Back

Finding Peace on the Camino: Sunsets, Mangoes, and New Beginnings | Day 269 of my 2023 Journal

Cecilie Conrad·Sep 27, 2023· 3 minutes

Rock, mango, sunset

The first day after walking had to be a little strange. Emotionally, I was all over the place, and practically starting over with what could be called normal felt challenging.

Yet - this is the point exactly.

Walking the Camino is like drawing a line in the sand, clearing all the chaos. When we began, I was stressed out and in need of peace. I almost did not want to walk it; I just wanted silence after eight months on the road. 



Somewhere on the way to Santiago, I realized it had passed. The stress. The confusion. The exhaustion. The present moment again was everything, and I felt ready for whatever.

A side goal of mine was to get stronger by walking so I could pick up my running habit after completing, so this is what I did on the first morning. It is all connected, as we all know, so I found the perfect spot while running. A stunning viewpoint, where we all later gathered on a rock.

The supermarket finally had the Spanish mangoes I had been craving since the beginning of summer but not seen until now, so we sat on the rock and enjoyed the immense beauty, the mangoes, the sunset, and each other.

Sometimes the moments are so happy, it is hard to stay in them, hard to understand they are real. Even hard to let all of that pass through the breath, the heartbeat - as if I am too small and the greatness of life is almost running me over.

We are enjoying the last days in this constellation, this group of pilgrims, and the goodbye moment is on the horizon. It is an amazing exercise in staying in the moment. The beauty is overwhelming, and the importance of the friendships is equally so.

The mangoes from Andalusia are ripe, dripping with luxury, and the mountaintops keep changing nuance as the sun sets; the energy is special, the rock still warm from the sun, and our abundance is as huge as our gratefulness.

Thank you, sunset, mangoes and rocks.

With love

Cecilie-Underskrift-300x133

Cecilie Conrad

Thank you for reading
I would love to hear from you. Listen to your thoughts and reflections - or praise :) It is often emotional to share our lives like this, and we get very happy when we get your feedback. So feel free to share a comment below 😋 

See more images on Facebook

Sinead O Conor died. Fjord's best friend called. When we finally went for a little walk, the rain started again. We shared the wash. Discussed shampo…Read more
Walk and talk is just as perfect together as dahl and rice or sunshine and beach. Here are some observations on England as we walked there, some thou…Read more
On Learn Nothing Day, 24th of July, I launched my podcast, which I am doing with 3 Ladies, two in this house in The Midlands and one in Tenerife. The…Read more
Four long-time unschoolers, Sarah Beale, Luna Maj Vestergaard, Carla Martinez, and Sara Beale, join forces and dive deep into the world of unschoolin…Read more
The sunshine in the garden, the writing explosion, the driving, the arrival in sisterhood, the laughter. Perfect. Just perfect. Read more
Learn Nothing Day combined with my genuine shock reaction to a new-to-me three-letter diagnosis inspired this text about leaving children be, accepti…Read more
Martin’s family introduced us to Wilderness Wood, a beautiful project close to where they live, where home-educated children take classes in woodwork…Read more
Last year just around this time, we did not make it to England. Paperwork not in order. We had another great summer adventure, and it was all good. B…Read more
Moving through the day, we had to get practical things done and place the vehicles at the station for campers, watch a documentary, and go for a walk…Read more