Imagine traveling across the globe for a solo trek across Portugal and Spain. You have nothing with you but a backpack and a (really) good pair of shoes. Every
year, thousands of people across the globe do just that, they make their way to Portugal where they embark on a journey that has been taken by countless others for thousands of years.
The Caminos de Santiago is an ancient pilgrimage 
that began in the 9th century. For thousands of years, people have walked one of its many routes to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Spain. In 2025, our very own Senior Events & Marketing Director, Marissa Bower became one of those pilgrims.
Though most days our Events & Marketing team is in the office working behind the scenes, being outside in nature, being active and pushing the limits on what they think they are capable of is still something they live by. For Marissa, this adventure was the adventure of a lifetime.
In Porto, Portugal, if you look closely, you will find worn yellow arrows encrusted in cobblestone. It is here, on the morning of September 1, 2025 where Marissa began her 10-day, 182 mile journey to Santiago, Spain.
There are about 50 different routes to choose from to complete this trek, but the
Marissa chose was medley of urban, village and rural walking, as well as hiking and choosing that route led to the creation of an incredible community. Other people from all around the world, wearing the same shell she was given at the start of her journey, came and went throughout the duration of the 10 days.
Although there were some stretches of time where Marissa walked alone, she frequently walked with new friends she made along the way. Each day she checked in periodically with those on her same route, catching up to them, stopping for a coffee, and collecting stamps along the way to present at the 
cathedral at the end of her trek in order to receive her Compostela (the confirmation that you completed the trail).
Because she signed up to do this adventure solo, even though she was walking alongside others off and on, everyone’s journey is different. So, while she started and ended at the same locations as others on her route, her experience in between was uniquely her own. Marissa explained this feeling of walking alone while also walking with others as similar to what one might feel walking Green Lake. Some people start and end exactly where and when you do on the trail, while others pop in and out, or you might see them twice and then not again.
Every year, Marissa likes to challenge herself by doing something that scares her. Once she decided this was something she wanted to do, she signed up and bought her plane tickets, locking in her goal. From there she began to carefully map out her training schedule. She spent the entire summer preparing for her trek in her neighborhood, on the Burke Gilman Trail and the Sammamish River Trail.
Walking with weight and increasing her mileage throughout the summer, mimicking a long day of walking made stepping on that first arrow less daunting. This walk, when she first signed up, felt huge and even a little overwhelming, but because of her dedication and approach to training, by the time she stepped on that yellow arrow, she knew she could do it.
While the 10 days spent walking across Portugal and Spain were no doubt exhausting and met with challenges along the way, every morning, Marissa woke up feeling ready to walk. Most days began at 6:30am and would end between 4:00pm and 6:00pm, and on the longest day the 182 mile journey, she walked 30 miles for 55,000 steps!
Whether it is skiing for the first time, or trekking 182 miles across Portugal, hearing stories about our participants, volunteers and staff members pushing themselves to do extraordinary things is a huge part of what drives our organization forward. While our adventures might be unique to our individual experiences, the feeling of accomplishing something great is universal. It teaches us that we as humans are capable of so much more than we know. Buen Camino!
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