Pilgrimage as Professional Practice: The Case for an Annual Camino de Santiago Walking Retreat

The Surprising Power of A Yearly Week-long “Pilgrimage” to the Southwest of France

“Pilgrimage” in quotation marks, because the Camino de Santiago trail no longer has a solely religious connection. These days, 200,000+ people walk the Camino every year to overcome personal challenges, process grief, find clarity at decision points, reduce stress, break unhealthy habits, disconnect from routine to gain perspective, etc.

Many walkers start walking for one reason but discover others along the way. The Camino has a reputation for “giving people what they need, not what they want,” with many reporting unexpected insights or growth areas that weren’t their original motivation.

More and more of my Camino de Santiago walking retreat guests come back year after year, to walk the same stretch of the Camino. Obviously, I have no objection, but I did wonder why they return with such persistent regularity, so I asked them:

• “Because it resets my mind and soul.”
  “No matter how much I achieve, the Camino strips away the noise and reminds me of what truly matters—connection, simplicity, and purpose.”
• “It’s my ultimate digital detox.”
  “In a world of constant emails and meetings, walking for a week with just my thoughts and the rhythm of my steps is the best way to recharge.”
• “The Camino teaches me resilience in a way the corporate world never could.”
  “Blisters, fatigue, unpredictable weather—it’s a humbling reminder that growth comes from discomfort. I bring that mindset back to my work.”
• “I meet the most inspiring people.”
  “On the Camino, titles don’t matter. I’ve had profound conversations with strangers who became lifelong friends—people I’d never cross paths with in my usual routine.”
• “It’s where I find my best ideas.”
  “There’s something about walking for hours that unlocks creativity. Some of my biggest breakthroughs happen between Eauze and Nogaro.”
• “It keeps me grounded.”
  “Success can inflate the ego, but the Camino brings me back to reality, humility and gratitude.”
• “It’s a physical challenge with a spiritual payoff.”
  “Pushing my body to walk kilometre after kilometre each day clears mental clutter. By the end of the week, I feel lighter, clearer, and more aligned.”
• “It’s my annual reminder that life is about the journey, not the destination.”
  “In business, we’re always chasing the next goal. The Camino teaches me to savour each step, not just the finish line.”
• “No other retreat gives me this combination of solitude and community.”
  “I can walk alone for hours in silence, then share stories over a communal dinner. It’s the perfect balance.”
• “Because every time I walk, I discover something new—about the world and myself.”
  “Each Camino is unique, just like each year of my life. I come back to see who I am this time.”

In the relentless pursuit of success, something curious happens to even the most capable professionals: perspective narrows, creativity stagnates, and the very qualities that drive achievement begin to erode. This is not a failure of talent or dedication, but a natural consequence of our hyperconnected, always-on professional culture.

What if the antidote to this modern condition lies along an ancient pilgrimage path?

I thought I would look into this a bit more by writing a blog series exploring why anyone, but especially successful professionals are making the Camino de Santiago an annual ritual rather than a one-time experience. I seems to me that this isn’t about going on a holiday—it’s about the strategic renewal of the mind, body, and spirit that drives professional excellence.

In the coming posts, we’ll explore twelve reasons why making this “pilgrimage” an annual practice creates sustained professional advantage that compounds over time:

• Strategic Emptiness – Hardworking professionals recognise that deliberate emptying of the mind creates space for breakthrough insights that can’t emerge in a packed schedule.
• Decision Recalibration – Walking the Camino creates distance from daily pressures, allowing you to evaluate which decisions you’ve made from clarity versus reaction.
• Physical Intelligence Development – Regular pilgrimage builds a somatic wisdom that enhances your leadership presence and decision-making ability, which cognitive training alone cannot provide.
• Identity Overhaul – Yearly stripping away of your professional identity and status regrounds you in your core values, preventing career success from becoming identity imprisonment.
• Complexity Detox – The Camino’s simplicity allows you to recognise which complexities in your organisations are necessary versus self-created.
• Controlled Vulnerability – Annual pilgrimages create safe spaces to experience vulnerability, building emotional resilience that benefits leadership throughout the year.
• Deep Network Cultivation – Relationships formed while walking transcend typical professional networking, creating powerful connections based on authentic humanness rather than utility.
• Perspective Recalibration – Regular pilgrimage serves as a “reset button” for professionals whose perspective has narrowed under pressure.
• Anti-Optimisation Activity – The Camino’s inefficient journey counterbalances the optimisation mindset that dominates professional life but often destroys your creativity.
• Legacy Contemplation Space – Annual walking retreats provide structured time to contemplate deeper purpose beyond quarterly results.
• Embodied Problem-Solving – Walking meditation unlocks solutions to problems that remain stubbornly unsolved through conventional analysis.
• Radical Simplification Laboratory – The pilgrimage provides a testing ground for determining your minimum viable lifestyle, with insights that transform your professional decision-making.

Admittedly, the Camino offers unique advantages that make it ideal for an annual professional pilgrimage:

First, it provides genuine geographic and psychological distance from centres of commerce, creating the separation necessary for significant perspective shifts.

Second, the French Camino route offers a perfect balance of challenge and accessibility. It’s demanding enough to break entrenched patterns of thought but accessible enough to fit within the constraints of a busy professional’s calendar.

Third, southwest France’s rich cultural heritage creates a multi-sensory immersion that accelerates the mind’s departure from habitual patterns. The region’s distinctive architecture, cuisine, and landscapes work together to awaken dormant senses and creativity.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, making this journey annual transforms it from a one-time experience into a developmental practice. Like any powerful discipline, the Camino’s benefits deepen and evolve over time, revealing new insights with each retreat as both you and your professional circumstances change.

In my upcoming posts, we’ll dive deeper into each of these twelve thought-provoking benefits, featuring stories from professionals who have made this annual pilgrimage part of their success strategy.

The most valuable investment for today’s leaders may not be another degree, an executive coach, or the latest business methodology—it might be walking an ancient path through southwest France, year after year, as part of an intentional practice of professional renewal.

Join us this year.

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“I have walked myself into my best thoughts, and I know of no thought so burdensome that one cannot walk away from it.” –Soren Kierkegaard