Should only those following God embark on a pilgrimage?

In deciding to walk the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage from France to Spain I found myself in an atheist dilemma

Jessica Reed
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 5 September 2012 03.30 EDT

I am facing an atheist dilemma. How ethical is it to go on a pilgrimage when one doesn't believe in God?

I first heard about the Camino de Santiago years ago, when a family friend attempted the 800-mile trek from Le Puy-en-Velay in France to Santiago de Compostela in Spain, in the middle of one our harshest winters. He walked through blizzards in the desolate plains of the Aubrac, crossed the snowy Pyrenees, and after months of perilous hiking, finally made his way to the holy city's cathedral, where the remains of Saint James are supposedly buried. Not being religion-minded in the slightest, I did briefly admire his grit but didn't pay his journey the attention it deserved. After all, why would someone put himself through such misery – the bitter cold sticking to your bones, the aching feet suffering through daily eight-hour ordeals, the less than luxurious shared accommodation along the way? He was probably, I thought, indulging a dark sadistic streak, maybe some kind of Jesus complex. I left it at that.

Fast forward to last summer. I listened to one of my favourite French radio programmes, in which the host interviews a range of guests about their greatest love story. In this episode, the interviewee recounted her pilgrimage – a three-month affair started in eastern France, all the way to Santiago. She had met her partner in a village bar along the way, and they decided to keep on walking together. The story, while being a blindingly obvious metaphor for life's mysterious ways, was brilliant, and I found myself thinking about it often. A few months later, I stumbled upon the movie The Way, starring Martin Sheen. While it's certainly not award-winning material, the landscapes, coupled with the gruelling hiking effort shown on screen, appealed to me. I started to think the Camino was something I wanted to attempt.

This is how I found myself visiting the Basilica of Saint Martin in Tours during a recent trip back home to France. Many roads lead to Santiago, and Tours is one stop among many. There, in preparation for my trip, I was able to buy my credencial – a piece of paper pilgrims present to every albergue (hostel) along the way, where it is duly stamped (think of it as a pilgrim's passport). Upon reaching Santiago, the credencial is examined by the pilgrim's office. If it looks kosher, the office issues the exhausted but jubilant pilgrim a compostela, proof of the journey's completion.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2012/sep/05/god-pilgrimage-camino-santiago-atheist-dilemma