How Netflix Changed My Life – Part 1 Camino de Santiago

The movie that started it all.

The obsession with walking began with a movie, a movie suggested by Netflix. I was alone one weekend night while Greg was out of town. With no shows or movies in mind, I turned on Netflix and saw that it predicted that I would really like the movie “The Way”.

It is a story about a young(ish) man (Emilio Estevez) who quits graduate school to walk the Camino de Santiago, a 500 mile pilgrimage across northern Spain. The son dies and the father (Martin Sheen) who is not happy about his son’s choices, travels to Spain to get his son’s remains. The father ends up walking the route to finish it for his son. Along the way, he meets a variety of people and learns that maybe his son was on to something in life when he told his father, “You don’t choose a life Dad. You live one.”

The scenery, the history and the idea of walking 500 miles caught my attention. I read up a little on the Camino de Santiago and I knew I had to do this. Convincing Greg took about 2 minutes after we watched the movie together.

As it turned out, it was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. Walking when I didn’t think I could go another inch. Meeting people from all over the world. Feeling so small and humble at the Cathedral in Santiago, where people have been coming for a thousand years. Back in medieval times, this journey was worth the not uncommon risk of death.

What follows is our story of our journey. Oh, and thank you Netflix.