In the Skillcare blog section, we nurture skills. When we think of a skill as a term, it usually boils down to some physical activity, an action. However, the skill can also be of a psychological nature. How to deal with one's own lack of self-confidence, how to master dark thoughts and fight in the race with the environment and oneself - all this is a skill that can be learned and mastered little by little. Our Annie Kovač, a young IT professional and a travel lover, mastered her skills on the world-famous Camino, and she shared with us what it looked like in an interview.
What was the incentive for you to pack your backpack and set off on the Camino?
I had been struggling with anxiety for a while and had no confidence in myself or my body. I didn't think I could handle the hard things: mentally and physically. I knew I needed a way to get back into my body, to do something physically demanding that would show me that my body can do much more than I thought it could.
I wanted to strengthen my self-confidence and self-belief. If I can walk almost 300 kilometers through two countries, then I can handle the challenges of everyday life.
What was your day on the Camino like, from waking up to going to bed? How many kilometers did you walk on average per day?
On average, we walked about 20 kilometers a day. The shortest day of walking was about 12 kilometers, and the longest was about 33 kilometers. We didn't try to start very early: it was important for us to both get some sleep and rest, we usually started walking from our accommodation around 8 a.m. We took a lunch break around noon and then stopped for about an hour to eat, rest, and change shoes. We walked in hiking boots for the first half of the day, and after lunch we usually changed into a combination of sports sandals + socks. We were real little tourists in sandals and socks, which are often funny to us in Croatia with that combination.
We would arrive at the accommodation around 4 or 5 pm, depending on how far away it was. Once we got to the accommodation, we would unpack and shower (keeping our fingers crossed that the bathroom was clean and the water wasn't cold!). After the shower, we would wash our clothes and then go find somewhere to eat dinner. Some accommodation has dinner on site, but most don't. Many restaurants in places where the Camino passes have great deals just for pilgrims.
In the evening we would open our sleeping bags and go to sleep. In the albergues (accommodations on the Camino), you often share a room with 10, 20 or 30 pilgrims. Before the Camino, I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to sleep while sharing a room with so many people, but when I was there, I was usually so tired that I would pass out at the end of the day and only the loudest snoring would wake me up.
What did the Camino teach you that you didn't expect?
On the Camino, I had a new connection with my body, with my legs that had covered all those kilometers and with my body that carried a 10 kg backpack and enjoyed the rays of the sun that I felt on my face. It didn't seem to matter that my body "looked" like this or that, I was just happy to be able to walk, to be in nature, to feel the breeze, the sun and the rain on my face.
I learned through a very obvious example that the body serves to carry you through life, to be strong and resilient, to enable you to experience things on earth that fulfill and delight you. And not just to be beautiful.
I think women are often given this message through the media that exercise and sports are for making us “smaller” and “skinnier”. These are messages that have plagued me throughout my life. I think on the Camino I finally got to the heart of why it’s important for me to be strong and fit: because I want to do these things until I’m old. I want to be able to walk through nature and carry my stuff on my back.
What would be your advice to all those who dream of the Camino but are afraid to go?
If you dream about the Camino, you probably dream for a reason. Something tells you that the Camino would provide what you need right now. For some, the Camino will provide solitude and quiet for reflection, for others, it will provide company just when they think they don't need company.
A famous saying on the Camino is “Camino provides.” This means that the path gives you exactly what you need, even though you may not even realize at that moment that it is what you need.
From the locals we met along the way, the waiters, the bakery staff, and the like, I had the feeling that everyone wanted to help and that you were never alone. For me, that provides a dose of comfort and warmth: that human connection that transcends different languages, cultures, and places.
If your fear stems from a lack of confidence in your own body: maybe the Camino will show you what you're capable of and what you can do. Once you've walked almost 300 kilometers, everything else sounds much easier.
Can you share with us the funniest or perhaps strangest situation that has happened to you?
happened along the way?
On the fourth day, while we were walking, we were caught in the rain, which fell non-stop for several hours, and we had nowhere to stop because we were passing through a part of the road where there was no cafe or covered place.
We arrived at a small town that had a cafe and decided to take a break there. I changed into dry clothes in the restroom. There was a young girl working in that cafe who didn't speak English. I pointed to the croissant she had in the window and tried to ask her via Google Translate if it had ham inside or if it was empty.
She asked me something like, “Do you want ham?” And I said yes, that I would like a croissant with ham. She said okay, which was confusing to me because a croissant is either filled with ham or it isn't, there's no third option.
She told us to sit down, that she would bring us what we ordered. When she brought the croissant to the table, I noticed that she had cut it in half and stuffed it with a few feta ham slices. My heart melted because it was one of THOSE little places where if you want a ham croissant, you WILL get a ham croissant, even if she took the ham out of her fridge and made me a sandwich.
We took a long break in this cafe, we were both tired and the rain had dampened our spirits a bit. After a while, this young girl came up to us and asked us via Google Translate if we could watch the cafe for a while because she had to go to the butcher's.
That also made me laugh because it's such a small place, she trusted two foreign women who didn't speak her language to guard the cafe so she could go to the butcher shop. My friend and I laughed at the whole situation and it was hilarious at that moment. It got even funnier when local guests started coming to the cafe and waiting in line at the bar and we told them through Google Translate that the waitress had gone to the butcher shop and would be back soon.
That's another thing about Camino, sometimes you feel so tired, defeated and far from home. And the next moment you feel like you're at home, guarding someone's cafe as if it were your own and laughing with the other guests.
Three things the Camino wouldn't survive without?
It's not a big deal, but I definitely want to mention that I wouldn't have survived the Camino without my friend. During the Camino, I received news that someone very close to me was in the hospital with a serious heart condition and it was hard to walk without knowing what would happen for the rest of the day. My friend was there as a support and was willing to cry with me, encourage me to continue or to return home if I wanted to, and support me in whatever ways I needed.
As for things that are things: SPF cream , because the sun was really hot when we walked and SPF cream was a faithful companion for both of us.
The third thing is my journal. Of all the things, it's the one I'm most glad I took. When you pack for the Camino, you try to minimize the amount of stuff you carry because of weight: everything you carry, you carry in a backpack on your back. I wouldn't sacrifice a journal for a lighter backpack.
Along with the diary, I made the decision that I would write AT LEAST something in my diary EVERY day. No matter how tired I was after 20 or 30 kilometers. If I write half a page, that's it. It's invaluable to me now because I can read the thoughts I had during those days while I was walking. I remember what I was thinking about and what was bothering me on certain days, and I certainly wouldn't remember that a year later. I would definitely recommend that you write down your thoughts while you're on the Camino, it will be a wonderful memory and there will definitely be some wisdom in those notes.
Considering that we are a cosmetics brand, and we know your love for beauty products, we are interested in what that basic look looked like on Camino.
day and evening care?
It was very important for me to put on SPF in the morning, which I had to reapply quite a few times throughout the day. We spent more than 8 hours a day outside in the sun, so we had to reapply SPF accordingly. I have to admit that my friend is great at this, she would remember it more often than I would, and would "bother" me to pay attention to SPF.
In the evening, I would use Amino Cleansing Gel to remove SPF and all dirt from my face and apply moisturizer.
It was a very simple routine. After the Camino, I noticed that I had a small sun “spot” on my forehead because I probably hadn’t re-applied my sunscreen often enough. That’s why I started using the Vitamin C+ Serum when I got back from the Camino.
Are you looking forward to returning home and your usual beauty rituals? What
was the first thing you treated yourself to?
Honestly, it was really strange to come home after carrying all my stuff on my back for over two weeks. When I got home, I felt like I had too much stuff at home and like I was living in a palace. I was so happy to have my own big comfortable bed and my own private bathroom!
The Camino has changed my perspective a lot and I think in an ideal world it would be good for me to go once a year, to remind myself every year how “luxury” it is to have a bathroom you don’t share with anyone, and a comfortable huge bed! I think we get used to the things we have and start taking them for granted, so the Camino is a good “reset”.
I definitely missed my skincare routine. It's my way of getting to sleep before bed. When I wake up, it's my way of getting ready for the day. On the Camino, that routine was chaotic, because you share a bathroom with a lot of people and you don't have that privacy and peace that I like about my skincare routine.
