Final thoughts

Hola!

It's hard to even put into words the overall experience that we have had here. Everything from the sights we've seen, to the kilometers we walked, and the friendships that we have made, have been a blessing.
It's amazing how far we've come together as a group over the past three weeks abroad. The amount of things that we have learned about Spain, it's history, it's culture, and it's stories are more than I could have expected. Not only did we learn about them, but we saw, visited, participated and/or hiked them. There was a connection to the history and culture, along with a continuation of a tradition, the Camino.
The diversity of the Camino is astonishing. We met people from all over the world on our way and each person had their own story and reasons for hiking the Camino. We would run into these people repetitively along the way and although we had only had a few conversations, we would great each other as if we were old friends.
The connections made were simply incredible. Aside from people outside the group, we learned an incredible amount about each other. Before this trip I thought that I would be close with a few people, but little did I know we would become a Camino family. We walked, dined, cooked, sang, relaxed, and wondered together. It didn't take long for us to feel like we have known each other for years as opposed to the week or so we had in reality. The friendships that we have built here are ones that will last us a lifetime.
Unlike a lot of other study abroad programs, this trip holds a lot of room for self discovery and reflection. Each day is what you make it. You can walk in a group or walk alone. We pushed our bodies, minds, and spirits in ways that most of us didn't even know existed. Our day of silence in particular forced us to listen to that little voice in our heads and challenge ourselves to move through our personal struggles and discover what makes us tick. We thought of things that we wanted to let go of or change and then left it behind at Cruz de Ferro, providing ourselves with a clean slate, new understanding, better self connection, or whatever else.
Never in my life would I have thought that a seemingly simple act such as walking would change my life in so many ways, or that people who I met a month ago would have such an impact and mean so much to me. This was a truly life changing experience and one I will never forget.