July 4, 2026

I woke up this morning refreshed. I slept from 9:30pm-6am without my alarm. I took some time to journal at sunrise then had a slow breakfast.

I knew today I wanted to go slower, or have shorter days, so I can prioritize writing with energy. I mentally decided I would walk around 20km today.

As I floated my way down the camino, I didn’t see anyone. My body felt strong, no pain in my feet, and a breezy wind behind me.

I was between stages and everyone was in front or behind me. I know a lot of people reserved an albergue at 30km but I was happy not to follow (plus I already stayed there on my first camino). I wanted authenticity and soul.

As I walked alone, the temperature started to rise faster than yesterday, so I changed into my shorts in the bushes.

Then I took out my notes app and started speaking:

It feels like I lived a whole week in a day yesterday. I felt my emotions were swirling and I was fighting myself. I had such a perfect day of walking, the temperature, the people…but then I stopped. And I felt like my mind was trying to analyze and find meaning instead of just being. I started getting frustrated that I had to write. That I had to blog. That I had to document. I was trying to document the narrative and analyze the narrative instead of embodying it. I think the lack of sleep the last three days also made me fight with myself and what I really needed was just rest. So I gave myself permission to stop and not write and release that expectation that it had to be written and posted the same day. Release that it had to be a diary and a recollection of the day and instead I felt I wanted to shift – to document the internal landscape and the emotions that I’m feeling in a day.

So that’s what I’m going to be doing. That’s what my creative process is asking me to do: instead of documenting the external, document the internal.

***

And if you remember, that’s what I said in my post: to go inward so that I can expand outward.

I feel that instead, maybe it’s a documentation of self rather than a documentation of physical landscape and people and connections. It’s cultivating that spacious sanctuary within and it’s funny because where I’m walking to later is a meditation place that is called l’especio interior, or “the interior space”. Signs and synchronicity.

I too, an alchemist of words, inspired by the Mesetas.

***

Yesterday, Hungarian man recited one poem and made connections between the tarot deck and the parts of the soul. He concluded with “the body, the heart, the mind, and the spirit are all united in the soul. What makes a soul a soul is our attention. And where we guide it and where it’s drawn to.”

And that’s our expression. That’s the expression of our lives; it’s where we put our attention and right as I am saying this, there is a sweet yellow winged bird just flying across my Camino.

***

I stopped at ruins that have been converted to an albergue called San Anton. I sat beneath the ruins and took out my journal and started to express everything I had just learned through my stream of consciousness – gardening the internal landscape while walking.

This is exactly what I want from this camino; to cultivate this creative process. How insane to have these insights after 1 day.

I really like this way of documenting where I am walking and doing voice to text and just recording my very present thoughts. Free flow when inspiration strikes.

This Camino is a collection of treasures of the soul that illustrate my inner landscape and bring me closer to sanctuary – a spacious sanctuary of expansion.

What I felt last night was exactly what I needed to feel. That discomfort, that feeling of being lost, not doing enough, not planning enough, not being enough…I slept, let it go, rested, ate a very slow breakfast, was one of the last to leave and reminded my nervous system that I am safe, and that I can slow down, and that there is always a bed. That I will always arrive where I need to arrive and there is no rush. There is no urgency. And when you surrender deeply, that’s how the magic gets in. When it gets busy – I just need to stop and do less.

***

After journaling, I ran into the Belgian that was camping at my last albergue. He was having camp coffee on his sleeping mat and asked me to join him. This was so soulfully camino. Not rushing.

We split and knew we would see each other again – he is also walking to Leon and San Salvador.

This reminded me that when I slow down, the people that i need to meet will find me.

***

I arrived in Castrojeriz – a jewel of the Meseta. It feels like a middle eastern magical village full of wisdom. Its screams The Alchemist.

I had lunch with Belgian camper and then went to visit Espacio Interior.

A few things changed since I was there last. But what caught my eye was the quote on the window. It says so much in so few words.

I wandered around trying to preserve the magic. When I think of sanctuary – this is it.

I picked up a small stone and then disappeared into the village, the smell of fig tree leaves in the air.

A few minutes later, I realized I forgot my poles and walked back to get them. I know this is symbolic. It made me deepen my presence. I noticed more. And found a place I’ve been looking for since the first Camino – another sanctuary full of magic and beauty. So much to notice and admire.

Last time I was in Castrojeritz, I was chasing a man and I didn’t notice so much of the beauty. It felt very external chasing, and this time it’s become a lot more internal and I’m very grateful to have these spaces that inspire my writing. I have peace knowing that I got what I needed from here. Profound gratitude. My intuition gave me permission to move on.

Ready to keep walking, though it was still early and hot. I felt protected and ready to do 10 more kilometers, which was my original intention and I trusted there would be a bed.

I walked alone for the rest of the afternoon, only seeing 3 pilgrims. The heat was rising. I had my sun hoodie on and admired the natural landscapes. I had many insights on how I want to structure my book.

• emphasis on non-traditional journeys
• organized by body, mind, heart, spirit, mirroring landscape of Camino (life cycle)
• Prologue of my tulip (edit: sunflower) poem

I savoured these sparks of inspiration.

***

Finally I arrived in the donativo. A donativo albergue is by donation and usually run by the church. This one was Italian, and inside the stone walls were bunkbeds. The temperature was cool and immediately soothed me.

I felt good energy here. The people comforted me. I got settled; took a shower, hand washed my clothes and took a nap. I had so much time that I did some reading and worked on writing.

In the evening, we participated in a traditional pilgrim foot washing ritual that felt very sacred. We all helped to prepare pasta for dinner, ate around the table and listened to the history of the albergue. I was appointed the one responsible to translate from Spanish to English, which made me laugh. Because I don’t believe my Spanish is that level at – especially for historical details and dates, but I tried my best. There were also French and Italian speakers here so I got to exercise all my languages!

We washed the dishes and then I watched the sun go down. I felt at ease.

Since the building had no electricity, we fell asleep with candle light.

xoxo surrenderness 🌻