The Way My Way

Memories of Walking The Camino de Santiago

A few days ago, I went to the movies. This is something I rarely do, and unusually, I went in the afternoon at 1.30. The movie that I was desperate to see was Australian movie, The Way My Way. I would have gone at whatever time it was on.

The Way My Way

In all the advertising, The Way My Way has been described as the most authentic movie ever made about the famed Camino de Santiago, also known as The Way. How could I resist? The movie is based on the book of the same name that was written by Bill Bennett, about his experiences of walking the Camino. I remembered, when reading the book, being surprised that he was able to make it to the end, with very little training and a knee injury.

The movie was sad, funny and inspiring. It brought up all my memories of walking the French Way of the Camino in 2014. I recognised albergues where I had spent the night, cafes where I had taken much needed breaks, and landmarks that I’d seen.

Very briefly, Bill Bennett, age 67, made a last minute decision to go to Spain and walk the Camino de Santiago. He wasn’t a walker, he wasn’t fit and he injured his knee just before he headed to Spain. He described his walk as a “pain management pilgrimage”.
The story is about Bill Bennett’s walk and his search for meaning, just one step at a time. It is at times laugh out loud funny and at times very emotional.

I found walking the Camino de Santiago to be a very profound experience, as there is a huge amount of time for contemplation and introspection. It took me 35 days to walk from St. Jean Pied de Port to Santiago de Compostella, the official ending of the Camino. I then pushed on for a few more days to Finisterre, on the coast. I was walking alone most of the time, and constantly going over my life, the people in my life, and the things that had happened in my life, some good and some bad.

As I walked I made plans for when I came home and the changes I needed to make. These plans came about from thinking deeply, day after day. Unfortunately, when I arrived home life got in the way, and I very quickly forgot about everything I had been thinking about.

My father passed away when I was almost finished, with only two days to go. When I arrived home everything seemed to go awry. Firstly, my luggage was lost and I had to go home with out it. It was delivered a couple of days later, so I didn’t lose anything, but it did stress me out. I was home just in time to go to Dad’s funeral. At the time, I owned a cafe, and went back to work to find a few problems that needed to be dealt with.

With all that happening, thoughts of the Camino went out of my mind, and I really haven’t focused on them very much since. This movie gave me that chance, and it felt quite overwhelming, but also made me remember what a special experience the Camino was for me.

June is the anniversary month of my Camino, this year being the 9th anniversary. I started walking on the first day of June, so when I was sitting in the movie theatre, on that day in 2014, I would have been up to day 6. Each year in June my head always seems to be on another planet, as I day dream about walking The Way, the best and most profound thing I have ever done.

Other than reliving my memories, I absolutely loved the movie. It made me yearn to go back and walk a second camino. If I was to walk a second pilgrimage, mine would also be a “pain management pilgrimage”. This movie gave me hope that anything is possible.

“Based on the best selling Camino memoir of the same title, The Way, My Way tells the story of one man's journey along the 8ookm pilgrims trail, the Camino de Santiago in Spain. Searching for meaning, he didn't realise it was right in front of him, one step at a time. At times laugh-out-loud funny, at other times deeply emotional, The Way, My Way is an authentic account of walking the Camino, using a mix of actors and true pilgrims”. - official summary

Official Trailer - The Way My Way

This post is linked to the Wednesday Words & Whimsy linkup hosted by Min from Write of the Middle