Blistered Feet & Big Feelings
Diaries of my Camino Francés, May 2025
I embarked on the Camino Francés with no end-point in mind and no daily mileage to meet, deciding to let the wind take me. Over 22 days, I walked across stunning landscapes, along winding creeks, and through neverending fields. I watched the tall grass sway like the ocean in the breeze. I laughed with friends, shared wine with strangers, and led yoga in grassy patches after long days trekking.
The Camino is healing beyond words. It is a reinstitution of self and testament to one’s own resilience & flexibility.
Now, I had only decided in April that I would walk part of the Camino Francés and booked my flights on the cheap-cheap 😎. I sublet my room in my apartment for the entire month. I gave myself a budget equivalent to my monthly living expenses in NYC and left on a redeye April 29th. Bumming on a friend’s couch in Paris for the weekend, I decided to start my Camino fresh on Monday.
Baptism by Blister:
My first few days on the Camino & finding my Camino Family
After a brutal night bus from Paris and catching another to Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, I arrived late afternoon around 3pm, only stopping to grab my Camino credentials, I relaced my boots, adjusted my pack, and gunned it for my first stop, Bordo, 5.6mi / 9km away.
Easy-peasy-lemon-squeezey I thought!
Oh, how wrong I was…it was straight up a mountainside — gaining 2,241 ft / 683m in elevation.
I quickly developed a wicked blister that just wouldn’t quit. As I stopped (again) to pull off my pack and tend to my growing blister, two German men approached — also getting a late start.
🙏🏻 Small Camino miracles 🙏🏻
They offered help and plenty of options, patched me up temporarily, and we continued on together. Their English was limited, my German was nein, but we bonded anyway. That night, we stayed at the same albergue*, and after our communal dinner, they showed me how to pop and care for blisters with a needle, thread, and iodine.
That was the first time I experienced the kindness of the Camino — but definitely not the last. Or the second. Or the twelfth.
For the first few days, I walked with two women, Katie from Scotland and Therese from Australia.
Katie had a thick accent, and I found myself trying to read her lips like I was at a crowded pub. She talked lovingly about her gaggle of children now spanning their twenties, a few set to visit and walk different legs of the journey with her.
Therese had a pepper-gray pixie cut and the kind of energy that made you feel like a longtime friend immediately. She was adored at every hostel and café we stopped at, and walking with her made me feel like I had VIP access to her heart, humble brag! 😎 😉
My Camino Moms held a special place in my heart, they embraced me during my first nervous and unsure days while we hiked through the thick mountain top fog and down rocky scramble.
These women quickly felt like mentors and maternal figures to me & so my Camino family tree began without me even realizing it. 😌
“The Camino Shall Provide!”
— a common saying we all loved when inevitably everything works out in the end!
What I loved most about the Camino:
No, no, it wasn’t…
My favorite part of the Camino wasn’t even the countless yoga practices on the grass, early in the AM or after a long day of trekking, sometimes 20 miles. Each time we spotted a good patch of grass, our grins unfurled and our eyes grew greedy. My fellow travelers were gracious enough to let me practice teaching yoga on them. My first students! 🥹❤️
The sleeping arrangements, most certainly not! Although sometimes it did feel like a giant sleepover with your besties, giggling until 10 p.m. lights-out. Thank GOD for my premium silicon earplugs, which I swear by, and block out nightly snorers. 😴
Nor was it the absolute need to wash my clothes every time a good opportunity arose. Sometimes, washing my clothes under a spigot and hanging them to dry in the breeze, those times you came across a coin-operated washer/dryer felt like luxury. Most of the time, I hung my wet socks and other items pinned to my backpack to dry in the sunshine. 🧦🎒
It wasn’t the freak weather transitions, although those were cool to witness. I witnessed hailstorms in Paris, the Pyrenees, and Northern Spain’s prairies. Taking photos and videos to send my Mom, a retired science teacher. 🌨️
It wasn’t even the fact that whenever I got someone’s WhatsApp info, my labeling convention was: first name, where they were from, and everyone got the last name “Camino” — because it truly felt like my Camino family tree.
Although I do enjoy a good 🦶foot-chat🦶, it wasn’t the endless feet talk...at every meal…every day. By Day 8, I had multiple blisters, one of which became infected. This led to the development of my own lengthy morning foot routine.
What was that? You wanted to know…MORE…about my footcare routine?!I THOUGHT YOU’D NEVER ASK BECAUSE I HAVE BEEN DYING TO TELL YOU!
In the end, my routine became as follows:
Wide cotton bandage + Lukotape* 🩹
Vaseline on hotspots 🦶
Darn Tough lightweight running socks or merino toe socks 🫶
Sheep’s wool for spots that needed extra padding 🐑
Thicker outer sock, usually a Darn Tough lightweight merino hiking sock 🧦
✨ Pro-tip ✨
Buy hiking sneakers a full size larger than your actual size to accommodate the extra sock and unfortunate foot swelling.
Okayy…I loved all that stuff, sure, but what I loved most about the Camino:
It was the kindness of every single person, stranger or not — some that didn’t even speak my language, or share my decade of birth. This blog post alone illustrates so much of that Camino kindness — the countless people I met along the way who offered a helping hand and expected nothing in return.
From quick moments to days-long friendships, some became Camino family. Connecting with so many people from different generations and backgrounds was a gift. The Camino is a path for connection and reflection. Each person walks their own journey for their own reasons. It is truly a transformative experience.
Have you ever wanted to ask the older generation, “What advice would you want to give your younger self or to me?” WELL…the Camino provides that opportunity over and over again 10x.
Parting Gifts
Now you’ll remember I only had the month of May. Twenty-two days after my start, the wind took me to Leon, Spain, where I finished and said goodbye to my dear friends. Everyone I had met planned to complete the Camino Francés, which would take an additional two weeks from Leon. With sadness in our hearts, we embraced in farewell.
On our last night together, over a bottle of wine, I gave my closest Camino friends small parting gifts with superlatives.
To Mollie, I left my beloved earplugs. She could never sleep due to the excessive amount of snorers (she even moved her mattress more than once!). Daily catch-ups over coffee always included a breakdown of sleeping conditions and sleep quality, and of course, any key snorers. I knew she needed some relief, so it was only fitting to leave her my earplugs in hopes she’d finally catch some ZZZs, and she was dubbed “Night Owl!” 🦉
To Polle, I awarded 2nd best jawline (after moi obviously!😉) and I left my unused Camino condoms. Yes, that’s right, you heard me, CONDOMS! Just because there is a sex-ed crisis in this country (America) doesn’t mean we all shouldn’t be thoughtfully prepared! Polle was beloved by many Camino ladies (some even willing to shoot their shot), but Anouk, Mollie, and I knew Polle was just a big-hearted nerd at his core, and we loved him for it!
To Anouk, I left the remainder of my vaseline, and she claimed “Best in Blisters!” There were so many times I found Anouk sitting along the path with blister pain, always proclaiming she couldn’t go on because it was too painful. Every time, I would fix her up with vaseline or sports tape or sheep’s wool, and then we would walk on together, and she would finish strong with 20 miles! 😂 By the time we parted ways in Leon, Anouk was so well versed in foot care that she went on to teach several others how to care for their blisters and feet, I’ve ever been prouder!!! 🥹
Glossary
Camino Family - Your crew on the trail—chosen family made of friends that make you feel cared for on the trail.
Albergue - Spanish word for hostel along the Camino. Usually communal, usually cheap, but always memorable.
Lukotape = MAGIC TAPE! Seriously, this is the best heavy-duty athletic tape I have ever used. Cannot recommend enough! 11/10! 🫶
Buen Camino, always.
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Thanks for reading. I hope the Camino finds you when you need it most.
