A Data Journal of El Camino de Santiago
In 2023 I walked the Camino de Santiago from St. Jean Pied-de-Port to Santiago de Compostela, despite injuries and the flu cutting my journey in two. This data journal visualises my daily steps, the people I met and the physical challenges that shaped the way I experienced the journey.
The Story Behind the Data
I started the Camino de Santiago at the end of May 2023. Seven weeks before leaving I had a snowboarding accident, sprained my MCL, and was out for six weeks. Not ideal! But I decided I still wanted to go. After some physio sessions and a final MRI the day before leaving, my GP gave me the all-clear, so off I went.
I carried a small notebook and wrote in it every day: where I walked from and to, the time I left each morning, the distance, time passed, ascent and descent and notes about people I met.
For this visual, I transferred that information into an Excel sheet, then narrowed it down to what was most consistent, accurate and meaningful to my journey. I chose to visualise the daily step count rather than distance, because I sometimes forgot to turn my watch on or off, but steps were tracked continuously from when I woke up to when I went to sleep.
The people you meet are one of the most defining parts of the Camino. They shape your experience, which is why I made them a main feature. Most days I walked alone, sometimes together with someone, or part of the way, but I often met people after walking.
Looking back at my notes, I also saw how injuries ended up shaping much of my journey - tenosynovitis around my ankles and the tops of my feet, pain and swelling in the tendons behind my knees and severely overloaded calf muscles - likely from a mix of overcompensating for my knee/weakened leg, dehydration and needing shoes with more cushioning (which I bought after my first physio visit).
This forced me to rest more, which meant the friends I’d made were now a day or two ahead of me. Whether I got a top or bottom bunk became important and I had to take the bus a few times or send my bag ahead to lighten the load on my tendons.
Then the flu hit. Day 24 I was too ill to walk, so I took a bus to León to have a rest day, but the day after I still felt so weak that I decided to stop walking altogether. I thought that was the end... But after some recovery time, and another last physio visit (with very painful acupuncture), I decided to return and continue from where I’d stopped.
The second half was physically much better, socially a bit quieter, but when I arrived in Santiago de Compostela I was reunited with some friends from the first half, which felt like the perfect ending.
Time off in the middle of the journey
The scallop shell - a traditional symbol of the Camino de Santiago
The beginning stages: I first took out the lines representing the days I was off the Camino, but then decided to include them to show a more complete picture of my journey.
Software used: Excel, RAWGraphs, Procreate, Affinity Designer
