About a year ago, I returned from a short career break where I walked 250 miles of the Camino de Santiago.
I use the word “walked” loosely, because what actually happened was far more layered. It was a pilgrimage: physical, emotional, spiritual. A reset, recalibration, and reintroduction to silence and the rhythm of my own footsteps, mixed with new friends from around the world.
They say your Camino begins the day you decide to do it. And once you begin, it never really ends. That’s turned out to be true. Scenes from that trail—stone villages, lush forests, long stretches of rain and light—replay in my head almost daily. And when I feel off-kilter in my work or life, I often return to the memory of those hours spent walking, alone, carrying everything I needed on my back.
I wish I could say I’ve only deepened those lessons since. But growth isn’t linear. Paths twist, turn, and even double back. Over the past year, I’ve done some of the best work of my career with colleagues & friends as Chief Talent Officer at NextGen Growth Partners, Board Chair at Experience Institute, and teaching at Stanford d.school. And I’ve also found myself occasionally slipping into old mindsets that don’t serve me (or anyone else).
And maybe that’s the most lasting lesson: It’s all part of the walk. The missteps, the breakthroughs, the exhaustion, the occasional miracle. Like a good, hard hike, none of it is wasted.
I recently read one of my journal entries from the trek that echoes back:
“...it’s possible to struggle, to be utterly exhausted, to have blisters and backaches and feel alone—and then to look up and feel full and grateful. To find joy where you can and then to share it.”
That paradox, that permission, feels worth remembering—and passing on. Thanks to those who walked with me then. And to those walking with me now. I love this journey. I’m glad we’re doing it together.
Buen Camino.