Guest Blogger: Monica Pons. A Californian and natural problem solver, Monica is a leader specializing in mission-critical systems management – especially where public trust, money, and people intersect. Monica walked the Camino Frances in fall 2025.
Photo Courtesy of Monica Pons
Sometimes you choose the Camino. Sometimes the Camino chooses you.
In 2025, my world was suddenly reshaped by the unexpected closure of the organization where I had built my career.
This wasn’t the kind of ending you recover from with a vacation. It was the kind that leaves you staring at the ceiling at 3 a.m., wondering who you are without the identity you’ve carried for years.
I didn’t need time off. I needed a life reset.
Like many people in this situation, I was holding a complicated mix of grief, anger, shock, and uncertainty. I had led large teams, managed complex portfolios, and carried significant responsibility. Then suddenly, there was space — uncomfortable, unstructured space.
It was in this space that I began planning my Camino walk.
Photo Courtesy of Monica Pons
What Path to Take?
Once I began my planning in earnest, I quickly felt overwhelmed.
Camino route options. Starting points. Distances. Philosophies about how to do it “right.” Planning a Camino walk involves dozens of decisions and infinite unknowns, and the pressure to decide felt heavy on top of the already significant changes in my life reset.
This is where Dana (The Caminoist) made all the difference.
Instead of simply recommending what I do, she asked thoughtful questions, listened to what I hoped for, and understood what I needed — emotionally, physically, financially, and socially.
Patiently and thoughtfully, she shared what I could expect in different scenarios, always leaving the final decision in my hands.
With her support, I was able to choose a Camino route that aligned not just with my preferences for the trip, but also with where I was in my life.
Photo From the Camino Frances Courtesy of Monica Pons
Letting Go of Expectation
Walking day after day helps you minimize more than the items you carry in your backpack.
You wake up.
You walk.
You arrive.
The simplicity is meditative, humbling, and healing.
Somewhere between early morning departures and long stretches of quiet countryside, something shifted in me. The pain of what had happened didn’t disappear, but it stopped absorbing all of my energy.
The urgency to “solve” my next chapter softened, and I began to trust I would find my next professional step in my own time.
My future stretched out in front of me — just like the trail — and I would arrive there eventually. In the meantime, I could focus on and enjoy the present path.
My Camino walk taught me that many life problems soften with time, space, and by simply moving at a human pace.
Camino Waymarker Photo Courtesy of Monica Pons
A Powerful Life Reset
For anyone standing at a crossroads — between roles, between cities, or between versions of themselves — the Camino offers something rare: space to unravel and reimagine.
The Camino de Santiago didn’t hand me a new career.
It gave me something more important: clarity, steadiness, and the quiet confidence that I can walk into whatever comes next.
And sometimes, that is exactly the reset we need.
Buen Camino.
No Compensation Was Given or Received For This Piece By the Author or By Dana Stinson.
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