Somewhere between the Meseta's farm fields, a pilgrim walked 35 kilometres in one go — not for the scenery, but to untangle her thoughts. Marley Kreiser's day 23 on the Camino de Santiago, chronicled on The Trek, is a reminder that this famous Spanish pilgrimage is as much an emotional undertaking as a physical one.
The day began before dawn, headlamp on, hands numb, under a shooting star. Facing a choice between a 19 km and 35 km stage, she chose the longer option and prepaid a bed in the far town so she couldn't back out. The reason: two weeks of walking with a tight-knit group had left her craving solitude. Romantic feelings had crept into the group dynamic, and she needed space to think — and eventually, difficult conversations.
The route took her past the cathedral in Villalcázar de Sirga, closed for the day, where she sat on the steps under the carved figures in the arch and found that observing from outside could be as moving as going in. A voice note from a friend who walked the Camino in 2024 helped her process her earlier experience at the Burgos cathedral: the idea that sacred places are inherently paradoxical, and that's okay.
The long walk also became a mobile mediation session — spent partly on the phone with a translation app, clearing the air with fellow pilgrims after a sandal mix-up and a burst of frustration. She finished at Calzadilla de la Cueza, a tiny village tucked into the fields where the only traffic is tractors, and treated herself to the pilgrim dinner: sangria, spaghetti, chicken, potatoes, ice cream. There she reconnected with a pilgrim from Taiwan not seen in over a week, swapped stories with women from Germany and Japan about why they were walking — physical healing, life transitions — and then had the conversation she'd been avoiding. Her Italian trail friend handed her a handwritten letter; using the translator app, they reached a clarity they'd never managed before, agreeing to communicate better but each prioritise their own pilgrimage.
For anyone considering the Camino, this account captures a truth guidebooks gloss over: the trail community can be as intense as it is wonderful, and it's fine — even healthy — to walk alone for a stretch. The Meseta stage through towns like Calzadilla de la Cueza is exactly where that happens: long, flat, quiet, meditative. Expect pilgrim menus, small albergues, and big conversations over sangria.
