How I learned the meaning of the word solitude on the Camino de Santiago

It was a cold morning when I put my backpack on and took my first steps on the Camino de Santiago. I left behind the comfort of home, the constant presence of family and friends, and plunged into a 35-day journey of introspection. The path ahead was long, full of uncertainties and challenges, but also filled with promises of discovery and renewal.

In the first few days, the absence of familiar faces weighed on my shoulders as much as the backpack I carried. Every step came with a sharp sense of longing, a feeling that something was missing. I missed the daily conversations, the shared laughter, and even the trivial worries that kept me connected to those I loved. However, as the kilometers passed under my feet, I began to notice a subtle change within me.

Although I was physically far from my loved ones, I was not alone. On the contrary, I met many people along the Camino de Santiago. Pilgrims from all over the world, each with their own story, their own quest. The conversations I had with these people were always interesting and carefree, a relief from the weight of the identities and roles that often define us.

There, I was not Pedro Lacaz Amaral from Gear Tips, Deuter, or any other label everyday life gave me. I was simply Pedro, just another pilgrim on the Camino de Santiago, a soul-searching, like so many others.

The Camino, with its austere beauty and simplicity, began to reveal something profound to me. Amid the silence of the vast landscapes and the stillness of the lonely nights (even while sharing rooms in hostels), I began to hear a voice that had always been there but until then had been drowned out by the noise of daily life. It was the voice of my own wholeness.

I then recalled an ancient Greek myth told by Aristophanes in Plato’s Symposium. According to the myth, humans were originally whole beings, with four legs, four arms, and two faces, but were split in half by the gods, condemned to eternally search for their other half to feel complete. This story resonates within us, making us believe we are incomplete, that we need someone else to make us entire.

Discoveries Along the Camino de Santiago

But as I walked through the fields and forests of the Camino de Santiago, facing physical exhaustion and the uncertainties of the journey, I realized that the longing, although still present, was no longer a void that needed to be filled.

Longing became a gentle reminder, proof of the love and connections I had cultivated throughout my life. But, surprisingly, it was no longer a desperate need. I was happy, whole, just by being there, with the company of my own thoughts and the world around me.

I understood then that I was not a half searching for wholeness. I was a whole being, with all my strengths and weaknesses, capable of finding happiness and contentment on my own. The absence of others did not diminish my essence but allowed me to explore and affirm my own identity. I discovered that my happiness did not depend on being surrounded by other people but could be found in the simple joy of living, in the silent presence of nature, and in my own company.

Each day on the Camino de Santiago became a step towards this discovery. At the end of the journey, when I finally reached Santiago de Compostela, I looked back and saw that, more than having covered a physical distance, I had traveled an inner path.

The experience taught me that I am whole by myself, that the absence of others does not make me less but, on the contrary, allows me to see the fullness that already exists within me.

And so, I returned home not as someone who needs another half to be complete but as someone who, having discovered their own wholeness, chooses to share that completeness with those they love. The journey along the Camino de Santiago was not just an external pilgrimage but a profound journey within myself, where I found the truth about who I really am — a whole, happy, and complete being — and the true meaning of the word solitude.

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