“The Way” directed by Emilio Estevez is a movie about an American father who travels to France to receive his estranged son’s body. The son died while attempting the pilgrimage to Spain’s Santiago de Compostela.

The father takes the journey himself in an effort to understand both himself and his son. It’s an inspirational story about family, friends and the challenges one faces while navigating the world.

She’d never heard of the Camino de Santiago before the movie, and afterwards she was inspired.

“It just interested me,” said Rodabaugh, “I don’t know what drew me to it. It’s a pilgrimage, so there’s a religious aspect to it. That’s why it originated — it’s been there since the Middle Ages and people have been doing this for years. That wasn’t really my interest, my interest was the experience itself. When I turned 58 I put it out to my kids and said I was going to do it when I turned 60. They were all interested, too.”

Rodabaugh poses for a photo next to a trail marker, designating that she was still on the right path. PHOTO PROVIDED

Rodabaugh retired at 59, and spent a year gathering information on the trip. She wanted to know exactly what she was getting into, and wanted to prepare for the journey; “I read a lot of books, and it only intrigued me more. I listened to podcasts. Lot’s of research, little by little.”

Before this pilgrimage, Rodabaugh had never been to Europe. She said, “This was my first time to even go out of the country.”

The Camino de Santiago or “The Way of St. James” is a pilgrimage leading to the shrine of the apostle Saint James the Great in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, Spain.

It is a pilgrimage of medieval origin that is renowned as the trip of a lifetime. The route attracts thousands of people from all over the world.

According to oficinadelperegrino.com, the history of the pilgrimage stretches back over 1000 years to the discovery of the body of St. James during the reign of King Alfonso II. According to the same site, “In the last 30 years in particular there has been a huge growth in interest and in the number of pilgrims traveling on foot, on horseback or by bicycle.”

PHOTO PROVIDED Pictured, Rodabaugh drank from the Fuente de Vino — Fountain of Wine — on Day 7 of her trip.

There is no singular starting point for the pilgrimage, but Rodabaugh started at St. Jean Pied de Port, France, known as the “Camino Frances” or “The French Way.” It is the most famous among the routes and is around 500 miles.

Many pilgrims take the route for religious or spiritual purposes, but others go for the experience itself or as a fitness challenge.

The Camino trails are all marked with scallop shells to make it easier for pilgrims to find their way in unfamiliar territory. These shells can be painted on trees and sidewalks and are often placed next to a yellow arrow.

Rodabaugh’s journey across Spain began on May 2 in France. She spent the next 33 days walking for hours a day to get to her ultimate goal.

Rodabaugh posted daily to Facebook with photos of her journey, and details about what is being depicted.

PHOTO PROVIDED Some of the stamps showing various albergues — hostels — where Rodabaugh stayed on her journey are shown.

Though her journey was long, Rodabaugh did not pack much for the trip — her backpack only weighing 14 and a half pounds, and filled with her essentials.

Rodabaugh’s story is one of threes — three separate experiences with travel, three major cities, three “big” landmarks, three types of “Albergues” and three parts of the camino itself.

During the journey, when it was time to rest, pilgrims were to stay in albergues or “hostels.” There were three types of these, each with their own costs and quirks, that Rodabaugh stayed in.

Municipal albergues which were sponsored by local governments and often staffed by volunteers. She also stayed in parish or parroquial albergues which were run by a religious institution — typically a monastery. The final type of albergue Rodabaugh stayed in was a private albergue, which is an albergue along the route owned by a person or company.

“Every time you stay, you get a stamp to show where you are and where you’d stayed,” said Rodabaugh, “Once you have it all filled out you can get your certificate to show you completed it. You don’t have to do the whole thing to get it — some people start in different places.”

PHOTO PROVIDED Rodabaugh stopped at the Castle of the Knights Templar in Ponferrada.

Rodabaugh visited three major cities — plus many small towns and villages — during her travels. The most famous were Pamplona, Burgos and Leon.

Her three experiences with travel involved first her partner, Todd Kline.

“Part of this for me was that I wanted to put myself out there a little more. I think I’m a little more introverted, he’s very social. It was a good time to just start off. We met all these great people from all over the world those first nine days,” said Rodabaugh.

Kline and Rodabaugh spent nine walking days together, beginning in St. Jean Pied de Port and traveling all the way to Najera.

During their guided tour of Pamplona, the two of them were even interviewed by one of the guides. The interview is available for view at: https://tinyurl.com/bdzzs589

PHOTO PROVIDED Rodabaugh stopped at the Cruz de Ferro, “Iron Cross,” where pilgrims traditionally leave rocks from their homes.

During this interview they were asked a few different questions regarding their reasoning and preparation for going on the Camino de Santiago, the sights they’d seen so far and their lives in the United States.

Once those nine days were up, Kline had to return to the United States to go back to work, but the days he spent with her were the perfect start to her pilgrimage.

For the next leg of the journey, 15 days, Rodabaugh traveled alone.

With Kline, the terrain was very mountainous according to Rodabaugh, “A lot of hills and elevation. When I was by myself it was kind of flat. If people are going to skip part of the camino, that’s the part they skip. They say it’s flat and boring, you’re going through farm fields. I found it beautiful. It was amazing.”

Because she was solo for this portion of the trip, it left a lot of time for reflection.

Rodabaugh said, according to one of the books read before her trip, “The three distinct geographical regions along the route correspond to three stages of personal growth often experienced along the journey — physical conditioning (your body) in the first third, emotional reflection (your mind) in the middle and spiritual awareness (your soul) in the final third.”

Her final experience with travel ended with her daughter, Jackie Rodabaugh, who joined her at Ponferrada for the final nine days of walking.

With her daughter, the two of them shared numerous experiences during their nine days together. Some of the most prominent experiences involved trying new foods. They tried foods out of their comfort zone, such as snails and octopus.

“We tried (the snails.) They actually were really good. They came in sauce and you dug them out with toothpicks. We also had pig cheek — they don’t let anything go to waste. We had octopus in Galicia, since that’s their speciality,” said Rodabaugh.

There were three landmarks that really stood out to Rodabaugh; Alto de Perdon, Fuente del Vino and Cruz de Ferro.

“These are the three things that stand out and are eventful,” explained Rodabaugh, “These are the things that most of the pilgrims come to see.”

The Alto de Perdon, “The Mount of Forgiveness,” is a series of metal sculptures that represent pilgrims who have gone on the journey. Rodabaugh described how the sculptures were up on the skyline and the trek it took to get there.

The Fuente del Vino, “Fountain of Wine,” is exactly as it sounds — a fountain of free wine! Historically, monks in this area would give pilgrims a glass of wine if they stopped at the monastery as the wine was seen as a restorative drink.

“This was the highlight of that day. We used our shell, poured the wine and drank it,” Rodabaugh described.

The Cruz de Ferro, “Iron Cross,” is a cross located along the Camino and is used as a symbol of the pilgrims journey. Traditionally, pilgrims are encouraged to bring a rock from home and leave it at the cross; many people leave messages behind on their rocks.

Rodabaugh placed a stone at the monument labeled “Nancy USA ’23” on one side and the other side said “Todd,” leaving behind a mark of their journey.

“You’re supposed to be able to leave your burdens behind when you do this. It was a really neat experience,” said Rodabaugh.

Rodabaugh had over a months worth of stories to tell, each one filled with gorgeous sights and the kind people she’d met. She kept a list of everyone she met by name in her travels, writing in her journal who they were and where they were from.

“I do feel like I had three very different experiences,” said Rodabaugh, “I started with Todd, and it was wonderful because we were trying to figure it out together. We had the best time. When I was by myself it was different. Very good for reflection. And then with Jackie we tried so many new things — it was just an incredible time.”

To add even more to Rodabaugh’s story of threes, she plans to go on the pilgrimage two more times — each time with her partner attending a different chunk of the journey.

“I always felt like three was my favorite number,” joked Rodabaugh.

As she reflected on the journey she’d taken, Rodabaugh had a few key “takeaways” from her experience; during her time on the Camino she had to learn to slow down, to go with the flow and learn to appreciate the world around her.

“Other than having children, it was the most amazing thing I’d ever done,” said Rodabaugh, “In the United States we’re always in a rush. We don’t have to be in a rush. I’m a planner, so I had to trust that it’s all going to work out. It took me a few days to go with the flow. That was really big for me. Everybody was so nice and so accommodating. That’s the one thing I have to say about the people I met. They were so incredibly kind and accommodating. They would go out of their way for you,” said Rodabaugh. “There were people from all over the world — all ages — doing this. We were all together.”

“My hope is that somebody will read about my experience and say, ‘I want to do that, too.’ I think a lot of people don’t know about the Camino. It’s not for everyone — it’s not a vacation — but it’s a great experience,” said Rodabaugh.

PHOTO PROVIDED Rodabaugh is seen at right, posing in front of the pilgrimage’s destination: the Santiago de Compostela.