Exhausted from a broken marriage and a life spent tending family and students, a woman sets out on pilgrimage with a resolution to no longer carry the deadweight of others. After sufficient respite, she rediscovers a joy for caregiving and for receiving care herself.

A reflection that considers the four loads a pilgrim carries: physical, mental, spiritual, and physiological.

A pilgrim cuts unnecessary weight from his pack; banishes extra noise to enjoy silence; and consciously chooses to avoid social media, games, and news on his phone. This space he created on Camino provided a fruitfulness that shaped the lessons he would take back into his life after returning home.

A pilgrim reflects on what the Camino provides—many gifts, but most important for her, time to sort through what needed sorting, reconnect with herself, and ask hard questions and find answers that have guided her life ever since.

Having stood witness to his Camino family united by individual losses, a pilgrim who has returned home faces his own deep personal loss. And in that darkest moment, a pilgrim friend’s gesture from across the Atlantic Ocean brings him light.