When clients contact me for help with their career they often experience an explosion of energy, racing ahead and completing their career analysis and career change exercises at lightning speed. 

The following enthusiastic Brazilian client read all my career change articles (particularly:

Career Change and What to do If You're Out of Work)

before starting his program and one of those articles became part of the life mantra of he and his wife.

My Job Sabbatical Pilgrimage

There are lots of reasons for someone to do the pilgrimage called the "Way of Santiago" (I will call it - "Camino de Santiago" or just "Camino". My reason for undertaking the Camino was as a spiritual journey suggested by my wife.  

With everything in life there is a matter of timing and this was the perfect one as I had just being fired upon return from my holidays after  nearly 18 years of fully dedicated Service to the Company that was once my family.

THE CAMINO: One can easily write a book about it as there is so many experience lived there.  It is a miniature life.  It involves everything you may deal with in life:

The decision to take the time off and "justify" doing it:

PREPARATION:  Perhaps a key part of any journey and no different in the Camino.
Dealing with expectations and anxiety:  Lots of questions from reading forums and preparing for the good and the bad on the Camino.

Can we walk so much a day for so many days?

Where do we start the Camino?

THE START: Finally being on the way.
The first night and the nights at the Albergue:  An experience and a lesson in humbleness.

DOING IT: The walks:  Long, short, hot, cold, nice, beutiful, rainy, snowing , climbing, descending etc.

Taking care of  the most valuable asset you have: YOU:  Crucial so you can walk the next day.  Anything can and will happen.  You need to rest and be ready for the next day and know how to pace yourself and NOT walk the life of others.

LIMITATION: Respecting your limits as we should in life also.  Easier said than done.

The people along the way:  Perhaps the best part of the Camino.

Angels, friends, families, finding your group/team, and the others that have different agendas and while very nice also are in a difference time schedule or state of form or mind.  

All with a common goal of stopping the fast lane, changing directions or rethinking their ways or existence in life.

LESSONS LEARNED:   Too many to write in a few words.  Some include that there is a lot out there to be learned on the Camino.  We get simplify or complicate our life's as we wish.  We can get used to anything and can adapt and change. The only thing we really need is water, food, sleep and love.    

The only factor the limits the excitement of our life's is ourselves. There is a lot of good people out there if you just open up to them.  The more centered you are, the easier is to find the good in life.  We should all stop and do at least one Camino every so often.

THE END:  Never an end to the Camino as the Camino de Santiago as it is an experience to remember forever.   The Camino may end but the Camino of Life just restarted again hopefully with some lessons learned.

If you'd like to learn more about the 'Camino' then I (Ed) can recommend 'The Camino - A Journey of the Spirit' by Shirley MacLaine, Published by Pocket Books, 2000.