and countless questions about what I really need to bring with me.

I am learning about blister prevention, moisture-wicking clothing, luggage transfers, accommodations, Camino apps, and the small pieces of equipment that experienced pilgrims tell me can make a significant difference. Some of these decisions will probably change several times before September 2028, and I am comfortable with that.

The preparation itself is becoming part of the experience. Every training walk teaches me something about my physical limits, every conversation with someone who has walked the Camino gives me another perspective, and every piece of equipment I test helps me understand what works for me rather than simply accepting someone else's recommendation.

I am not preparing because I already know how to walk the Camino. I am preparing because I don't, and that curiosity is becoming one of the most interesting parts of the journey.

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Intentional Foundations: Creating Opportunities to Connect

One of the things I am looking forward to most is meeting people. The Camino brings together travelers from countries and cultures around the world, each walking for reasons that may be completely different from my own.

Some may be searching for answers, while others may be celebrating something, recovering from something, or simply looking for an adventure.

I will not know until I meet them, and that is exactly what interests me. I want to leave room for conversations that cannot be planned. I want to know where people come from, but even more importantly, I want to understand what brought them to the Camino.

As part of that experience, I plan to carry a small journal with me. When the moment feels right, I hope to invite some of the people I meet to leave a thought, a memory, a piece of wisdom, or perhaps simply a few words about what brought them to the trail.

The journal is not about collecting names but about preserving moments and stories that otherwise might disappear when we continue walking in different directions.

I am also exploring the idea of carrying a small number of simple Camino keepsakes that I can share with people along the way or leave at meaningful places during the journey. My current idea is a small silicone loop that can be clipped to a backpack or attached to a key ring, incorporating the yellow Camino shell and the words "Buen Camino."

Perhaps these small items will create conversations, or perhaps they will simply become unexpected reminders of a shared moment on the trail. I will find out when I get there.

Most of the time, I also plan to walk without headphones. I want to hear what is around me—the footsteps, conversations, villages, wind, and perhaps sometimes nothing at all. I want to be present enough to notice when a conversation begins naturally and equally comfortable when the moment calls for silence.

For me, being open to the Camino means allowing both possibilities rather than trying to plan every interaction before the journey has even begun.

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Savoring the Camino: Food, Culture, and Shared Tables

Food has always been one of the ways I understand a place. The meals I hope to experience along the Camino are not simply about what is on the plate. I am interested in the people preparing the food, the traditions behind it, and the conversations that happen when travelers sit down together after walking all day.

I have read about pilgrim menus, small local restaurants, cafés filled with walkers stopping for coffee, and evenings when people who were strangers that morning find themselves sharing a table.

I don't know yet what my own version of those evenings will look like. Perhaps I will share a meal with people I walked beside for several hours, or perhaps I will sit alone and reflect on the day. Maybe a simple conversation over dinner will become one of the stories I remember years later.

That uncertainty is part of what I am looking forward to, because some of my most memorable travel experiences have come from moments I could never have planned in advance.

The Camino Portugués also gives me an opportunity to experience the food traditions connected to Portugal and Galicia as I move toward Santiago. I want to discover the dishes that belong to the places I walk through rather than arrive with a checklist of foods I believe I need to try. Some meals may become lasting memories, while others may simply be exactly what I need after a long day of walking.

Both will be part of my Camino and part of understanding the places through which I travel.

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Finding My Own Balance Along the Trail

I currently plan to stay primarily in private accommodations, giving myself the opportunity to rest, write, and reflect at the end of each day. At the same time, I am curious about the albergue experience.

So much of what I have read about the Camino describes the relationships that develop in these shared spaces, and I may choose to spend some nights in albergues to experience that part of Camino culture for myself. I don't yet know how I will feel about it, and that is another question the journey will answer.

What I do know is that I don't want to rush through the Camino simply to say that I completed it. My current thinking is to walk approximately 10 to 15 kilometers on most days, creating a journey of roughly two weeks and giving myself time to stop, observe, talk with people, explore villages, and occasionally stay an extra night.

The goal is not to walk the Camino faster but to give myself the time and space to experience my Camino more deeply.

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Winds, Waves, and Footsteps: Imagining the Coastal Landscape

My current plan begins in the area around Vigo and follows the Camino Portugués toward Santiago de Compostela. I have studied photographs and maps of the route and imagined what those first mornings might feel like.

I picture the Atlantic influence, the Ría de Vigo, fishing communities, coastal paths, and eventually the transition toward Galicia's greener inland landscapes. Photographs and maps can only tell me so much, however, and part of what draws me to this journey is discovering the difference between researching a place and actually standing there.

I want to know what the air smells like in the morning and hear the sounds of villages as people begin their day. I want to discover the small cafés I did not find during my research and the places where I unexpectedly decide to stop.

Those ordinary moments are often what stay with me longest when I travel, and I suspect the Camino will be no different.

Walking 10 to 15 kilometers a day should give me the freedom to slow down. I am considering rest days or two-night stays at selected points along the route, allowing my body to recover while giving me additional time to experience a place beyond the few hours I might otherwise spend passing through.

There will undoubtedly be changes to the itinerary before I leave, and there may even be changes while I am walking it. For now, the route gives me direction, while the experience itself will ultimately give the journey meaning.

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The Power of Shared Stories

More than anything else, I am curious about the stories I will encounter. Every person walking the Camino arrives with a life that existed before the trail. They have families, careers, relationships, successes, disappointments, questions, and reasons for being there. Some will want to talk and others will not, and I want to respect both.

But I hope there will be moments when conversations move beyond where someone is from or how far they are walking.

Perhaps I will walk several kilometers beside someone and hear a story I never expected. Perhaps someone will tell me why this particular journey matters to them, and perhaps I will share parts of my own story as well.

I have spent much of my life traveling, but I increasingly believe that the most meaningful part of travel is not the number of places we visit. It is found in the people we meet, the food we share, the cultures we begin to understand, and the stories we bring home. The Camino seems like a place where all four may come together naturally.

I don't know yet which conversations I will remember when I return home, but I suspect some of them will stay with me much longer than the kilometers I walk. The people I meet may become part of my Camino for only a few minutes, several hours, or perhaps several days, but the stories we exchange have the potential to travel much farther than any of us.

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What I Am Learning as I Prepare

My research and conversations with experienced pilgrims are already changing how I think about preparing for the Camino. I am learning that training needs to be about more than simply accumulating kilometers. I need to understand how my body responds to consecutive days of walking, hills, changing terrain, and carrying whatever weight I ultimately decide to bring.

The goal is to prepare realistically while also recognizing that no amount of training at home can completely recreate what it will feel like to wake up and walk again after several consecutive days on the Camino.

Footwear has become one of my biggest areas of research. I am testing what works for me rather than assuming that one shoe is right for every pilgrim. Socks, blister prevention, foot care, and the reality of feet swelling after hours of walking are all becoming part of my preparation.

I am also learning to question every item that goes into my backpack by asking whether I really need it, whether I will actually use it, and whether the additional weight is worth carrying. Those questions sound simple when I am standing at home, but I suspect they will feel much more important after several consecutive days on the trail.

Language is another part of my preparation. I don't expect to become fluent in Spanish or Portuguese before I leave, but I want to learn enough to greet people, express appreciation, order food, ask basic questions, and show respect for the communities I am walking through.

I am also learning about the practical traditions of the Camino, including the pilgrim credential, collecting stamps along the route, and the requirements for receiving the Compostela in Santiago.

I am still learning, and that is exactly why I am sharing this process now rather than waiting until I return. I want Walking My Camino to document the questions as much as the answers, including the decisions that work, the ones I reconsider, and the lessons that can only come through experience.

By the time I reach Santiago, I expect some of the ideas I have today will have changed completely, and I want that evolution to be part of the story.

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Looking Toward Santiago

September 2028 still feels both distant and surprisingly close. Between now and then, there will be hundreds of training kilometers, equipment decisions, route adjustments, conversations, and probably a few mistakes.

Then, one morning, the preparation will end. I will put on my backpack, lace up my shoes, and begin walking.

I expect there will be rain, and there may be blisters and moments when I question why I decided to do this. But there will also be people I have not yet met, meals I have not yet tasted, places I have not yet seen, and stories I cannot possibly imagine today. Those unknown moments are becoming as important to me as reaching the final destination.

When I eventually reach Santiago de Compostela, I suspect the meaning of the journey will not be measured only by the distance I have walked or by a certificate I carry home. It will be found in the moments between the first step and the last, in the conversations that happen unexpectedly, the meals shared along the way, the cultures I encounter, and the stories that become part of my own.

This Camino represents a transition between one chapter of my life and whatever comes next. I don't expect the trail to provide me with all the answers, and I am not even sure I know all the questions yet.

For now, I am preparing, walking, learning, and sharing the journey as it develops. Somewhere along the way, long before I arrive in Santiago, I may discover that I have already begun walking my Camino.