Caldas de Reis, 12th October 2023

Buen Camino,

I committed a pilgrim sin today. I traded the public albergue for a private hostel. There’s a swimming pool, and my bed has its own curtain, shelf, lamp, and socket. I feel like I’m in a palace.

The pool helped. My body needed it, but my mind needed it even more.

Walking today was rough, from beginning to end. There are millions, billions, trillions of pilgrims. And honestly, half of them aren’t even real pilgrims. Here’s the thing:

The full Portuguese Camino runs from Lisbon to Santiago. Most people shorten it and start in Porto (yours truly included). But if you want the Compostela certificate in Santiago, you only need to walk the last 100 kilometres. Which is why so many people begin in Tui (that mysterious Spanish border town). They just don’t have more time. So once you reach Spain, the crowds swell. On top of that, other Camino routes merge into the same path as we get closer to Santiago. We're all heading to the same destination. That part I knew. That part I expected.

What I didn't expect were the so-called "no-weight walkers". That's what I’ve nicknamed the organised groups of thirty or so tourists from all over the world. The US, Brazil, Spain, everywhere. They carry only tiny backpacks while their taxis haul their luggage from town to town. And they take pictures at every single corner.

The no-weight walkers, excuse my language, drive me real mad. But the ones who truly p🖤ss me off are the cyclists. They carry nothing, they ride instead of walk, they blast their music, and they whizz past without even thinking of slowing down. I mean, I get it. There are so many of us walking that if they slowed down, they’d never make it to Santiago.

Long story short, everything and everyone got on my nerves today. The no-weight walkers, the cyclists, the toilet queues, the garbage in the forest, and even the Spanish locals who cash in by turning their hallways into restaurants and charging one euro for a toilet and three for a chocolate Cornetto. Also, everyone was panicking about beds running out, and so I panicked too.

Then, I bought the overpriced Cornetto and booked myself the hostel with the pool.

It turned out that the panic was justified. The albergue really had no beds left. After 23.5 kilometres, I reached Caldas de Reis, only to find completo = full signs hanging on every albergue and hostel in town.

I booked tomorrow night as well. It will be my last stop before Santiago. I don’t need to leave here until 9 a.m., so I can sleep in, let the crowds go ahead. Hopefully, tomorrow will be a calmer day. At least I won’t have to worry about getting a bed at night.

I know I have to learn how to block out those external inconveniences. It’s a skill that will help me during auditions or before takes. As one Czech actress once told me, you have to know how to create your own inner privacy.

Today though, I just couldn’t. Because when you’re walking through a meadow on a spiritual pilgrimage and someone hands you a flyer advertising a "pilgrim meal deal" for €12.50, you don’t feel like you’re on the Camino. You feel like you’re in Times Square.

The closer I get to Santiago, the more the magic seems to fade. Perhaps, tomorrow it reappears. I mean, it’s a journey, up and down. I’ve got two days left, and I intend to enjoy them. Or use them as practice in inner privacy.

Either way, I wish you all a great day!

Kat