TENTATIVE DAILY SCHEDULE

7:00am – 7:30am: Breakfast at the hotel

7:30am – 11:00am: Daily reflective practice, check-in, and educational sessions

11:00am – 5:00pm: Hiking the Camino de Santiago

5:00pm – 6:30pm: Personal time for relaxation, reflection, and rejuvenation

6:30pm – 7:00pm: Social “hour”

7:00 pm – 9:00pm: Group dinner

We use diverse techniques to help cultivate joy, meaning, and purpose, including lectures, journaling, daily group reflections, and quiet personal reflection. We also use our experiences and the paths we hike as daily metaphors to develop gratitude, hope, awe, and joy.

DAILY ITINERARY

Day 1: Arrive and overnight in Sarria

At 4:00PM, we will meet at our hotel for introductions and our first educational session.   We suggest you spend the night before in Santiago de Compostela or Madrid before the tour begins. You can either take the bus to Sarria from Santiago de Compostella (a 2 hour ride leaving at 11am) or Taxi.  If you choose to stay in Madrid the evening before, it is about a 5 hour train ride to Sarria. You will be able to check into our hotel at 3pm, but may arrive early, drop off your luggage and wander around Sarria.  Want to try octopus for lunch?  Be sure to check out one of their famous Pulperias.    On arrival at the hotel, you will be given a package containing route notes, pilgrim shell, pilgrim passport and luggage labels.  (Dinner Included)

 

Day 2: Walk Sarria – Portomarin.

The walk between Sarria and Portomarin is one of the quietest and most peaceful of the Camino. Climb up through woods and see mountain views in every shade of green imaginable. During the summer there are plenty of places for lunch and drinks along the way.  One of the great joys of walking the Camino will not only be the stunning landscapes you take in, but also the variety of people you meet. Join pilgrims from all over the world and all walks of life.  Breakfast and Dinner Included (14.5 miles)

 

Day 3: Walk Portomarin – Palas de Rei

Starting from Portomarin, we climb up through woodland and then over our high point for the day, the Sierra Ligonde, on quiet country roads. Views abound in every direction, far reaching hill and mountain-scapes in every shade of green imaginable.  The villages we pass through have long standing associations with the Camino and ancient pilgrim’s hospices are now just whispers of the past. There are several miles of road  walking along this stretch but the roads are quiet and you pass through some small villages  – i.e. the Romanesque Church of Santa Maria in Gonzar is 5 miles into the walk. There is a lovely Galician cemetery church in Ligonde which is about another 3 miles.  Breakfast and Dinner Included (15.5 miles)

 

Day 4: Walk Palas de Rei – Melide

Today we pass though the town of Palas de Rei, Palace of the King named after an 8th century Visigoth king who once ruled the lands. From here the route becomes more undulating as we meander through the village of San Xulian, a classic Camino village with its 12th Century church, and walk through forested trails over two river valleys.  The route takes you to Melide  – this is a pleasant town with a former monastery Church Sancti Spiritu, along with a pilgrim hospital and the Church of San Pedro.  Breakfast and Dinner Included (10 miles)

 

Day 5: Walk Melide – Arzua

As you leave the town of Melide, the Church of  Santa Maria is worth a visit.  Walk through quaint camino villages and over well preserved medieval bridges to the location where limestone was carried to build the cathedral in Santiago.  You will want to stop for lunch today to enjoy one of Galicia’s specialties—Pulpo Gallego—steamed octopus prepared by the locals and enjoyed by pilgrims! Walk the short distance today to the small village of Arzua where you will spent the night.  See eucalyptus forests and moss covered stone walls walking past the oldest albergue on the Camino.  Breakfast and Dinner Included (8 miles)

 

Day 6: Walk Arzua – Arca do Pino

Arzua is famous for its creamy cow cheese which you really must try before you leave today.  Onwards, our walk is dotted with small hamlets hidden within tall eucalyptus forests and behind moss covered stone walls. Villages named Rua, Calzada, and Calle all refer to the word ‘road’, recognizing that this pilgrimage trail has been leading pilgrims to Santiago de Compostela for centuries. The route continues to Arca do Pino, where you will spend the final night before the final section of the walk into Santiago – making the walk today only 12.5 miles, with the same distance to cover in the morning to Santiago.  Breakfast and Dinner Included (12.5 miles)

 

Day 7: Walk Arca do Pino – Santiago

We climb from Arca do Pino to the famed Monte del Gozo, Mount Joy, where, if we are lucky we catch our first glimpse of the towers of the cathedral of Santiago. Tradition claims that if you were the first one in your group to sight the church towers, you could officially change your name to King (Rey, Leroy, Le Roi). Our Camino walking journey ends at the steps of the cathedral today. We will gather for evening’s Pilgrims mass to participate in the ritual that has been going on for a century.  We will see the famed Botafumeiro swing and visit St. James’ Crypt. We will make sure to help you  collect your Camino compostela – your certificate of completion and then its time to enjoy this beautiful city.  Breakfast and Dinner Included (12.5 miles)

 

Day 8: Buen Camino – End of the retreat after breakfast

After a leisurely breakfast, there will be an optional extension to travel to Finnesterra and Enjoy the “End of the Earth” extension of the Camino.  Or stay in Santiago and check out one of the guided walking tours of the city finishing in time to attend the Pilgrims Mass. (Breakfast included)

 

Please Note: This itinerary may change slightly due to accommodation availability, rain, festivals and spontaneous side trips. This is not an endurance race, nor a competition. Please be respectful of all the different paces and walks of life that come together on this group trip

 

FACILITATORS

Corey Martin is a Yale-trained family physician driven to change the delivery of healthcare and improve the mental and physical health of our communities.  He is a founder of Innovations in Resilience and the Bounce Back Project, practicing private group physician, Bush Fellow, and consultant to many healthcare and educational organizations in their response to clinician burnout.  Driven to do this work by the loss of two colleagues and friends, Corey strives to create an environment of opportunity in which all of us can do the deep, heartfelt work of changing the way we show up and interact in each other’s lives.  One of the ways he does this is by facilitating resilience retreats across the United States and throughout the world.  He is both a Certified Daring Way Facilitator and Center for Courage and Renewal Facilitator in training and facilitates workshops based on the work of Brené Brown and Parker Palmer. In his free time, he enjoys working on his farm that he has recently turned into an event center.  He lives in Buffalo, MN with his  three daughters.  He is a recovering perfectionist and an aspiring “good enoughist”.

Kim Schwartz, MA, NCC is the former, founding CEO of Roanoke Chowan Community Health Center, a Federally Qualified Community Health Center in Eastern North Carolina and a National Board Certified Counselor.  As a consultant, Kim works with leaders and organizations nationally creating authentic space for reconnecting to the joy of their vocation.  Her focus as a Courage to Lead retreat facilitator is in nurturing supportive communities giving participants the space to explore meaning and purpose. Kim has been an active participant in CCR programs nationally since 2011. Kim has many professional affiliations and frequently presents at national and regional conferences.  She is also known as Mimi to seven grandchildren!

 

Josh Whitman will be joining us on the second Spain retreat (October 19-26, 2024). He is a curious heart-centered leader with an entrepreneurial spirit working to live a more examined life. He leverages his rich professional and inner-work experiences to support others as they work to better understand themselves and their impact on their world. While he has always been a spiritual seeker, his focused and intentional journey kicked into high gear after the birth of his first child 13+ years ago. Throughout his professional life, he has worked in the broad fields of public policy, politics, education, and non-profit administration. Most recently, Josh was the Executive Director of the non-profit Center for Courage & Renewal, which brings Parker Palmer’s body of work into the world. In fact, Josh and Corey became fast friends while working on their facilitator training to lead retreats using CCR tools and techniques. Josh has a Ph.D. in Public Policy & Administration. He lives in Birmingham, Alabama, with his wife and two boys. He enjoys traveling, time with his family, time outdoors, hiking, photography, and lots of dad jokes.

David Freeman will be joining us on the second Spain retreat (October 19-26, 2024). He is currently the Senior Pastor of First United Methodist Church of Little Rock. He has been in pastoral ministry since finishing seminary at Emory University in 2003. In an attempt to face his own bedevilments of perfectionism and people pleasing, he began studying the work of Brene’ Brown which continues to challenge and transform him. David became a Certified Daring Way Facilitator in 2017 and shares this work with other clergy and laity around the state of Arkansas mainly through retreats and workshops. He is married to Katie, who is a therapist, and together they are trying to show their two daughters as much of the world as possible before they leave for college in a few years. After many years of being an avid marathon runner, David’s joints asked him to slow down and spend more time hiking, which he loves. He also loves hanging out with his two best friends, Charlie and Slider.

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