I walked part of the Camino de Santiago in Spain in the spring of 2017. On my second day of walking,  I intended to walk some 21 kilometers from Roncesvalles to Zubiri, so I started my day very early and was out of the hotel by 6am. I followed a path past the Cathedral of Roncesvalles for the next village called Burguette, walking briskly as I contemplated on what I read about the area. I read that somewhere in those woods that I was walking on, there used to be a witches' coven  a long, long time ago. Walking through those woods covered by an early morning fog brought goosebumps and a tiny pang of dread inside me, thanks to my lively imagination! I felt uneasy about being alone and walked briskly to catch up with a group of pilgrims ahead of me. Then I heard a question, I mean I seriously heard very clearly as if someone was asking me:  “What’s the hurry, Pilgrim?”. I stopped on my tracks, looked around, thinking somebody was near me asking that question. But there was no one near me, so the question seem to have come from inside my head, i.e. my inner voice. Since the question came out so clearly and so strongly,  I felt compelled to provide a response. For indeed, what was my hurry on such an early morning? And the only reason I can find was that little knot in my stomach made out of a silly fear.

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What was the hurry? If I made the decision to do this long walk then there would be plenty of occasions where I would be (cue, Twilight Zone music) “alone in the woods”. Because that happened to me plenty the day before too. Therefore, I needed to learn to be comfortable with the little knots of fear and not do this pilgrimage in such a frantic manner.  

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So, “What’s the hurry, Pilgrim?”, was the question I carried with me those 21 days of my Camino. It reminded me to treat the Camino differently from my checklists at the office. It reminded me to walk my own pace without comparing myself to others and in the process, actually enjoy the journey. For the Camino needed to be experienced instead of being “checked off the list.” And the Camino provided me the company I needed, like a new friend I met days later, whom I found sitting on the middle of a path one very sunny afternoon. I recognize her from the albergue I stayed at a day or two before, and we instantly connect. We, the slow walkers of the Camino, called ourselves the Turtle Sisters and had a memorable and hilarious three days of walking slowly together. 

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And that is how the Turtle found me.

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The Turtle comes back whenever I get frantic, hurried, anxious. It reminds me to take the chill pill, to still do my best in every situation, but also to find time to enjoy the scenery and let the road ahead unfold by itself without stressing myself. We've travelled other places now, this Turtle and I. Each leg of the journey taught me something different about myself and about life. Even years later, I feel that the spirit of the Camino still follows me and has allowed me a wise companion in the Turtle. It was easy to misunderstand this company at first. I saw it as a slow, awkward and a most inefficient company. But in time, I learned to remove my judgements and to appreciate the uniqueness and the wisdom in such a humble creature. It has taught me to travel light through life and to feel at home wherever I am.