Hiking the Camino de Santiago in Northern Spain was an eye-opening, life-changing experience I’ll never forget.

If you’re considering embarking on a journey of your own, here’s how to best prepare and what you can expect along the way.

For those of you who are just learning about the Camino de Santiago for the first time, I wanted to provide some background and historical context.

Madrid was such an unexpected treat.

Initially, my plan to visit Spain’s famous capital was born out of the desire to squeeze more content opportunities out of a brief international trip. Like a squirrel hoarding nuts, I worried that my next chance to travel internationally wouldn’t be for many months, and I wanted to stockpile a sizable collection of content to get me through the dry spell.

Did you ever try to maximize a short stay in a country by throwing in a bunch of day trips only to find them disappointing? Or that it took way longer than you anticipated to travel to them?

Now imagine the exact opposite experience. A day trip that exceeds your expectations. One that isn’t a huge, complicated mess to get to.

Barcelona was not what I was expecting. Honestly, it wasn’t even close.

That’s not to say I didn’t like it, in fact, I actually believe it has a lot to offer. But in terms of overall atmosphere and pace, I couldn’t have been more off the mark.

My first clue that something was amiss arrived during the airport transfer to Madrid.