The Way, My Way (2024) Movie Script
[Bill] It all started
on that holiday in Spain.
I saw this line of hikers
walking along this track,
and I was curious.
They seemed to be walking
with such purpose.
It reminded me of lemmings
plodding mindlessly
headlong to their death.
So you can't tell me directly
why you've made the walk?
[Bill] Later on,
I got talking to some of them,
and I discovered they were walking on
an ancient pilgrimage route across Spain,
some 800 kilometers or so.
They called it
the Camino de Something-or-other.
[grunts]
They're pilgrims.
Pilgrims? I thought they died out
in the Middle Ages.
Apparently not.
I asked, "Why are you doing it?"
None of them could give me
a straight answer.
Why are you so interested?
[engine starting]
[Bill] I remember driving off,
thinking, "What a bunch of loonies.
What a totally futile
and meaningless thing to do."
And it immediately appealed to me.
At that moment, I just knew
that I had to walk the Camino de Santiago.
[Bill] I got back home to Australia
and I started training.
I even found a staff I liked,
all gnarled and knotty.
I had this vague notion
that one day, I'd like to walk the Camino.
This vague notion
soon became a compulsion,
and that compulsion
soon became an obsession.
It was like
water building up behind a dam.
And then one day,
the dam burst, and I decided to do it.
I became obsessed
with the weight of my backpack.
I was going to be walking 800 kilometers,
carrying everything I needed
for a month or more on my back.
So the weight of my pack was a big deal.
[scales beep]
What are you doing?
I'm just weighing my stuff.
You're weighing your underpants
on my kitchen scales.
[Bill] This is Jennifer, my wife.
We've been married 41 years,
and she still manages
to scare the living daylights out of me.
But they're clean.
I've got to weigh all this stuff.
I've got to get it down to 7.8 kilograms.
Why?
Because that's 10% of my body weight.
I weigh 78 kilograms.
And that's the ideal weight, 10%,
for your pack.
But I need all of this.
And this weighs 12.4 kilograms.
So 12 kilograms?
No, 12.4 kilos to be exact.
Well, let's just round it down to 12,
shall we?
Okay, then.
And you want to take all of this?
Yep, that's it.
And the ideal weight for your backpack
is 10% of your body weight?
10%, that's right.
Okay, then it's simple.
It is?
Of course.
Just eat more.
Get your body weight up to 120 kilograms,
and then you can take everything.
You've got six days. You can do it.
[Bill] Did I mention
that my wife delights in mocking me?
A couple of days out from leaving,
I did a test run,
a 35-kilometer walk with full backpack.
But being the personality type that I was,
I pushed it,
and an old knee injury flared up.
- [man] G'day.
- Hey.
- [man] Need a lift, mate?
- No, no, I'm in training.
Training?
Yeah, I'm gonna walk
the Camino de Santiago.
It's an 800-kilometer pilgrims' walk
in Spain.
Pilgrim walk?
What are you, a God-botherer?
No, no, I haven't got
any religious affiliations.
Apart from the footy club.
Go, the Swannies!
800 Ks?
You've got a bit of a limp there, mate.
- You reckon you'll make it?
- Oh, yeah, that'll come good.
What, by walking 800 Ks?
Yeah, my wife reckons I'm mad.
Mate, you're not mad.
You're a bloody idiot.
You know you're mad, don't you?
Oh, it just flares up now and then.
It'll come good, don't worry.
Now, you're sure
you don't want to come with me?
No, I can't think of anything
more ghastly.
Ghastly?
Walking all that way
and sleeping in bus shelters?
I'm not gonna sleep in bus shelters.
Well, as good as.
No, darling, this is your thing.
I don't need to walk
all that way across Spain to find myself.
I'm not going there to find myself.
Then why are you doing it?
Um, I'll have to get back to you on that.
Like I said, you're mad.
[Bill] Mmm.
- Now, I want you to promise me something.
- Mmm.
I want you to promise me
that you'll ease into this,
that you won't attack it
like you do everything else,
like a bull in a china shop.
[Bill grumbles]
Yes, I promise, sweetheart.
No, don't "I promise, sweetheart" me.
Now, there's this place called Orisson.
It's 8 K into your first day of the walk.
I want you to stay there that night.
Yeah, but you look at the next section,
it tells you
where the official first overnight is,
and that's at Roncesvalles, which
That's over the top of the Pyrenees,
and it's 24.5 Ks,
and it's got an elevation height
of 1,234 meters.
That's exact.
And Orisson is 8 K, and that's exact.
Yeah, but 8 Ks is a nothing walk.
But I want you to ease into it.
Now, promise me.
Bill, promise me.
All right.
I promise I'll go as far as Orisson
on the first night.
- Thank you.
- Mmm-hmm.
I'm hoping, after this walk, this Camino,
that I won't have to
apologize for you anymore.
[airplane whooshing]
[Bill] Economy.
Jeez, who flies economy?
Those seats weren't seats,
they were cans
made for little tiny sardines.
Someone ought to take out a class action.
Now, where are my three taxi shares?
- Oh.
- [man] Are you Bill?
- Yeah.
- I'm Balazs.
- Balazs.
- Nice to meet you finally.
You too. Yeah.
But you look look look, uh,
little older than in the pictures.
Oh, yes.
Well, I've just flown economy class.
Terrible. Terrible.
You're also limping.
Yeah. Well, no, that's a bit of cramp.
- I got that from the plane.
- I see.
That'll ease off.
That's not a problem at all.
Yeah, my wife insisted that I fly economy.
She said, "You want to be a pilgrim?
Well, you fly economy class."
That's what she's like. Monstrous.
- Long journey, but finally you are here.
- Oh, yes. That's good, yeah.
So amazing we can share a taxi
with people around the world like you.
- And here comes Laszlo, yeah.
- Hi.
- Hello, Bill.
- [Bill] Laszlo.
- But you are old.
- Oh, no, I don't hug. [groans]
[laughs]
- Nice to meet you.
- Nice nice to meet you.
Yeah, very good.
It's it's it's good, good.
Good to see you.
Yeah.
- Well, we just need one more.
- Rosa.
- Rosa.
- Rosa.
How she looks like, you know?
Well, I've spoken to her by email
a couple of times.
She's Dutch.
Most Dutch women sort of wear clogs and
- Big hips. They ride bicycles--
- Are you Bill?
- Oh.
- I'm Rosa.
- [chuckles]
- Rosa, lovely.
- Hi. Ah.
- Exactly how I thought you'd look.
You are, um, older than I thought.
- Oh, yes, yes.
- Your Facebook photo
- It was an old one, yes. [chuckles]
- Hmm.
- Maybe like 15 years old.
- Yeah, yes.
[Laszlo] Hello.
- Hi.
- My name is Laszlo.
- Nice to meet you.
- [Balazs] Hello, Rosa.
Balazs. Nice to meet you.
- We spoke on Facebook.
- Finally, personally. Yes.
Ah, good. Let's get the taxi.
[laughter]
[Bill] Tell me, Balazs,
what do you do for a living?
[Balazs] I used to be a restaurateur,
- but now I work in trading.
- Ah.
I make most of my money
from speculation these days.
- [Rosa] Mmm.
- [Bill] Ah. Investment? Share trading?
Not really. Not really.
In the past years,
I've been doing day trading
and it's it's it's tough.
And, Rosa, what do you do?
- I'm a copywriter and a journalist.
- Ah.
But right now I'm kind of in between jobs.
[Bill] In between jobs. Ah, yeah.
And Laszlo, what about you?
- [Laszlo] I'm architect.
- [Bill] Ah.
[Laszlo] Yes, I'm working
in a small architect firm in Hungary.
Oh.
So, Bill, what do you do for work?
I'm a filmmaker.
I've been a filmmaker for
Oh, what are we now?
Since 1970.
[Balazs] I was not even born in 1970.
[laughter]
So, we catch up later, maybe, for a drink?
- Yeah. Okay.
- Okay, down there in the bar.
- See you.
- See you.
- See you.
- See you.
- [Bill] Oh, please.
- [Rosa] Mmm.
- [bell clanks]
- Oh.
So this is home for the night.
Hmm. Basic.
No, it's lekker. It's nice.
[grunts]
Do they have
a turn-down service? [chuckles]
- That's a joke. [chuckles]
- Sorry? Okay. [chuckles]
You got your Credencial? Pilgrim passport?
- I need a staff.
- Okay.
Oh, broom handles.
I need something more gnarled and knotty.
Gnarled and knotty.
Reflects the romance of the pilgrim.
"Romance of the pilgrim."
- There. See?
- Ah, I see.
St. James. See the staff?
- [Rosa] Mmm.
- Yeah.
I'm using poles.
I hate those. They're too technical.
And they're not gnarled and knotty.
No, they're not.
They're not gnarled and knotty.
- I want that.
- Well, good luck with it.
Ah!
[Laszlo] Oh, look. Oh, there is Bill.
- [Rosa] Bill!
- Bill, here we are.
- Ah!
- Come on, join us.
- Hey.
- [Balazs] Sit here.
[Bill] Mmm, beer. Oh, dear.
- Nice to see you.
- You too.
- The staff.
- I got my stick.
My staff, my
- It's a very, very
- Stylish.
- good-looking.
- It is.
- [Balazs] It looks very nice.
- I like it.
Not so good for your knee.
- What?
- Not so good for your knee.
Yes, it is. It supports the knee.
I've been walking with it today.
It's good.
- It's really good.
- I prefer poles.
- [Laszlo] Me too.
- Oh, no, too technical.
[Laszlo] Much better.
But it doesn't have
any of the romance, does it?
I mean, this I'll walk this walk.
This pole
will be very important in my life.
So what would you like to drink?
Um, I think I'll have a ros.
Chateau Minuty or Domaines Ott.
- Chateau Minuty.
- Minuty.
But you are from Australia.
Don't you drink beer?
- You all drink beer.
- [chuckles]
I don't drink beer. Never drunk beer.
Why?
- We all drink drink beer.
- Oh, well--
- Peregrinos drink beer.
- Yeah.
- We've been drinking beer.
- I just don't.
- Chateau Minuty.
- No. In the Camino, everybody drinks beer.
Well, I don't drink beer
because the only place
you drink beer in Australia is in a pub,
and pubs are dirty and smelly,
- and they're full of yobbos.
- Yobbo?
What what is yobbo?
- [Rosa] It's
- Oh, very undesirable, loud,
um, noisy
What did you say?
It says here, "A yobbo is a loud-mouthed,
badly dressed Aussie male."
That's it. Exactly that.
We have a Hungarian word
that sounds similar.
- What's that?
- "Hobo."
- That's it.
- Hobo.
Like, yeah, the same.
Well, hobo, yobbo.
[Balazs] What's the difference?
I just don't like drinking with them.
There's no difference. Simple.
Ah. But there are no yobbos here.
But very good weissbier.
You should try.
I like drinking with the hobos
because they are good people.
- Hmm, maybe
- [others laughing]
I'll try a beer.
- Yeah.
- I'll try a beer. Ah.
- [waitress] Bonjour.
- Bonjour.
[in English] What can I get you, now?
Uh, I I will try a beer, thank you.
- Oh, wow.
- Okay.
- [Balazs] Bravo.
- Yes. Good.
So in the car, you were saying,
um, you are making movies.
Oh, yes, yes, yes.
I'm just putting together
a film about intuition.
[Rosa] So with your movies,
would we know any of them?
- [waitress] Your beer, sir.
- Thank you.
Well, I don't think so,
unless you really knew my mother.
[waitress] Enjoy.
I'll try this.
Would you like a photo of your group?
- Yeah.
- I was just going to ask if you'd do that.
- You're very kind.
- [Bill] Please, not too much headroom.
- [waitress] What do you mean by headroom?
- Not too much above the head.
No space here.
Okay. I'll try my best.
- [Bill] Thank you.
- Bien. All right.
Let's get together. Have a big smile.
Let's
That's correctly Cheese.
- Cheese.
- [camera clicks]
- [Bill chuckles]
- [waitress] I hope you're happy.
Yeah. Thanks.
[Laszlo] Yes, good.
[Bill] No, look, I don't know
how to explain this to you,
- but there is too much headroom here.
- [Laszlo] No, no, no. It is a good photo.
Please do as I say.
- But, uh, it's
- Just remember.
- All right.
- Right.
So, one more time.
Cheese. Smile.
And, monsieur, get a big smile too.
- [Bill] Oh, yeah.
- Okay.
All right.
Good this time. Cheese!
- [Bill and Balazs] Cheese.
- [camera clicks]
Okay. Voil, monsieur.
- No, I'm sorry--
- [waitress] No, no. That's it. No, no, no.
Oh, there's photographic proof here,
my dear.
Look, look.
There is too much headroom here.
[waitress] I'm sorry. That's it.
- I don't want to do this.
- Please. No, no, I
No. No, I don't want to
- I'm gone. I'm done.
- No. I'm ask--
- Please take the photo.
- I'm done!
- Try again.
- I'm out of here.
- Come on, please, just one more.
- Okay.
This time,
the last time,
and I'm sure I will get it right.
[Bill] Just remember,
not too much headroom.
Okay. Trust me on that.
I will remember. No more headroom.
Okay, so one more time. Cheese.
Smile. Okay, get ready.
One, two, three.
- [camera clicks]
- Done.
All right. And you know what?
This time, you are going to be happy.
No more headroom,
and this is going to be good for you.
- Bye.
- [Bill] Oh.
- Oh.
- Oh, well
- [Laszlo] Happy?
- [Balazs] What's it like?
Oh, yes. That's good. Yeah, very
I'll show you later.
That's really good, yeah.
- Okay, let's try this.
- And then enjoy the beer.
Bill, welcome.
- Welcome.
- Welcome.
- Bill, can I ask you a personal question?
- [Bill] Mmm.
Uh, do you snore?
No, I never snore.
'Cause tomorrow is a big day for us, and
- No.
- No? Okay. Okay.
[snoring loudly]
[groans, farts]
[sighs]
- [snoring continues]
- [sighs]
- Did you sleep well?
- [sighs] No, there was someone snoring.
[Bill] Oh, I didn't hear.
- Hmm. And they were farting.
- Oh, that's disgusting.
- [Balazs] Hey, Bill, Rosa. Good morning.
- Oh!
- How are you?
- Good. And you?
Thank you, thank you.
Did you have a nice sleep?
[Bill] I had a bit of jet lag.
- Yeah, that's normal.
- [Bill] Mmm.
And ready for a big walk to Roncesvalles?
Oh, uh, well, actually,
I'm only gonna go as far as Orisson
this morning.
Uh, I made a promise to my wife
that I would ease into the walk.
- I see.
- [Bill] Hmm.
To Orisson, that that
That's just a prissy walk.
[all chuckling]
[Bill] I'm going to get some breakfast.
Oh, really?
Yeah, we are going, hitting the road,
but buen camino.
We might see each other or not?
- Yeah.
- But
- I'll catch you soon.
- Ah, yes.
- Good-bye, Laszlo.
- Buen camino!
- [Bill cries out]
- [Balazs laughs]
[chuckles] I'll see you at the other end.
- See you, see you.
- Okay.
- Buen camino. Good luck.
- Don't push your knee.
- [Bill] Yep.
- [Rosa] Be careful.
[sighs]
[Bill] Eight kilometers to Orisson?
Hmm
I can't check in till 2:00 p.m.
Even going slowly
at four kilometers an hour,
the walk will take me two hours.
That leaves me five hours to kill.
Now, what am I gonna do for five hours?
Hmm, she looks like she's got a story.
Not a very happy one too, most probably.
I wonder why she's walking the Camino.
Bonjour, monsieur.
What can I get you today?
Oh, you work here as well.
I'm everywhere.
So, tell me.
Um, caf, croissant.
Okay, I'll go do that.
- Uh, just a minute.
- What?
Oh, I want to ask you a question.
No, no, no. No more headroom.
No more photos today.
- No, no, no. I want to ask you a question.
- Oh, okay.
If you were married to someone
for 41 years
and you promised them that you would
ease into the Camino and stop at Orisson,
and not complete the first official stage
to Roncesvalles,
despite knowing that would undermine
the integrity of every cell in your body,
what would you do?
Well, to start with,
I don't think I want to get married
with you for 41 years.
- Okay. I get your breakfast.
- [hesitates] Answer the question.
Well, if you ask the question,
then, by asking the question,
you have got your answer.
Just by asking your question, okay?
I take care of your breakfast.
God, I hate French existentialism.
[exhales sharply]
[Bill] Now,
what's your intuition telling you?
Do you keep your promise to your wife
and violate your manhood?
Laszlo's right.
Eight kilometers is a prissy walk.
You are not a prissy, Bill.
Crikey, how many pilgrims have walked
through these gates over the centuries,
starting the Camino,
just like me?
Ah! Could you take a shot for me?
Oh. Okay.
Not too much headroom.
[camera clicks]
Oh, come back. Just a minute.
There's too much headroom.
Oh. No, I will keep walking, okay?
Sorry, sir.
[Bill clears throat]
[Bill] I'm not a patient man.
If someone were to describe me
in one word,
"patient" would not be that word.
It would more likely be "boofhead."
There's no way I'm gonna hang around here
for five hours.
I can't even shop.
Anything I buy
will put my pack over the 10%.
There, I've done it. I've left town.
I'm gonna do the full stage,
and I'll deal with Jennifer later.
[Bill panting]
[Speaking French]
This is not the right road.
Ah, bonjour, madame. Bonjour, monsieur.
Bon morning!
[Bill] The knee's a niggle,
but not a problem.
It's a beautiful morning.
Hey, how good is this!
I'm walking the Camino de Santiago.
- [sheep bleating]
- [shepherd whistles]
[camera clicking]
Bonjour.
- [woman] Are you doing the Camino, sir?
- [Bill] Yep.
You're on the wrong way.
You have to go to Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port.
[Bill] Crikey.
How did I get that so wrong?
That's 3.6 kilometers
I've added to my day.
Ah! Great.
Right. I guess I'd better call Jennifer
and tell her I decided
not to ease into it.
Jeez.
Okay, brave up, Bill.
You've done these calls before.
The trick is to find the right balance
between wretched pathos
[exhaling]
and righteous indignation.
- Hey, Siri.
- [Siri chimes]
Call Jen.
[Bill] If you get the balance right,
you might just get a reprieve.
And if you don't, she'll screech so loud
you'll probably sustain
permanent hearing loss.
[line ringing]
- Hi, sweetie.
- [Jennifer] Hi, sweetie.
How was the albergue?
Did you get a good night's sleep?
Oh, we had a snorer in the room.
I didn't sleep all night.
And along with the jet lag, I'm buggered.
Then have a sleep, you duffer.
See if you can get early check-in
at the hotel.
[Bill] Ah, I'll hit her up first
with some wretched pathos.
Yeah, and then I took a wrong turn.
I had to walk an extra 3.6 Ks.
And that with the jet lag [grunts]
I'm just exhausted.
Well, it's a good thing you've only got
a short walk today to Orisson.
You must nearly be there by now.
Uh [clears throat]
Yeah, look, about that
Bill, you are walking to Orisson?
- Well, about--
- About what?
I I kind of decided--
You decided what?
To go to Roncesvalles.
Bill, you promised me.
[hesitates] Yeah, it's just that--
It's just that what?
I'm not gonna do a prissy walk!
[screaming]
[sighs]
Jen?
Sweetie?
Oh, look, that's really good, isn't it?
This is the first day of my pilgrimage.
I'm on a sacred walk to pay homage
to the relics of a saint, no less.
And you're going to spoil this
this whole thing
with your ugly, negative energy.
How could you do that?
Okay, Bill.
I was just hoping
that you would come back a changed man.
Oh, I'm a changed man.
Last night, I drank beer.
Good, darling.
Are you all right?
I think, um, I hurt my feet.
[groans softly]
Ah.
Oh, that's a hot spot.
That'll turn into a blister.
- Yeah, I knew, thank you.
- You know why?
It's because your pack's too heavy.
That's 20%, I bet.
You're only supposed to have your pack
at 10% of your body weight.
Now, you're a skinny sort of fella.
How much do you weigh?
None of your business.
Uh Well, your socks aren't right either.
They're supposed to be merino,
and you're supposed to have a sock liner.
A sock liner's very important.
And you really can't do a pilgrimage
in disco shoes.
No, this is a pilgrimage. You need
You need better, proper hiking boots.
And you see how they're tied?
Now, how would you remember that?
I tell you, take a picture of it
so that you can tie yours like this.
You've got a camera.
You've got your phone. Get your phone.
- [man] Okay.
- Take a picture.
- Do it. That's it. Come on.
- [camera clicks]
- [man] Got it.
- There you are. You're all set up.
Now, when you get your new hiking boots,
you can just look at your photo.
- [man] Yeah.
- See you later.
[man] See you.
Oh, wait.
What?
I think there's too much headroom in here.
[softly] Pathetic!
- [panting]
- [stick thudding]
[Laszlo singing in Hungarian]
[singing continues]
- Laszlo.
- Oh. Hi, Bill.
- [Bill] Hey.
- [chuckles]
[Bill] Water. [laughs]
[Laszlo] Oh.
- Here.
- Oh.
- Oh, no. It's empty.
- Oh.
[Bill groans softly]
But I have some. Let me see.
Yeah.
You need some water of mine?
[Bill] Uh
- I have some left.
- Thank you.
Oh, no. No.
Oh, please. We are very close.
Thanks.
That's good.
- Not worried about germs?
- [laughs] I don't care.
[sighs] It's good.
[Laszlo] You didn't stop at Orisson.
I thought you made a promise to your wife.
[Bill] Oh, no.
She's absolutely fine with it.
Ah, the Virgin of Orisson.
[sings loudly in Hungarian]
[singing continues]
[sighs]
[singing continues]
- [Laszlo] Hey!
- [Rosa] Bill!
[Laszlo] Ho, ho. Hey, hey!
- [Balazs] Hey, Bill!
- [Bill] Hey.
- [Balazs] You're here.
- [Rosa] Hi!
[Bill] II walked slowly,
but I finally got here.
- [Balazs] Whoo-hoo!
- [Laszlo] Hey!
[Rosa] Wow! You made it.
- [Laszlo] Ho!
- [Balazs] Hey! It feels good.
[all laugh]
- [Balazs] Hey!
- [Rosa] Hi!
- Come here.
- Nice to see you.
I didn't think we would see you again.
How about your knee? How is it?
[Bill laughs]
- [Laszlo] Oh, my God.
- [Bill grunts] Oh!
- [laughs]
- [Rosa] Thank God.
[woman speaks French]
- Ah.
- Bon voyage.
Merci. Bon voyage.
[exhales deeply]
[door shuts]
[Bill] Seems to be the only seat left.
Do you mind?
I'm Bill, from Australia.
Cristina from Sevilla.
Do you know what time dinner's served?
Do you mind
if I ask you something personal?
How much does your backpack weigh,
and what is your body weight?
[Cristina huffs]
Hmm.
[line ringing]
- Hey, sweetheart.
- [Jennifer] Hi, sweetie.
It's the hardest thing
I've ever done in my life.
But I did it.
How are you feeling? How's the knee?
Oh, well, it's sore, but it'll come good.
Well, if it's sore,
you should take a break.
Give it a rest.
No, no. I don't want to stop.
I'm gonna finish this.
Okay.
Sweetheart
I'm a pilgrim.
[chuckles]
[Bill] Ooh, the knee's not that good
after the big climb yesterday.
Nah. It'll come good once I warm up.
[grunts, screams]
[winces, grunts softly]
[straining]
[Cristina] Are you okay?
- I just banged my knee.
- Oh, my
[groans] Thank you.
[Bill grunts, groans]
You okay?
Yeah, thank you. I'll be good.
Do you want me to carry your bag?
No, thank you. I'll be all right.
- You sure?
- Yeah.
If you could just pass me my pole,
wherever it is.
Thank you so much.
- You okay?
- Yeah. Thank you.
Yeah, good now. Thank you.
- Okay.
- All right.
[Bill exhales deeply]
- Hey, Bill!
- Bill!
- Hello!
- Hey!
- Hello!
- Amazing you're here. How is the knee?
No, it's not so good.
I took a bit of a fall.
Oh.
You have to have that looked at.
It doesn't look good. It's pretty swollen.
Let's put some ice on it.
Flash towel.
What did that set you back, 50, 75 euros?
Ah, come on. Doesn't matter.
How am I supposed to walk with that?
Walk with that? You're crazy.
You need at least three days of rest,
or even a week.
And you are not going to make it
with that stupid wooden stick.
You need trekking poles.
Yes, Bill, you need trekking poles.
I said it.
[laughs]
[Bill] You can laugh all you like, fellas.
There's no way I'm getting trekking poles.
[laughter continues]
These are the sticks
that are going to take you to Santiago.
No. They're not for me. Mmm-mmm. No.
[Balazs] It's so simple to use.
And did you know that these take off
25% of your body weight from your knee?
Going up, using your upper body,
and then on the way down,
just not slipping,
helps you not slip down.
Let me demonstrate how it works.
Believe me. Look.
[Laszlo] It's very easy.
You see?
Santiago from here without knee problems.
Give it a try, please.
Give it a try.
Beautiful stick.
Practical.
- [Bill] Whoa!
- [others laugh]
[Balazs] Come on, Bill.
- [Laszlo] Bill, you can do it.
- [Balazs laughs]
[Laszlo] Just walk natural.
[Balazs] Walk natural. Yes, yes.
Walk natural.
[Rosa] Hi!
- [Balazs and Laszlo] Hey.
- Hello.
Hello, Rosa.
Oh, trekking poles.
Gone over to the dark side, Bill.
[Bill] I was forced to because of this.
Listen. Listen to this.
- [bones cracking softly]
- [Bill] Hear that?
- May I?
- Mmm.
[bones cracking softly]
That is bone on bone, Bill.
You have no, um
Cartilage.
- Yeah.
- Mmm.
You will not be able to walk,
even with poles.
You will need a new knee, a
- Replacement?
- Yeah.
Mmm.
Mmm.
You will not be able
to continue your Camino.
We'll see about that.
Oh, oh, my lifesaver!
Oh, empty glass can be
Ah, Balazs, you are the best.
- [Rosa laughs]
- [Laszlo] Let's do.
[Rosa] No more.
- [Laszlo] It's good.
- [Balazs] Lighten up. [laughs]
Laszlo, why are you doing this Camino?
It was a very, very sudden decision
for me to to do this.
Because I I was in very, very bad shape.
In what way were you in a bad shape?
Uh, I was in bad shape in my body.
I was in bad shape in my mind.
I was in bad shape with my with my faith.
I had some girlfriends.
And I I wanted to have a family.
And always I was the second man in
[Bill] What do you mean, the second man?
That, um
if the woman has to choose
between somebody and me,
I was always the second.
And, um
And, um
Uh, I I know that, um
Why, like, um
How I look.
So, uh
I wanted to change.
- [Bill] Rosa.
- [Rosa] Hi. [chuckles]
Why are you walking the Camino, Rosa?
I've walked part of the Camino before,
but I think doing the full journey
for me will be, uh
Yeah, maybe very spiritual
and profound, yeah.
What about you?
What's your reason to walk the Camino?
I don't know why I'm doing this walk.
I don't know.
I want to let the walk give me the answer.
And I'm hoping that
by asking people who are doing the walk,
what answers they found,
it might open the door to answers for me.
I've never really experienced the openness
that I'm finding on this walk
that allows me to talk to people
who were perfect strangers.
And now we talk
as if we are the closest relatives.
Or not even relatives.
Just the closest friends.
There's things you
I find in my head, things that
Already, things that, uh
are pushing the confusion up there
to the side.
But I don't have an answer yet.
I don't have an answer.
But I think I will find it.
My wife is really ill.
She's She has cancer, metastatic cancer.
A cancer that already metastasized.
And, uh
She's concentrating.
She's deeply into that.
She's concentrating on on
on, uh
getting better, healing, just
- But
- [Bill] She's accepting death?
No, she's not accepting.
And she doesn't know how to to
to do that.
There are things that you cannot control,
that you can accept,
and learn, and grow taller, and and
and accept that that life is about, uh
That whatever is born is going to die.
And, uh
[Rosa] You okay?
[exhales]
- [whispers] Hey, Bill. Good morning.
- Oh.
- How are you? How is your knee?
- It's good.
- Better?
- Yeah, a lot better.
Well, hopefully.
The pills I gave you last night
I brought you some.
Take two.
- Three times a day, but no more.
- Mmm-hmm.
You can get a heart attack at your age.
[chuckles]
What do you mean, at my age?
And the coffee. The coffee.
I'll take it.
Are you sure you don't want that?
And this is a cream also.
No, no, no need.
Don't need. Don't need it.
Oh, that's good of you. Thank you.
Two pills, three times a day.
- And no more.
- Mmm.
- Okay?
- Mmm.
- Got to go with Laszlo.
- Okay.
- Otherwise we won't arrive at next stop.
- Mmm.
- See you there.
- Take care of yourself.
Be nice to your knee.
- Three days' rest at minimum, okay?
- Mmm-hmm.
My friend. My friend.
- Buen camino.
- Buen camino for you too.
- Yes.
- Bill, bye.
Buen camino.
Ah.
[Bill] Balazs. Balazs!
- Your towel.
- Oh.
- You got to keep that one.
- That's expensive.
Promise me to ice your knee.
- That's what I leave for you.
- Oh.
- Promise me to ice your knee.
- I will, thank you. Thank you.
I'll take a quick photo?
- Oh, yeah.
- Oh, yes, yes.
- Okay.
- Thanks.
Let's have a look.
And there
Okay.
Oh.
Closer together, please.
All right.
- [camera clicks]
- Hey. Great. Thank you.
- Adis.
- Adis.
- Adis. See you.
- Mmm-hmm. Yeah.
[grunts softly]
[grunts]
Excuse me.
I'm gonna need to stay a few more nights.
Impossible.
Are you a pilgrim?
I am a pilgrim.
If you are pilgrims, you must walk.
I'm a pilgrim and I'm walking,
but I've got a bad knee,
and I need to rest for three days.
Only one more night.
Only one more night, okay?
Tomorrow I call the taxi
at 6:00 in the morning
to take you to the train station, okay?
Hmm, okay.
One more night only.
[door opens]
[door slams]
[Bill] No. I'm not doing it.
I didn't come all this way
to go home early.
I came here
to walk with my two new best friends.
[chuckles]
My trekking poles.
Ah.
Whoa.
[thunder rumbling]
[Bill] Crikey,
this next stretch into Burgos
is 9-odd kilometers of highways
and industrial zones, traffic and fumes.
[sighs]
[Bill] It'll wreck my knee even more.
Hey, pilgrim.
- What is happening?
- Buongiorno!
Oh.
I have the little rest for my leg here.
[man] Ah, yeah.
I saw before, limping so much.
Oh.
- Where are you from?
- Could we sit
- Please.
- for a short break?
- Please. Do sit.
- Thank you.
[woman] What's your name?
Bill. What's your name?
- Giovanna.
- Giovanna.
- So nice to meet you.
- Nice to meet you.
- And my name is Ivan.
- Ivan.
- Ivan.
- Oh.
What are you looking for?
The way to Burgos?
- Burgos.
- [both] Ah.
The coming into Burgos here. Look.
It's just along this, you know,
along the main road here.
There'd be traffic. It's just
I don't think
that walking on this surface,
hard surface, and trucks and cars
I'm I'm not looking forward to it.
- Yes.
- Is it possible for you?
[chuckles] But I knew a
An easy way to Santiago
because I did it, uh, last year
with some friend,
and I took a beautiful way
through the landscape
along the river to Burgos.
The way is not marked.
Can you show me?
[Ivan speaking Italian]
- [in English] Hey, Bill!
- Hey.
Come on. Come on and join us.
We will just look out for you.
[Bill] Oh, perfect timing.
[Ivan] It's very beautiful this way.
- [Giovanna] It's not so far this way.
- [Bill] Uh-huh.
[Bill grunts softly]
We are entering Burgos.
- Wow. Beautiful.
- Whoa.
What about your pain?
Oh, it'll be good.
It'll be all right tomorrow.
Just rest it tonight. It'll be good.
Will you take a taxi tomorrow?
No, no, no, no. I won't take a taxi.
- I want to be a true pilgrim.
- [Ivan] Yeah.
- I'm going to walk it, with my bag.
- [Giovanna] By yourself.
[Ivan] Wow.
Hey, Bill, we are in time for dinner.
Will you join us later?
[Bill] Yeah. Thank you.
But first, I'll have to find an albergue.
[Ivan] That's okay. I will text you.
[Bill] Oh, my goodness. Look at that.
[Ivan] Beautiful, isn't it?
- [glasses clink]
- Cin cin.
- Italian style.
- Ay, that's it.
[Bill] Ah.
[Bill] Mmm.
- Mmm. Good.
- Oh.
- Good?
- [Bill] Good. I like that.
[Giovanna] Yeah.
I have to thank you.
I wouldn't be here today, here in Burgos,
if you hadn't helped me. You know that?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
You got me going again.
Why did you do that?
I did the Camino, um, one year ago.
And I met a Scottish lady,
and we chat, as usual.
But she's smiling,
and, uh, said to me,
"Don't worry, I know this way.
It's a beautiful new way."
- Ah.
- More
Two steps more,
we are entering
the square of the cathedral.
Great.
And then, "Thank you, Elizabeth."
[Bill] Mmm.
And that was it? Did you see her again?
- "You are my angel," I said.
- Oh.
- Really happy.
- Well, you are my angel.
You are my Both of you are my angel.
Yeah, and, um, when I went home,
I told Giovanna this story, and she said
Ah, I believe that everyone has an angel,
because I grew up with my grandmother
[Bill] Mmm.
who used to say,
"Every boy, when he's born, has an angel."
And, uh, I believe in the angel, yes.
How would you describe a true pilgrim?
I have a lot of rules about
being a true pilgrim.
But the first is
you have to walk with your heart open,
in your hand.
Your heart.
- Heart.
- Right. Yeah.
With your heart open, in your hand.
- Open, in your hand.
- Yeah.
You have to listen to your heart. Yeah.
And do you find that, Giovanna?
And a true pilgrim
doesn't take a taxi.
[laughs]
[all laughing]
I don't take a taxi, Giovanna.
I walk.
I'm a true pilgrim.
- [folk music playing nearby]
- [lively conversations]
Oh.
[indistinct conversations continue]
- [folk music continues]
- [people laugh, cheer]
[man] Whoo-hoo!
- [Bill] Ah!
- [woman] Welcome, welcome!
[people cheering]
Whoa.
Open! Here.
- [people cheer]
- Wow! Oh, me too!
Just a second.
Oh, yeah, yeah. Take that away.
Oh, gracias.
- Salud!
- Salud!
- [man] Arriba! Arriba!
- Arriba!
[people cheering]
- [man] Salud! Bravo!
- [cheering continues]
[man] Oh, my God.
Wow!
Fantastico. Oh, gracias.
Buen camino! Buen camino!
[people cheering]
[man] Bravo! [laughs]
[man] Ay, ay, ay!
Gracias, seor.
[man] Thank you!
- Oh!
- [man 2] Hey!
[people cheering]
Hola!
[man] Toro!
- [Bill] Come on!
- [man] Whoo-hoo!
[laughs]
- [folk music continues playing]
- [Bill chuckles]
Be careful.
Just be careful.
Because I will
- Ha-ha!
- [pokes door]
[dog barking]
[Bill] Oh, crikey.
I've got the Meseta coming up.
Two hundred kilometers of flat plains
with very few villages in between.
How's my knee going to handle that?
I wonder how Balazs and Laszlo are doing.
[Bill reciting]
[text message chimes]
Ooh, Balazs, that was quick.
[reading]
Hmm.
Ah, I hate emojis, but he's cool.
Meet cool with cool.
What's he saying now?
[reading]
[reciting]
[reading]
[huffs] Crikey.
He's nearly five days ahead of me.
And if he's leaving the 4th of May,
at my pace, there's no way
I can get to Santiago in that time.
- Hey, Bill!
- Oh!
What are you doing here?
Hey!
- Hey.
- [both laugh]
- Oh!
- Ah, Giovanna!
It's impossible to be here.
But you took a taxi.
No! [laughs]
No, I didn't take a taxi. I walked.
- [Ivan] Are you sure?
- [Bill] Yes!
What about your pain?
- Oh, it's okay.
- Ah, yes?
- Yes, it's good.
- [Giovanna] Ah.
[Ivan] Look up there.
- Up at the top, over there.
- [Bill] Ah.
[Ivan] They started
the beginning of the Meseta.
Very hard.
It's very hard to pass through the Meseta.
But, Bill, I know because you
Your pain disappear.
- [Bill] Ah!
- Because you are going to die.
What?
Yes.
How am I going to die?
One, uh One Italian priest, last year,
told me the Camino
was made up of three stages.
The first stage was like life,
with a lot of high and low emotion,
with a lot of, uh, joy.
- I can see that.
- Yeah.
The second stage was the Meseta.
- [Bill] Uh-huh.
- Very hard.
Where is, uh Where there
is death.
Yeah, absolutely nothing.
Two hundred kilometers of nothing.
But if you are able to pass the Meseta,
you meet the third stage of the Camino.
The rebirth.
As you reach Santiago,
after you have passed all the trouble,
you are ready.
You are reborn as a new man.
- [Bill] Uh-huh.
- Yeah.
[Bill] Hey, so you're telling me
that up there on the Meseta is death?
[wind howling]
Up there is death.
[Bill] Well, after you.
- Bye, Bill.
- [Bill laughs] Bye.
- We will see you up there.
- Bye, Bill.
[Bill] Yeah. Bye.
- Hey, Bill!
- Hey, Bill!
- Come on.
- [Bill laughs]
- Ah!
- Would you like something?
I'm feeling good.
I'm I'm gonna keep going.
- Okay, Bill.
- [Giovanna] Oh!
- Buen camino.
- Buen camino, Bill.
I don't know if Bill is a crazy man
or a stupid man.
Ah, I think he's a stupid man.
[both laugh]
[Bill grunts]
- Bill, I thought you would have gone home.
- Hey, Rosa. [laughs]
- Ooh!
- How is your knee?
Oh, it's it's good. It's really good.
I'm just going to go
and try and get a bed.
Don't bother. They've been
turning people away all afternoon.
I'll ask them. I'll ask.
I can't believe you got a bed.
Oh. Well, I asked without fear.
Maybe that's the reason.
I'd sleep anywhere tonight.
I could sleep under a tree
or in a paddock.
It doesn't matter to me.
Really?
I thought you liked
your creature comforts.
Big movie director,
five-star hotels, all that.
I'd be grateful for a bed anywhere.
- [man speaks other language]
- [Rosa, in English] Thank you.
Have you seen Balazs or Laszlo?
Hmm, not from Laszlo,
but Balazs is powering through.
He's maybe four or five days ahead of us,
but he's got to get back to Hungary
on the 4th.
Yeah, Balazs is fit and young.
I used to be young and fit once.
- You're doing okay.
- Hmm.
I need to catch up with him
and give him back a towel.
A towel?
Yeah, a very high-tech, expensive towel
that I could use to put on my knee
and put ice on my knee, and, uh
and I need to get that back to him.
- In Santiago?
- In Santiago.
You're joking, right?
No, I'm not joking.
So you want to walk another 427 kilometers
on a knee that would put
most people in hospital,
just to give a man you met
two or three times
a towel that cost him,
what, 60 euro, 70 euro?
That's ridiculous.
Oh, he was very generous
and very kind to me,
and I need to return that generosity.
By returning a towel
that he's probably forgotten about?
This has nothing to do with a towel.
This is about ego.
You want to show him
that you're not old and past it.
And you want to show yourself too.
This is about ego, male ego.
No, I need something
to see me through this.
Otherwise, I could easily give up.
Finally, honesty.
Good.
But I still think
there's some male ego in there.
- Maybe.
- [laughs]
[Bill] What a perfect visual metaphor
for me on the Camino,
going slowly with its pack on its back.
Hmm. Too much headroom.
- [autofocus beeps]
- Ah, good.
- Perfect headroom.
- [shutter clicks]
[man speaking German, frantic]
Oh my God! Is he dead?
[continues speaking German]
- [in English] What's wrong?
- [man] Mister, you're not dead?
Oh, you are not dead.
[Bill] What's wrong?
We thought you were dead.
- Oh. Ow!
- I help you.
- Come on up.
- [Bill] Thank you.
I've never felt so alive in all my life.
Glad you're not dead.
Great. Group hug. Give me a hug.
- [laughter]
- [man speaks German]
[grunts]
- [woman calls in distance]
- [dog barks]
[clears throat]
[shutter clicks]
[faucet running]
[Bill] I shaved this morning.
The thing is,
I shaved with a cheap, disposable razor.
I haven't used a cheap, disposable razor
since I first grew whiskers.
But when you walk the Camino,
everything comes down to weight.
Plastic disposable razor blades
weigh next to nothing.
At home, I use a razor
which requires a battery
to make it vibrate
to give me a closer, smoother shave.
Its blade isn't just one blade,
but four blades,
with an aloe vera stripe
to ensure that I never have a shaving cut
and my cheeks
are as smooth as a baby's bottom.
I mention this because
as I set out on my walk this morning,
I'm asking myself,
when did my life become
four blades instead of one?
Where has the simplicity gone?
- The Camino demands simplicity.
- [faucet running]
So you're forced
to look at everything you have, and ask,
"Is it absolutely necessary?"
Because your possessions are your burden.
[sighs]
- [Bill] Buenos das.
- [waitress] Buenos das.
[Bill] Doble espresso, por favor, y
- A grande sac of hielo?
- Mmm-hmm.
[in English] Ice.
- Gracias.
- Mmm-hmm. [speaks Spanish]
[Bill] Hmm.
How many is that I've taken today?
Ah, what the hell.
I've got a climb to O Cebreiro coming up.
Hi. How you doing, pilgrim?
Oh, I got a bung knee.
And that, uh
that's supposed to be a bigger challenge
than the first day up to Roncesvalles,
according to Brierley.
Well, I just go slowly.
Little by little,
poco a poco, as the Spaniards say,
and that's how I get up the hills.
If you don't mind me saying so,
I wouldn't take too many of these pills.
They might kill you.
Well, anyway, if I'm gonna get up there,
I better get going.
I'll see you at the top,
and we'll have a drink.
- Buen camino.
- [exhales]
[Bill] Yeah, well,
thanks for the advice, old fella.
[man whistles cheerfully]
[Bill] I'd worry about my own health
if I were you.
[Bill] Oh, crikey. Here's that old fella.
We haven't even started to climb
and he's knackered. [laughs]
- Oh, you going okay?
- Oh, hello again.
Everything's fine. I'm just taking in
this magnificent scenery.
Look at it. It's wonderful.
You sure you're going okay?
- Brand-new. Everything's fine.
- That's good.
I'd like to stop and chat,
but I've got to crack on, you know?
Got to keep going at my own pace.
I'll see you at the top.
I'll buy you a beer.
[Bill] I should really hang back
and walk with him.
Make sure he gets to the top
without carking it.
Ah, he'll be fine.
[panting]
Hi there.
Can't stop. Need to walk at my own pace.
I'll see you at the top.
I'll buy you a beer.
[exhales]
Bill, well done.
And well done to you too, sir.
How's the knee?
Sore, but the the drugs things, you know,
that seems to keep the pain down.
You know, we talk about being driven.
I've been driven my whole entire life.
And, you know,
I ended up a career chief executive,
wife, two beautiful children,
perfect life.
But like a swan,
my wee legs were going ten to the dozen
- And nothing was happening?
- underneath
- Oh, yes.
- underneath, to keep me going.
- Yeah.
- And I became aware
that this image that people had of me,
of the successful chief executive,
the successful father of the family,
the ideal family and so forth,
actually wasn't the case.
And I actually discovered
This is a very memorable moment,
where I realized that
if the people who love me
stopped loving me,
if the stock market crashed
and I had no money in the bank
and no pension fund to rely on,
if my house burned down and I discovered
I hadn't renewed the insurance,
then I could pack a few belongings,
two pairs of socks,
two two pairs of underpants,
two T-shirts, et cetera, in a rucksack,
and be very happy
walking on the Camino de Santiago.
And that gave me
a tremendous feeling of reassurance
and empowerment
that's never left me, actually.
[Bill] Uh-huh, uh-huh.
You know, I found myself crying one day
because I was
I was reliving childhood memories.
It's not something
that men find easy to talk about,
I've discovered,
but I was sexually abused as a child
for far too long,
- and I never told anybody.
- Oh, dear.
- This was a huge secret, of course.
- Yeah.
I dealt with it much later in life,
but it's a powerful
It sits inside you, I suppose.
Extreme Extremely damaging memories.
But we deal with them.
And I discovered through walking
that I could just be myself.
I think the message
I got through walking was
if we don't forgive ourselves,
we're not going to forgive other people.
And I had to realize that,
actually, I'm a human being.
- Yes.
- With all my
With all my faults and foibles,
as well as my good points.
In many ways,
we're all in the same lifeboat
- [laughs]
- sailing towards Santiago.
Only we are walking to Santiago
- Yes.
- and not sailing.
- Safe journey as you go forward.
- Thank you.
[toasting in Scottish Gaelic]
- [Cristina] Hi.
- Hmm.
- Hey, Siri, call Jen.
- [Siri chimes]
[line ringing]
[call drops]
[grunts softly]
[footsteps approaching]
- It's incredible you keep going.
- What do you mean?
I thought when you fell that time,
you would go home.
Oh, no, that's not an option.
[Bill chuckles]
You're a stubborn man, no?
Well, I need to finish this here.
Look, if I start anything,
I have to finish it.
Hmm.
Good.
Hmm. What about you?
I've seen you
going into a lot of churches.
Are you are you doing this walk
for religious reasons?
Not really.
What then?
For forgiveness.
Forgiveness for what,
if you don't mind me asking?
Because I'm a bad person.
Oh, I don't think you're a bad person.
You don't know me.
That's true, I don't,
but I'm a very good judge of character.
I don't see you as a bad person.
I've killed a man.
You have?
And now I seek forgiveness.
How did you come to kill him?
[sighs] It's an ugly story. [sniffles]
I see this, uh, Camino
as an 800-kilometer-long cathedral.
You know, all cathedrals
have confessional booths.
And the booth on this Camino
is the trails we walk
and the conversations
that we hold with strangers.
We unburden ourself to them, you know,
we tell them our our deepest fears,
the things that we are most ashamed about,
things that
you'd never consider telling anybody else.
Because
we're free here.
Then we walk away.
And we feel lighter.
We feel healed in some way.
Simply by releasing something
that's been bottled up inside.
Hmm?
I met him when I was young.
He was charming.
Very handsome.
Very rich.
He was married.
He adored me.
He he brought me gifts.
Jewelry, clothes. [sniffles]
And
And I became his mistress.
I didn't ask
I didn't ask anything from him.
Just his love.
And he loved me.
He loved his wife too.
And his beautiful children.
I was never jealous.
Never.
[sniffles]
I didn't ask him to leave them for me.
I was happy.
And he was happy too.
What I didn't know was that
he was stealing.
He was stealing to pay for me.
And for our lifestyle.
He was stealing from his charity.
That made his shame greater.
Mine too.
He killed himself.
[Cristina sobbing]
He left his wife and children penniless.
Of course they hate me.
And they blame me.
And they call me "whore."
Perhaps I am.
Nothing more than a whore.
And then I I
I discovered that I I was sick.
So I've just come to believe that
God has chosen to punish me
by by poisoning my blood.
Which is as it should be.
Because I've poisoned
many other people's lives.
I deserve it.
And now
I walk the Camino
to seek forgiveness for my sins
before I die.
Is that it?
What do you mean?
Well, is that all you did?
Isn't that enough?
I've killed a man.
No, you didn't. He
[laughs] Don't be silly.
He killed himself.
Because of his shame and guilt.
He was a thief and a philanderer.
You're not responsible for his death.
I know a lot of people
who've done far worse things
than have an affair with a married man.
They haven't come down with cancer
or whatever it is you've got.
No.
God's not punishing you.
You're punishing you.
You're making yourself sick.
With your guilt.
Forgive yourself.
That's what you need to do.
Forgive yourself.
And then you might find that
you'll get better.
Oh.
It's it's impossible.
All the doctors say that I cannot.
Ah, I don't believe the doctors.
If you believe what the doctors say,
you'll die.
No, don't believe them.
This is the Camino.
Miracles happen all the time.
- [chuckles]
- Ah, yes.
Yeah.
Forgive yourself.
[whispering] And ask for a miracle.
- Hey, Siri. Call Jen.
- [Siri chimes]
[line ringing]
[call drops]
- Hey, Siri.
- [Siri chimes]
- Call Jen.
- [Siri chimes]
[line ringing]
[call drops]
[sighs]
[panting]
[exhales]
Oh, hello.
I didn't expect to see you again.
I didn't expect to see you again too.
[chuckles] Ah.
New boots.
- Yeah, I bought a new one.
- [thunder rumbles]
I tied it like you say,
like the photo we took.
Oh, good. Are you well?
Yeah, I'm very well. And you?
Oh, I'm not. In fact, I'm wretched.
I've got to get to Santiago
by 5:00 p.m. tomorrow
to return a towel
to a bloke who gave it to me.
But I don't think I'll get there.
What's the importance of that towel?
Well, it's expensive.
But you can post it, right?
No, I want to give it to him personally.
Why?
Well, I just do.
You don't have to suffer
to be a pilgrim, right?
Well, believe me,
I don't want to be in pain,
but I have to do it.
Look, have you had breakfast?
I just have the coffee.
Let me buy you breakfast.
Should we take a selfie?
- Sure, yeah. Yeah.
- Okay.
- Okay.
- In my pocket.
- Here.
- It's okay with you?
Yeah, yeah. That'll be good. Thank you.
So, three, two, one.
[camera clicks]
That's all right? Not much headroom?
Oh, don't worry about the headroom.
[laughs] That's good.
Okay.
[exhales]
[vehicle beeping outside]
[clears throat]
[truck beeping]
[grunts]
[exhales deeply]
[Laszlo] Hey, Bill.
Hey, is that you?
Oh! Oh, Laszlo! Hey.
I'm in hurry because Rosa and Balazs
wait for me at the cathedral at 5:00 p.m.
- Okay.
- Okay.
Right.
You can be there?
- Yeah, I'll see you there.
- Yeah, yeah.
- See you, see you.
- Fine. Yep, yep.
[Bill coughs]
[exhales, mutters indistinctly]
[Bill grunts]
[Bill] Oh, my God.
It's the spire of the cathedral.
I'm almost there.
I've done it.
I've done it.
- [voice breaking] Uh, Siri. Call Jen.
- [Siri chimes]
[line ringing]
[groans]
[cell phone ringing]
Hello, darling?
[grunts]
- Bill?
- [sniffles]
Bill, what's the matter?
Oh!
Bill, is something wrong?
I'm sorry.
What are you apologizing for?
Um
For being such a horrible person.
And such a terrible father. Um
For always putting work
before you and the kids.
For putting myself first.
I
I've been selfish
and demanding
and controlling and insecure.
Um
So much anger and resentment and fury.
Uh, I've let you down so many times
and you've always stood by me.
And you
You've forgiven me.
Made excuses for me.
Anyone else would have left me years ago.
Bill, stop it.
You're not a horrible person.
You're a difficult man, absolutely.
You're demanding and difficult.
But you're also the kindest
and the most loving
and the most perfect person I know.
- Okay?
- [sniffles]
Of course you're a bit arrogant
and up yourself. It's okay.
I love you. Come on.
I love you very much.
Mmm.
Now you're sounding really, really tired.
I think you need
to take a day off walking.
Whereabouts are you now?
Uh
I can see the, uh,
cathedral in the distance.
That's incredible. [laughs]
You're just extraordinary.
Where are you?
I've been trying to call you
the last couple of days.
Oh, well, you know what I'm like.
I left my phone somewhere,
and I couldn't find it
and the battery went down and Anyway
[sniffles] Sweetie
I love you more than I can put into words.
I love you, too.
Everything's okay.
Bye.
[line disconnects]
Ah.
[exhales]
[Bill] No. I can't do this.
I can't finish.
I'm not ready.
Soon it will all be over.
What will I do then?
- [cathedral bell tolling]
- Who will I be?
[tolling continues]
[Bill] I guess I'd better find out.
[bagpipes playing slow melody]
- [Ivan] Bill! Hey, Bill!
- Oh! [laughs]
- I don't believe it. You made it.
- Ivan!
We get to Santiago!
- Let me hug you!
- [chuckles]
Good to see you.
- I said I'd get here.
- [Giovanna] Ah, Bill!
- Did you take a taxi?
- No, no. I did not take a taxi, Giovanna.
Bravo! [chuckles]
- No taxi.
- [Rosa] Bill!
- Hey!
- [Balazs] Hey, Bill! Unbelievable.
Balazs!
Look, look, look, look, look. For you.
- This is for you.
- Wow!
[all laugh]
- The towel. It's amazing.
- [Bill] The towel, yeah.
[all laughing]
Toro!
[Balazs] Incredible! How is your knee?
[Bill] It's good. The towel fixed it.
Along with about ten packets of pills.
[Balazs] You are crazy with this towel.
- You didn't have to do this.
- [Bill] I did.
- It's so good to see you.
- [Bill] And you.
Thank you.
[sighs deeply]
[Bill] What's the funniest thing
that you've seen on the Camino?
[Ivan] Probably when I saw you
for the first time.
- [laughter]
- [Bill] Mmm, mmm.
I saw a man with a red cap,
standing five minutes,
then limping,
then standing again five minutes.
I say to Giovanna,
"Hmm, this pellegrino
can't go to Santiago."
[Bill] Uh, well, you're wrong.
[laughter]
But then I meet you,
and we arrived in Santiago.
- [Bill] We're here, yep.
- [Giovanna] Yes.
- [Ivan] Salute!
- [all] Salute!
[laughter]
[Balazs] And he's drinking beer,
too, with hobos.
[laughter]
Bill.
[Bill grunts]
So why did I do it?
Hey.
Why did I put myself through all that?
Can you tell me, please, St. James?
[Jennifer] Mmm.
So I don't have to
apologize for you anymore.
[Bill chuckles]
[Jennifer] Mmm!
["Somewhere Along the Way
(the Camino Song)" by Dan Mullins playing]
El Camino roses
Santo Domingo crows
Believe you can
You're halfway there
Seven bells to four
Frighten off the horses
An old soul awakes
A lion's heart, an opening heart
And a soul as old as slate
Somewhere along the way
Somewhere along the way
I hope you find
What you're looking for
Somewhere along the way
Sellos on a soundboard
Beneath a field of stars
La familia growing
Crossing fields afar
Will you walk beside me?
Will you lead the way?
Footsteps by the fountain
Carry me away
Somewhere along the way
Somewhere along the way
I hope you find
What you're looking for
Somewhere along the way
How will I ever forget
The Spanish sunrise
The Spanish sunset
El peregrino cantante
The fullness of the moon
Prayers beneath the arches
Sunflowers in bloom
Words on parchment paper
Fill an empty room
I hope this blessing, such as it is
Finds you in full bloom
Somewhere along the way
Somewhere along the way
I hope you find
What you're looking for
Somewhere along the way
Somewhere along the way
Somewhere along the way
I hope you find
What you're looking for
Somewhere along the way
Somewhere along the way
Somewhere along the way
I hope you find
What you're looking for
Somewhere along the way
Somewhere along the way
Somewhere along the way
I hope you find
What you're looking for
Somewhere along the way
Somewhere along the way
Somewhere along the way
I hope you find
What you're looking for
Somewhere along the way
on that holiday in Spain.
I saw this line of hikers
walking along this track,
and I was curious.
They seemed to be walking
with such purpose.
It reminded me of lemmings
plodding mindlessly
headlong to their death.
So you can't tell me directly
why you've made the walk?
[Bill] Later on,
I got talking to some of them,
and I discovered they were walking on
an ancient pilgrimage route across Spain,
some 800 kilometers or so.
They called it
the Camino de Something-or-other.
[grunts]
They're pilgrims.
Pilgrims? I thought they died out
in the Middle Ages.
Apparently not.
I asked, "Why are you doing it?"
None of them could give me
a straight answer.
Why are you so interested?
[engine starting]
[Bill] I remember driving off,
thinking, "What a bunch of loonies.
What a totally futile
and meaningless thing to do."
And it immediately appealed to me.
At that moment, I just knew
that I had to walk the Camino de Santiago.
[Bill] I got back home to Australia
and I started training.
I even found a staff I liked,
all gnarled and knotty.
I had this vague notion
that one day, I'd like to walk the Camino.
This vague notion
soon became a compulsion,
and that compulsion
soon became an obsession.
It was like
water building up behind a dam.
And then one day,
the dam burst, and I decided to do it.
I became obsessed
with the weight of my backpack.
I was going to be walking 800 kilometers,
carrying everything I needed
for a month or more on my back.
So the weight of my pack was a big deal.
[scales beep]
What are you doing?
I'm just weighing my stuff.
You're weighing your underpants
on my kitchen scales.
[Bill] This is Jennifer, my wife.
We've been married 41 years,
and she still manages
to scare the living daylights out of me.
But they're clean.
I've got to weigh all this stuff.
I've got to get it down to 7.8 kilograms.
Why?
Because that's 10% of my body weight.
I weigh 78 kilograms.
And that's the ideal weight, 10%,
for your pack.
But I need all of this.
And this weighs 12.4 kilograms.
So 12 kilograms?
No, 12.4 kilos to be exact.
Well, let's just round it down to 12,
shall we?
Okay, then.
And you want to take all of this?
Yep, that's it.
And the ideal weight for your backpack
is 10% of your body weight?
10%, that's right.
Okay, then it's simple.
It is?
Of course.
Just eat more.
Get your body weight up to 120 kilograms,
and then you can take everything.
You've got six days. You can do it.
[Bill] Did I mention
that my wife delights in mocking me?
A couple of days out from leaving,
I did a test run,
a 35-kilometer walk with full backpack.
But being the personality type that I was,
I pushed it,
and an old knee injury flared up.
- [man] G'day.
- Hey.
- [man] Need a lift, mate?
- No, no, I'm in training.
Training?
Yeah, I'm gonna walk
the Camino de Santiago.
It's an 800-kilometer pilgrims' walk
in Spain.
Pilgrim walk?
What are you, a God-botherer?
No, no, I haven't got
any religious affiliations.
Apart from the footy club.
Go, the Swannies!
800 Ks?
You've got a bit of a limp there, mate.
- You reckon you'll make it?
- Oh, yeah, that'll come good.
What, by walking 800 Ks?
Yeah, my wife reckons I'm mad.
Mate, you're not mad.
You're a bloody idiot.
You know you're mad, don't you?
Oh, it just flares up now and then.
It'll come good, don't worry.
Now, you're sure
you don't want to come with me?
No, I can't think of anything
more ghastly.
Ghastly?
Walking all that way
and sleeping in bus shelters?
I'm not gonna sleep in bus shelters.
Well, as good as.
No, darling, this is your thing.
I don't need to walk
all that way across Spain to find myself.
I'm not going there to find myself.
Then why are you doing it?
Um, I'll have to get back to you on that.
Like I said, you're mad.
[Bill] Mmm.
- Now, I want you to promise me something.
- Mmm.
I want you to promise me
that you'll ease into this,
that you won't attack it
like you do everything else,
like a bull in a china shop.
[Bill grumbles]
Yes, I promise, sweetheart.
No, don't "I promise, sweetheart" me.
Now, there's this place called Orisson.
It's 8 K into your first day of the walk.
I want you to stay there that night.
Yeah, but you look at the next section,
it tells you
where the official first overnight is,
and that's at Roncesvalles, which
That's over the top of the Pyrenees,
and it's 24.5 Ks,
and it's got an elevation height
of 1,234 meters.
That's exact.
And Orisson is 8 K, and that's exact.
Yeah, but 8 Ks is a nothing walk.
But I want you to ease into it.
Now, promise me.
Bill, promise me.
All right.
I promise I'll go as far as Orisson
on the first night.
- Thank you.
- Mmm-hmm.
I'm hoping, after this walk, this Camino,
that I won't have to
apologize for you anymore.
[airplane whooshing]
[Bill] Economy.
Jeez, who flies economy?
Those seats weren't seats,
they were cans
made for little tiny sardines.
Someone ought to take out a class action.
Now, where are my three taxi shares?
- Oh.
- [man] Are you Bill?
- Yeah.
- I'm Balazs.
- Balazs.
- Nice to meet you finally.
You too. Yeah.
But you look look look, uh,
little older than in the pictures.
Oh, yes.
Well, I've just flown economy class.
Terrible. Terrible.
You're also limping.
Yeah. Well, no, that's a bit of cramp.
- I got that from the plane.
- I see.
That'll ease off.
That's not a problem at all.
Yeah, my wife insisted that I fly economy.
She said, "You want to be a pilgrim?
Well, you fly economy class."
That's what she's like. Monstrous.
- Long journey, but finally you are here.
- Oh, yes. That's good, yeah.
So amazing we can share a taxi
with people around the world like you.
- And here comes Laszlo, yeah.
- Hi.
- Hello, Bill.
- [Bill] Laszlo.
- But you are old.
- Oh, no, I don't hug. [groans]
[laughs]
- Nice to meet you.
- Nice nice to meet you.
Yeah, very good.
It's it's it's good, good.
Good to see you.
Yeah.
- Well, we just need one more.
- Rosa.
- Rosa.
- Rosa.
How she looks like, you know?
Well, I've spoken to her by email
a couple of times.
She's Dutch.
Most Dutch women sort of wear clogs and
- Big hips. They ride bicycles--
- Are you Bill?
- Oh.
- I'm Rosa.
- [chuckles]
- Rosa, lovely.
- Hi. Ah.
- Exactly how I thought you'd look.
You are, um, older than I thought.
- Oh, yes, yes.
- Your Facebook photo
- It was an old one, yes. [chuckles]
- Hmm.
- Maybe like 15 years old.
- Yeah, yes.
[Laszlo] Hello.
- Hi.
- My name is Laszlo.
- Nice to meet you.
- [Balazs] Hello, Rosa.
Balazs. Nice to meet you.
- We spoke on Facebook.
- Finally, personally. Yes.
Ah, good. Let's get the taxi.
[laughter]
[Bill] Tell me, Balazs,
what do you do for a living?
[Balazs] I used to be a restaurateur,
- but now I work in trading.
- Ah.
I make most of my money
from speculation these days.
- [Rosa] Mmm.
- [Bill] Ah. Investment? Share trading?
Not really. Not really.
In the past years,
I've been doing day trading
and it's it's it's tough.
And, Rosa, what do you do?
- I'm a copywriter and a journalist.
- Ah.
But right now I'm kind of in between jobs.
[Bill] In between jobs. Ah, yeah.
And Laszlo, what about you?
- [Laszlo] I'm architect.
- [Bill] Ah.
[Laszlo] Yes, I'm working
in a small architect firm in Hungary.
Oh.
So, Bill, what do you do for work?
I'm a filmmaker.
I've been a filmmaker for
Oh, what are we now?
Since 1970.
[Balazs] I was not even born in 1970.
[laughter]
So, we catch up later, maybe, for a drink?
- Yeah. Okay.
- Okay, down there in the bar.
- See you.
- See you.
- See you.
- See you.
- [Bill] Oh, please.
- [Rosa] Mmm.
- [bell clanks]
- Oh.
So this is home for the night.
Hmm. Basic.
No, it's lekker. It's nice.
[grunts]
Do they have
a turn-down service? [chuckles]
- That's a joke. [chuckles]
- Sorry? Okay. [chuckles]
You got your Credencial? Pilgrim passport?
- I need a staff.
- Okay.
Oh, broom handles.
I need something more gnarled and knotty.
Gnarled and knotty.
Reflects the romance of the pilgrim.
"Romance of the pilgrim."
- There. See?
- Ah, I see.
St. James. See the staff?
- [Rosa] Mmm.
- Yeah.
I'm using poles.
I hate those. They're too technical.
And they're not gnarled and knotty.
No, they're not.
They're not gnarled and knotty.
- I want that.
- Well, good luck with it.
Ah!
[Laszlo] Oh, look. Oh, there is Bill.
- [Rosa] Bill!
- Bill, here we are.
- Ah!
- Come on, join us.
- Hey.
- [Balazs] Sit here.
[Bill] Mmm, beer. Oh, dear.
- Nice to see you.
- You too.
- The staff.
- I got my stick.
My staff, my
- It's a very, very
- Stylish.
- good-looking.
- It is.
- [Balazs] It looks very nice.
- I like it.
Not so good for your knee.
- What?
- Not so good for your knee.
Yes, it is. It supports the knee.
I've been walking with it today.
It's good.
- It's really good.
- I prefer poles.
- [Laszlo] Me too.
- Oh, no, too technical.
[Laszlo] Much better.
But it doesn't have
any of the romance, does it?
I mean, this I'll walk this walk.
This pole
will be very important in my life.
So what would you like to drink?
Um, I think I'll have a ros.
Chateau Minuty or Domaines Ott.
- Chateau Minuty.
- Minuty.
But you are from Australia.
Don't you drink beer?
- You all drink beer.
- [chuckles]
I don't drink beer. Never drunk beer.
Why?
- We all drink drink beer.
- Oh, well--
- Peregrinos drink beer.
- Yeah.
- We've been drinking beer.
- I just don't.
- Chateau Minuty.
- No. In the Camino, everybody drinks beer.
Well, I don't drink beer
because the only place
you drink beer in Australia is in a pub,
and pubs are dirty and smelly,
- and they're full of yobbos.
- Yobbo?
What what is yobbo?
- [Rosa] It's
- Oh, very undesirable, loud,
um, noisy
What did you say?
It says here, "A yobbo is a loud-mouthed,
badly dressed Aussie male."
That's it. Exactly that.
We have a Hungarian word
that sounds similar.
- What's that?
- "Hobo."
- That's it.
- Hobo.
Like, yeah, the same.
Well, hobo, yobbo.
[Balazs] What's the difference?
I just don't like drinking with them.
There's no difference. Simple.
Ah. But there are no yobbos here.
But very good weissbier.
You should try.
I like drinking with the hobos
because they are good people.
- Hmm, maybe
- [others laughing]
I'll try a beer.
- Yeah.
- I'll try a beer. Ah.
- [waitress] Bonjour.
- Bonjour.
[in English] What can I get you, now?
Uh, I I will try a beer, thank you.
- Oh, wow.
- Okay.
- [Balazs] Bravo.
- Yes. Good.
So in the car, you were saying,
um, you are making movies.
Oh, yes, yes, yes.
I'm just putting together
a film about intuition.
[Rosa] So with your movies,
would we know any of them?
- [waitress] Your beer, sir.
- Thank you.
Well, I don't think so,
unless you really knew my mother.
[waitress] Enjoy.
I'll try this.
Would you like a photo of your group?
- Yeah.
- I was just going to ask if you'd do that.
- You're very kind.
- [Bill] Please, not too much headroom.
- [waitress] What do you mean by headroom?
- Not too much above the head.
No space here.
Okay. I'll try my best.
- [Bill] Thank you.
- Bien. All right.
Let's get together. Have a big smile.
Let's
That's correctly Cheese.
- Cheese.
- [camera clicks]
- [Bill chuckles]
- [waitress] I hope you're happy.
Yeah. Thanks.
[Laszlo] Yes, good.
[Bill] No, look, I don't know
how to explain this to you,
- but there is too much headroom here.
- [Laszlo] No, no, no. It is a good photo.
Please do as I say.
- But, uh, it's
- Just remember.
- All right.
- Right.
So, one more time.
Cheese. Smile.
And, monsieur, get a big smile too.
- [Bill] Oh, yeah.
- Okay.
All right.
Good this time. Cheese!
- [Bill and Balazs] Cheese.
- [camera clicks]
Okay. Voil, monsieur.
- No, I'm sorry--
- [waitress] No, no. That's it. No, no, no.
Oh, there's photographic proof here,
my dear.
Look, look.
There is too much headroom here.
[waitress] I'm sorry. That's it.
- I don't want to do this.
- Please. No, no, I
No. No, I don't want to
- I'm gone. I'm done.
- No. I'm ask--
- Please take the photo.
- I'm done!
- Try again.
- I'm out of here.
- Come on, please, just one more.
- Okay.
This time,
the last time,
and I'm sure I will get it right.
[Bill] Just remember,
not too much headroom.
Okay. Trust me on that.
I will remember. No more headroom.
Okay, so one more time. Cheese.
Smile. Okay, get ready.
One, two, three.
- [camera clicks]
- Done.
All right. And you know what?
This time, you are going to be happy.
No more headroom,
and this is going to be good for you.
- Bye.
- [Bill] Oh.
- Oh.
- Oh, well
- [Laszlo] Happy?
- [Balazs] What's it like?
Oh, yes. That's good. Yeah, very
I'll show you later.
That's really good, yeah.
- Okay, let's try this.
- And then enjoy the beer.
Bill, welcome.
- Welcome.
- Welcome.
- Bill, can I ask you a personal question?
- [Bill] Mmm.
Uh, do you snore?
No, I never snore.
'Cause tomorrow is a big day for us, and
- No.
- No? Okay. Okay.
[snoring loudly]
[groans, farts]
[sighs]
- [snoring continues]
- [sighs]
- Did you sleep well?
- [sighs] No, there was someone snoring.
[Bill] Oh, I didn't hear.
- Hmm. And they were farting.
- Oh, that's disgusting.
- [Balazs] Hey, Bill, Rosa. Good morning.
- Oh!
- How are you?
- Good. And you?
Thank you, thank you.
Did you have a nice sleep?
[Bill] I had a bit of jet lag.
- Yeah, that's normal.
- [Bill] Mmm.
And ready for a big walk to Roncesvalles?
Oh, uh, well, actually,
I'm only gonna go as far as Orisson
this morning.
Uh, I made a promise to my wife
that I would ease into the walk.
- I see.
- [Bill] Hmm.
To Orisson, that that
That's just a prissy walk.
[all chuckling]
[Bill] I'm going to get some breakfast.
Oh, really?
Yeah, we are going, hitting the road,
but buen camino.
We might see each other or not?
- Yeah.
- But
- I'll catch you soon.
- Ah, yes.
- Good-bye, Laszlo.
- Buen camino!
- [Bill cries out]
- [Balazs laughs]
[chuckles] I'll see you at the other end.
- See you, see you.
- Okay.
- Buen camino. Good luck.
- Don't push your knee.
- [Bill] Yep.
- [Rosa] Be careful.
[sighs]
[Bill] Eight kilometers to Orisson?
Hmm
I can't check in till 2:00 p.m.
Even going slowly
at four kilometers an hour,
the walk will take me two hours.
That leaves me five hours to kill.
Now, what am I gonna do for five hours?
Hmm, she looks like she's got a story.
Not a very happy one too, most probably.
I wonder why she's walking the Camino.
Bonjour, monsieur.
What can I get you today?
Oh, you work here as well.
I'm everywhere.
So, tell me.
Um, caf, croissant.
Okay, I'll go do that.
- Uh, just a minute.
- What?
Oh, I want to ask you a question.
No, no, no. No more headroom.
No more photos today.
- No, no, no. I want to ask you a question.
- Oh, okay.
If you were married to someone
for 41 years
and you promised them that you would
ease into the Camino and stop at Orisson,
and not complete the first official stage
to Roncesvalles,
despite knowing that would undermine
the integrity of every cell in your body,
what would you do?
Well, to start with,
I don't think I want to get married
with you for 41 years.
- Okay. I get your breakfast.
- [hesitates] Answer the question.
Well, if you ask the question,
then, by asking the question,
you have got your answer.
Just by asking your question, okay?
I take care of your breakfast.
God, I hate French existentialism.
[exhales sharply]
[Bill] Now,
what's your intuition telling you?
Do you keep your promise to your wife
and violate your manhood?
Laszlo's right.
Eight kilometers is a prissy walk.
You are not a prissy, Bill.
Crikey, how many pilgrims have walked
through these gates over the centuries,
starting the Camino,
just like me?
Ah! Could you take a shot for me?
Oh. Okay.
Not too much headroom.
[camera clicks]
Oh, come back. Just a minute.
There's too much headroom.
Oh. No, I will keep walking, okay?
Sorry, sir.
[Bill clears throat]
[Bill] I'm not a patient man.
If someone were to describe me
in one word,
"patient" would not be that word.
It would more likely be "boofhead."
There's no way I'm gonna hang around here
for five hours.
I can't even shop.
Anything I buy
will put my pack over the 10%.
There, I've done it. I've left town.
I'm gonna do the full stage,
and I'll deal with Jennifer later.
[Bill panting]
[Speaking French]
This is not the right road.
Ah, bonjour, madame. Bonjour, monsieur.
Bon morning!
[Bill] The knee's a niggle,
but not a problem.
It's a beautiful morning.
Hey, how good is this!
I'm walking the Camino de Santiago.
- [sheep bleating]
- [shepherd whistles]
[camera clicking]
Bonjour.
- [woman] Are you doing the Camino, sir?
- [Bill] Yep.
You're on the wrong way.
You have to go to Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port.
[Bill] Crikey.
How did I get that so wrong?
That's 3.6 kilometers
I've added to my day.
Ah! Great.
Right. I guess I'd better call Jennifer
and tell her I decided
not to ease into it.
Jeez.
Okay, brave up, Bill.
You've done these calls before.
The trick is to find the right balance
between wretched pathos
[exhaling]
and righteous indignation.
- Hey, Siri.
- [Siri chimes]
Call Jen.
[Bill] If you get the balance right,
you might just get a reprieve.
And if you don't, she'll screech so loud
you'll probably sustain
permanent hearing loss.
[line ringing]
- Hi, sweetie.
- [Jennifer] Hi, sweetie.
How was the albergue?
Did you get a good night's sleep?
Oh, we had a snorer in the room.
I didn't sleep all night.
And along with the jet lag, I'm buggered.
Then have a sleep, you duffer.
See if you can get early check-in
at the hotel.
[Bill] Ah, I'll hit her up first
with some wretched pathos.
Yeah, and then I took a wrong turn.
I had to walk an extra 3.6 Ks.
And that with the jet lag [grunts]
I'm just exhausted.
Well, it's a good thing you've only got
a short walk today to Orisson.
You must nearly be there by now.
Uh [clears throat]
Yeah, look, about that
Bill, you are walking to Orisson?
- Well, about--
- About what?
I I kind of decided--
You decided what?
To go to Roncesvalles.
Bill, you promised me.
[hesitates] Yeah, it's just that--
It's just that what?
I'm not gonna do a prissy walk!
[screaming]
[sighs]
Jen?
Sweetie?
Oh, look, that's really good, isn't it?
This is the first day of my pilgrimage.
I'm on a sacred walk to pay homage
to the relics of a saint, no less.
And you're going to spoil this
this whole thing
with your ugly, negative energy.
How could you do that?
Okay, Bill.
I was just hoping
that you would come back a changed man.
Oh, I'm a changed man.
Last night, I drank beer.
Good, darling.
Are you all right?
I think, um, I hurt my feet.
[groans softly]
Ah.
Oh, that's a hot spot.
That'll turn into a blister.
- Yeah, I knew, thank you.
- You know why?
It's because your pack's too heavy.
That's 20%, I bet.
You're only supposed to have your pack
at 10% of your body weight.
Now, you're a skinny sort of fella.
How much do you weigh?
None of your business.
Uh Well, your socks aren't right either.
They're supposed to be merino,
and you're supposed to have a sock liner.
A sock liner's very important.
And you really can't do a pilgrimage
in disco shoes.
No, this is a pilgrimage. You need
You need better, proper hiking boots.
And you see how they're tied?
Now, how would you remember that?
I tell you, take a picture of it
so that you can tie yours like this.
You've got a camera.
You've got your phone. Get your phone.
- [man] Okay.
- Take a picture.
- Do it. That's it. Come on.
- [camera clicks]
- [man] Got it.
- There you are. You're all set up.
Now, when you get your new hiking boots,
you can just look at your photo.
- [man] Yeah.
- See you later.
[man] See you.
Oh, wait.
What?
I think there's too much headroom in here.
[softly] Pathetic!
- [panting]
- [stick thudding]
[Laszlo singing in Hungarian]
[singing continues]
- Laszlo.
- Oh. Hi, Bill.
- [Bill] Hey.
- [chuckles]
[Bill] Water. [laughs]
[Laszlo] Oh.
- Here.
- Oh.
- Oh, no. It's empty.
- Oh.
[Bill groans softly]
But I have some. Let me see.
Yeah.
You need some water of mine?
[Bill] Uh
- I have some left.
- Thank you.
Oh, no. No.
Oh, please. We are very close.
Thanks.
That's good.
- Not worried about germs?
- [laughs] I don't care.
[sighs] It's good.
[Laszlo] You didn't stop at Orisson.
I thought you made a promise to your wife.
[Bill] Oh, no.
She's absolutely fine with it.
Ah, the Virgin of Orisson.
[sings loudly in Hungarian]
[singing continues]
[sighs]
[singing continues]
- [Laszlo] Hey!
- [Rosa] Bill!
[Laszlo] Ho, ho. Hey, hey!
- [Balazs] Hey, Bill!
- [Bill] Hey.
- [Balazs] You're here.
- [Rosa] Hi!
[Bill] II walked slowly,
but I finally got here.
- [Balazs] Whoo-hoo!
- [Laszlo] Hey!
[Rosa] Wow! You made it.
- [Laszlo] Ho!
- [Balazs] Hey! It feels good.
[all laugh]
- [Balazs] Hey!
- [Rosa] Hi!
- Come here.
- Nice to see you.
I didn't think we would see you again.
How about your knee? How is it?
[Bill laughs]
- [Laszlo] Oh, my God.
- [Bill grunts] Oh!
- [laughs]
- [Rosa] Thank God.
[woman speaks French]
- Ah.
- Bon voyage.
Merci. Bon voyage.
[exhales deeply]
[door shuts]
[Bill] Seems to be the only seat left.
Do you mind?
I'm Bill, from Australia.
Cristina from Sevilla.
Do you know what time dinner's served?
Do you mind
if I ask you something personal?
How much does your backpack weigh,
and what is your body weight?
[Cristina huffs]
Hmm.
[line ringing]
- Hey, sweetheart.
- [Jennifer] Hi, sweetie.
It's the hardest thing
I've ever done in my life.
But I did it.
How are you feeling? How's the knee?
Oh, well, it's sore, but it'll come good.
Well, if it's sore,
you should take a break.
Give it a rest.
No, no. I don't want to stop.
I'm gonna finish this.
Okay.
Sweetheart
I'm a pilgrim.
[chuckles]
[Bill] Ooh, the knee's not that good
after the big climb yesterday.
Nah. It'll come good once I warm up.
[grunts, screams]
[winces, grunts softly]
[straining]
[Cristina] Are you okay?
- I just banged my knee.
- Oh, my
[groans] Thank you.
[Bill grunts, groans]
You okay?
Yeah, thank you. I'll be good.
Do you want me to carry your bag?
No, thank you. I'll be all right.
- You sure?
- Yeah.
If you could just pass me my pole,
wherever it is.
Thank you so much.
- You okay?
- Yeah. Thank you.
Yeah, good now. Thank you.
- Okay.
- All right.
[Bill exhales deeply]
- Hey, Bill!
- Bill!
- Hello!
- Hey!
- Hello!
- Amazing you're here. How is the knee?
No, it's not so good.
I took a bit of a fall.
Oh.
You have to have that looked at.
It doesn't look good. It's pretty swollen.
Let's put some ice on it.
Flash towel.
What did that set you back, 50, 75 euros?
Ah, come on. Doesn't matter.
How am I supposed to walk with that?
Walk with that? You're crazy.
You need at least three days of rest,
or even a week.
And you are not going to make it
with that stupid wooden stick.
You need trekking poles.
Yes, Bill, you need trekking poles.
I said it.
[laughs]
[Bill] You can laugh all you like, fellas.
There's no way I'm getting trekking poles.
[laughter continues]
These are the sticks
that are going to take you to Santiago.
No. They're not for me. Mmm-mmm. No.
[Balazs] It's so simple to use.
And did you know that these take off
25% of your body weight from your knee?
Going up, using your upper body,
and then on the way down,
just not slipping,
helps you not slip down.
Let me demonstrate how it works.
Believe me. Look.
[Laszlo] It's very easy.
You see?
Santiago from here without knee problems.
Give it a try, please.
Give it a try.
Beautiful stick.
Practical.
- [Bill] Whoa!
- [others laugh]
[Balazs] Come on, Bill.
- [Laszlo] Bill, you can do it.
- [Balazs laughs]
[Laszlo] Just walk natural.
[Balazs] Walk natural. Yes, yes.
Walk natural.
[Rosa] Hi!
- [Balazs and Laszlo] Hey.
- Hello.
Hello, Rosa.
Oh, trekking poles.
Gone over to the dark side, Bill.
[Bill] I was forced to because of this.
Listen. Listen to this.
- [bones cracking softly]
- [Bill] Hear that?
- May I?
- Mmm.
[bones cracking softly]
That is bone on bone, Bill.
You have no, um
Cartilage.
- Yeah.
- Mmm.
You will not be able to walk,
even with poles.
You will need a new knee, a
- Replacement?
- Yeah.
Mmm.
Mmm.
You will not be able
to continue your Camino.
We'll see about that.
Oh, oh, my lifesaver!
Oh, empty glass can be
Ah, Balazs, you are the best.
- [Rosa laughs]
- [Laszlo] Let's do.
[Rosa] No more.
- [Laszlo] It's good.
- [Balazs] Lighten up. [laughs]
Laszlo, why are you doing this Camino?
It was a very, very sudden decision
for me to to do this.
Because I I was in very, very bad shape.
In what way were you in a bad shape?
Uh, I was in bad shape in my body.
I was in bad shape in my mind.
I was in bad shape with my with my faith.
I had some girlfriends.
And I I wanted to have a family.
And always I was the second man in
[Bill] What do you mean, the second man?
That, um
if the woman has to choose
between somebody and me,
I was always the second.
And, um
And, um
Uh, I I know that, um
Why, like, um
How I look.
So, uh
I wanted to change.
- [Bill] Rosa.
- [Rosa] Hi. [chuckles]
Why are you walking the Camino, Rosa?
I've walked part of the Camino before,
but I think doing the full journey
for me will be, uh
Yeah, maybe very spiritual
and profound, yeah.
What about you?
What's your reason to walk the Camino?
I don't know why I'm doing this walk.
I don't know.
I want to let the walk give me the answer.
And I'm hoping that
by asking people who are doing the walk,
what answers they found,
it might open the door to answers for me.
I've never really experienced the openness
that I'm finding on this walk
that allows me to talk to people
who were perfect strangers.
And now we talk
as if we are the closest relatives.
Or not even relatives.
Just the closest friends.
There's things you
I find in my head, things that
Already, things that, uh
are pushing the confusion up there
to the side.
But I don't have an answer yet.
I don't have an answer.
But I think I will find it.
My wife is really ill.
She's She has cancer, metastatic cancer.
A cancer that already metastasized.
And, uh
She's concentrating.
She's deeply into that.
She's concentrating on on
on, uh
getting better, healing, just
- But
- [Bill] She's accepting death?
No, she's not accepting.
And she doesn't know how to to
to do that.
There are things that you cannot control,
that you can accept,
and learn, and grow taller, and and
and accept that that life is about, uh
That whatever is born is going to die.
And, uh
[Rosa] You okay?
[exhales]
- [whispers] Hey, Bill. Good morning.
- Oh.
- How are you? How is your knee?
- It's good.
- Better?
- Yeah, a lot better.
Well, hopefully.
The pills I gave you last night
I brought you some.
Take two.
- Three times a day, but no more.
- Mmm-hmm.
You can get a heart attack at your age.
[chuckles]
What do you mean, at my age?
And the coffee. The coffee.
I'll take it.
Are you sure you don't want that?
And this is a cream also.
No, no, no need.
Don't need. Don't need it.
Oh, that's good of you. Thank you.
Two pills, three times a day.
- And no more.
- Mmm.
- Okay?
- Mmm.
- Got to go with Laszlo.
- Okay.
- Otherwise we won't arrive at next stop.
- Mmm.
- See you there.
- Take care of yourself.
Be nice to your knee.
- Three days' rest at minimum, okay?
- Mmm-hmm.
My friend. My friend.
- Buen camino.
- Buen camino for you too.
- Yes.
- Bill, bye.
Buen camino.
Ah.
[Bill] Balazs. Balazs!
- Your towel.
- Oh.
- You got to keep that one.
- That's expensive.
Promise me to ice your knee.
- That's what I leave for you.
- Oh.
- Promise me to ice your knee.
- I will, thank you. Thank you.
I'll take a quick photo?
- Oh, yeah.
- Oh, yes, yes.
- Okay.
- Thanks.
Let's have a look.
And there
Okay.
Oh.
Closer together, please.
All right.
- [camera clicks]
- Hey. Great. Thank you.
- Adis.
- Adis.
- Adis. See you.
- Mmm-hmm. Yeah.
[grunts softly]
[grunts]
Excuse me.
I'm gonna need to stay a few more nights.
Impossible.
Are you a pilgrim?
I am a pilgrim.
If you are pilgrims, you must walk.
I'm a pilgrim and I'm walking,
but I've got a bad knee,
and I need to rest for three days.
Only one more night.
Only one more night, okay?
Tomorrow I call the taxi
at 6:00 in the morning
to take you to the train station, okay?
Hmm, okay.
One more night only.
[door opens]
[door slams]
[Bill] No. I'm not doing it.
I didn't come all this way
to go home early.
I came here
to walk with my two new best friends.
[chuckles]
My trekking poles.
Ah.
Whoa.
[thunder rumbling]
[Bill] Crikey,
this next stretch into Burgos
is 9-odd kilometers of highways
and industrial zones, traffic and fumes.
[sighs]
[Bill] It'll wreck my knee even more.
Hey, pilgrim.
- What is happening?
- Buongiorno!
Oh.
I have the little rest for my leg here.
[man] Ah, yeah.
I saw before, limping so much.
Oh.
- Where are you from?
- Could we sit
- Please.
- for a short break?
- Please. Do sit.
- Thank you.
[woman] What's your name?
Bill. What's your name?
- Giovanna.
- Giovanna.
- So nice to meet you.
- Nice to meet you.
- And my name is Ivan.
- Ivan.
- Ivan.
- Oh.
What are you looking for?
The way to Burgos?
- Burgos.
- [both] Ah.
The coming into Burgos here. Look.
It's just along this, you know,
along the main road here.
There'd be traffic. It's just
I don't think
that walking on this surface,
hard surface, and trucks and cars
I'm I'm not looking forward to it.
- Yes.
- Is it possible for you?
[chuckles] But I knew a
An easy way to Santiago
because I did it, uh, last year
with some friend,
and I took a beautiful way
through the landscape
along the river to Burgos.
The way is not marked.
Can you show me?
[Ivan speaking Italian]
- [in English] Hey, Bill!
- Hey.
Come on. Come on and join us.
We will just look out for you.
[Bill] Oh, perfect timing.
[Ivan] It's very beautiful this way.
- [Giovanna] It's not so far this way.
- [Bill] Uh-huh.
[Bill grunts softly]
We are entering Burgos.
- Wow. Beautiful.
- Whoa.
What about your pain?
Oh, it'll be good.
It'll be all right tomorrow.
Just rest it tonight. It'll be good.
Will you take a taxi tomorrow?
No, no, no, no. I won't take a taxi.
- I want to be a true pilgrim.
- [Ivan] Yeah.
- I'm going to walk it, with my bag.
- [Giovanna] By yourself.
[Ivan] Wow.
Hey, Bill, we are in time for dinner.
Will you join us later?
[Bill] Yeah. Thank you.
But first, I'll have to find an albergue.
[Ivan] That's okay. I will text you.
[Bill] Oh, my goodness. Look at that.
[Ivan] Beautiful, isn't it?
- [glasses clink]
- Cin cin.
- Italian style.
- Ay, that's it.
[Bill] Ah.
[Bill] Mmm.
- Mmm. Good.
- Oh.
- Good?
- [Bill] Good. I like that.
[Giovanna] Yeah.
I have to thank you.
I wouldn't be here today, here in Burgos,
if you hadn't helped me. You know that?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
You got me going again.
Why did you do that?
I did the Camino, um, one year ago.
And I met a Scottish lady,
and we chat, as usual.
But she's smiling,
and, uh, said to me,
"Don't worry, I know this way.
It's a beautiful new way."
- Ah.
- More
Two steps more,
we are entering
the square of the cathedral.
Great.
And then, "Thank you, Elizabeth."
[Bill] Mmm.
And that was it? Did you see her again?
- "You are my angel," I said.
- Oh.
- Really happy.
- Well, you are my angel.
You are my Both of you are my angel.
Yeah, and, um, when I went home,
I told Giovanna this story, and she said
Ah, I believe that everyone has an angel,
because I grew up with my grandmother
[Bill] Mmm.
who used to say,
"Every boy, when he's born, has an angel."
And, uh, I believe in the angel, yes.
How would you describe a true pilgrim?
I have a lot of rules about
being a true pilgrim.
But the first is
you have to walk with your heart open,
in your hand.
Your heart.
- Heart.
- Right. Yeah.
With your heart open, in your hand.
- Open, in your hand.
- Yeah.
You have to listen to your heart. Yeah.
And do you find that, Giovanna?
And a true pilgrim
doesn't take a taxi.
[laughs]
[all laughing]
I don't take a taxi, Giovanna.
I walk.
I'm a true pilgrim.
- [folk music playing nearby]
- [lively conversations]
Oh.
[indistinct conversations continue]
- [folk music continues]
- [people laugh, cheer]
[man] Whoo-hoo!
- [Bill] Ah!
- [woman] Welcome, welcome!
[people cheering]
Whoa.
Open! Here.
- [people cheer]
- Wow! Oh, me too!
Just a second.
Oh, yeah, yeah. Take that away.
Oh, gracias.
- Salud!
- Salud!
- [man] Arriba! Arriba!
- Arriba!
[people cheering]
- [man] Salud! Bravo!
- [cheering continues]
[man] Oh, my God.
Wow!
Fantastico. Oh, gracias.
Buen camino! Buen camino!
[people cheering]
[man] Bravo! [laughs]
[man] Ay, ay, ay!
Gracias, seor.
[man] Thank you!
- Oh!
- [man 2] Hey!
[people cheering]
Hola!
[man] Toro!
- [Bill] Come on!
- [man] Whoo-hoo!
[laughs]
- [folk music continues playing]
- [Bill chuckles]
Be careful.
Just be careful.
Because I will
- Ha-ha!
- [pokes door]
[dog barking]
[Bill] Oh, crikey.
I've got the Meseta coming up.
Two hundred kilometers of flat plains
with very few villages in between.
How's my knee going to handle that?
I wonder how Balazs and Laszlo are doing.
[Bill reciting]
[text message chimes]
Ooh, Balazs, that was quick.
[reading]
Hmm.
Ah, I hate emojis, but he's cool.
Meet cool with cool.
What's he saying now?
[reading]
[reciting]
[reading]
[huffs] Crikey.
He's nearly five days ahead of me.
And if he's leaving the 4th of May,
at my pace, there's no way
I can get to Santiago in that time.
- Hey, Bill!
- Oh!
What are you doing here?
Hey!
- Hey.
- [both laugh]
- Oh!
- Ah, Giovanna!
It's impossible to be here.
But you took a taxi.
No! [laughs]
No, I didn't take a taxi. I walked.
- [Ivan] Are you sure?
- [Bill] Yes!
What about your pain?
- Oh, it's okay.
- Ah, yes?
- Yes, it's good.
- [Giovanna] Ah.
[Ivan] Look up there.
- Up at the top, over there.
- [Bill] Ah.
[Ivan] They started
the beginning of the Meseta.
Very hard.
It's very hard to pass through the Meseta.
But, Bill, I know because you
Your pain disappear.
- [Bill] Ah!
- Because you are going to die.
What?
Yes.
How am I going to die?
One, uh One Italian priest, last year,
told me the Camino
was made up of three stages.
The first stage was like life,
with a lot of high and low emotion,
with a lot of, uh, joy.
- I can see that.
- Yeah.
The second stage was the Meseta.
- [Bill] Uh-huh.
- Very hard.
Where is, uh Where there
is death.
Yeah, absolutely nothing.
Two hundred kilometers of nothing.
But if you are able to pass the Meseta,
you meet the third stage of the Camino.
The rebirth.
As you reach Santiago,
after you have passed all the trouble,
you are ready.
You are reborn as a new man.
- [Bill] Uh-huh.
- Yeah.
[Bill] Hey, so you're telling me
that up there on the Meseta is death?
[wind howling]
Up there is death.
[Bill] Well, after you.
- Bye, Bill.
- [Bill laughs] Bye.
- We will see you up there.
- Bye, Bill.
[Bill] Yeah. Bye.
- Hey, Bill!
- Hey, Bill!
- Come on.
- [Bill laughs]
- Ah!
- Would you like something?
I'm feeling good.
I'm I'm gonna keep going.
- Okay, Bill.
- [Giovanna] Oh!
- Buen camino.
- Buen camino, Bill.
I don't know if Bill is a crazy man
or a stupid man.
Ah, I think he's a stupid man.
[both laugh]
[Bill grunts]
- Bill, I thought you would have gone home.
- Hey, Rosa. [laughs]
- Ooh!
- How is your knee?
Oh, it's it's good. It's really good.
I'm just going to go
and try and get a bed.
Don't bother. They've been
turning people away all afternoon.
I'll ask them. I'll ask.
I can't believe you got a bed.
Oh. Well, I asked without fear.
Maybe that's the reason.
I'd sleep anywhere tonight.
I could sleep under a tree
or in a paddock.
It doesn't matter to me.
Really?
I thought you liked
your creature comforts.
Big movie director,
five-star hotels, all that.
I'd be grateful for a bed anywhere.
- [man speaks other language]
- [Rosa, in English] Thank you.
Have you seen Balazs or Laszlo?
Hmm, not from Laszlo,
but Balazs is powering through.
He's maybe four or five days ahead of us,
but he's got to get back to Hungary
on the 4th.
Yeah, Balazs is fit and young.
I used to be young and fit once.
- You're doing okay.
- Hmm.
I need to catch up with him
and give him back a towel.
A towel?
Yeah, a very high-tech, expensive towel
that I could use to put on my knee
and put ice on my knee, and, uh
and I need to get that back to him.
- In Santiago?
- In Santiago.
You're joking, right?
No, I'm not joking.
So you want to walk another 427 kilometers
on a knee that would put
most people in hospital,
just to give a man you met
two or three times
a towel that cost him,
what, 60 euro, 70 euro?
That's ridiculous.
Oh, he was very generous
and very kind to me,
and I need to return that generosity.
By returning a towel
that he's probably forgotten about?
This has nothing to do with a towel.
This is about ego.
You want to show him
that you're not old and past it.
And you want to show yourself too.
This is about ego, male ego.
No, I need something
to see me through this.
Otherwise, I could easily give up.
Finally, honesty.
Good.
But I still think
there's some male ego in there.
- Maybe.
- [laughs]
[Bill] What a perfect visual metaphor
for me on the Camino,
going slowly with its pack on its back.
Hmm. Too much headroom.
- [autofocus beeps]
- Ah, good.
- Perfect headroom.
- [shutter clicks]
[man speaking German, frantic]
Oh my God! Is he dead?
[continues speaking German]
- [in English] What's wrong?
- [man] Mister, you're not dead?
Oh, you are not dead.
[Bill] What's wrong?
We thought you were dead.
- Oh. Ow!
- I help you.
- Come on up.
- [Bill] Thank you.
I've never felt so alive in all my life.
Glad you're not dead.
Great. Group hug. Give me a hug.
- [laughter]
- [man speaks German]
[grunts]
- [woman calls in distance]
- [dog barks]
[clears throat]
[shutter clicks]
[faucet running]
[Bill] I shaved this morning.
The thing is,
I shaved with a cheap, disposable razor.
I haven't used a cheap, disposable razor
since I first grew whiskers.
But when you walk the Camino,
everything comes down to weight.
Plastic disposable razor blades
weigh next to nothing.
At home, I use a razor
which requires a battery
to make it vibrate
to give me a closer, smoother shave.
Its blade isn't just one blade,
but four blades,
with an aloe vera stripe
to ensure that I never have a shaving cut
and my cheeks
are as smooth as a baby's bottom.
I mention this because
as I set out on my walk this morning,
I'm asking myself,
when did my life become
four blades instead of one?
Where has the simplicity gone?
- The Camino demands simplicity.
- [faucet running]
So you're forced
to look at everything you have, and ask,
"Is it absolutely necessary?"
Because your possessions are your burden.
[sighs]
- [Bill] Buenos das.
- [waitress] Buenos das.
[Bill] Doble espresso, por favor, y
- A grande sac of hielo?
- Mmm-hmm.
[in English] Ice.
- Gracias.
- Mmm-hmm. [speaks Spanish]
[Bill] Hmm.
How many is that I've taken today?
Ah, what the hell.
I've got a climb to O Cebreiro coming up.
Hi. How you doing, pilgrim?
Oh, I got a bung knee.
And that, uh
that's supposed to be a bigger challenge
than the first day up to Roncesvalles,
according to Brierley.
Well, I just go slowly.
Little by little,
poco a poco, as the Spaniards say,
and that's how I get up the hills.
If you don't mind me saying so,
I wouldn't take too many of these pills.
They might kill you.
Well, anyway, if I'm gonna get up there,
I better get going.
I'll see you at the top,
and we'll have a drink.
- Buen camino.
- [exhales]
[Bill] Yeah, well,
thanks for the advice, old fella.
[man whistles cheerfully]
[Bill] I'd worry about my own health
if I were you.
[Bill] Oh, crikey. Here's that old fella.
We haven't even started to climb
and he's knackered. [laughs]
- Oh, you going okay?
- Oh, hello again.
Everything's fine. I'm just taking in
this magnificent scenery.
Look at it. It's wonderful.
You sure you're going okay?
- Brand-new. Everything's fine.
- That's good.
I'd like to stop and chat,
but I've got to crack on, you know?
Got to keep going at my own pace.
I'll see you at the top.
I'll buy you a beer.
[Bill] I should really hang back
and walk with him.
Make sure he gets to the top
without carking it.
Ah, he'll be fine.
[panting]
Hi there.
Can't stop. Need to walk at my own pace.
I'll see you at the top.
I'll buy you a beer.
[exhales]
Bill, well done.
And well done to you too, sir.
How's the knee?
Sore, but the the drugs things, you know,
that seems to keep the pain down.
You know, we talk about being driven.
I've been driven my whole entire life.
And, you know,
I ended up a career chief executive,
wife, two beautiful children,
perfect life.
But like a swan,
my wee legs were going ten to the dozen
- And nothing was happening?
- underneath
- Oh, yes.
- underneath, to keep me going.
- Yeah.
- And I became aware
that this image that people had of me,
of the successful chief executive,
the successful father of the family,
the ideal family and so forth,
actually wasn't the case.
And I actually discovered
This is a very memorable moment,
where I realized that
if the people who love me
stopped loving me,
if the stock market crashed
and I had no money in the bank
and no pension fund to rely on,
if my house burned down and I discovered
I hadn't renewed the insurance,
then I could pack a few belongings,
two pairs of socks,
two two pairs of underpants,
two T-shirts, et cetera, in a rucksack,
and be very happy
walking on the Camino de Santiago.
And that gave me
a tremendous feeling of reassurance
and empowerment
that's never left me, actually.
[Bill] Uh-huh, uh-huh.
You know, I found myself crying one day
because I was
I was reliving childhood memories.
It's not something
that men find easy to talk about,
I've discovered,
but I was sexually abused as a child
for far too long,
- and I never told anybody.
- Oh, dear.
- This was a huge secret, of course.
- Yeah.
I dealt with it much later in life,
but it's a powerful
It sits inside you, I suppose.
Extreme Extremely damaging memories.
But we deal with them.
And I discovered through walking
that I could just be myself.
I think the message
I got through walking was
if we don't forgive ourselves,
we're not going to forgive other people.
And I had to realize that,
actually, I'm a human being.
- Yes.
- With all my
With all my faults and foibles,
as well as my good points.
In many ways,
we're all in the same lifeboat
- [laughs]
- sailing towards Santiago.
Only we are walking to Santiago
- Yes.
- and not sailing.
- Safe journey as you go forward.
- Thank you.
[toasting in Scottish Gaelic]
- [Cristina] Hi.
- Hmm.
- Hey, Siri, call Jen.
- [Siri chimes]
[line ringing]
[call drops]
[grunts softly]
[footsteps approaching]
- It's incredible you keep going.
- What do you mean?
I thought when you fell that time,
you would go home.
Oh, no, that's not an option.
[Bill chuckles]
You're a stubborn man, no?
Well, I need to finish this here.
Look, if I start anything,
I have to finish it.
Hmm.
Good.
Hmm. What about you?
I've seen you
going into a lot of churches.
Are you are you doing this walk
for religious reasons?
Not really.
What then?
For forgiveness.
Forgiveness for what,
if you don't mind me asking?
Because I'm a bad person.
Oh, I don't think you're a bad person.
You don't know me.
That's true, I don't,
but I'm a very good judge of character.
I don't see you as a bad person.
I've killed a man.
You have?
And now I seek forgiveness.
How did you come to kill him?
[sighs] It's an ugly story. [sniffles]
I see this, uh, Camino
as an 800-kilometer-long cathedral.
You know, all cathedrals
have confessional booths.
And the booth on this Camino
is the trails we walk
and the conversations
that we hold with strangers.
We unburden ourself to them, you know,
we tell them our our deepest fears,
the things that we are most ashamed about,
things that
you'd never consider telling anybody else.
Because
we're free here.
Then we walk away.
And we feel lighter.
We feel healed in some way.
Simply by releasing something
that's been bottled up inside.
Hmm?
I met him when I was young.
He was charming.
Very handsome.
Very rich.
He was married.
He adored me.
He he brought me gifts.
Jewelry, clothes. [sniffles]
And
And I became his mistress.
I didn't ask
I didn't ask anything from him.
Just his love.
And he loved me.
He loved his wife too.
And his beautiful children.
I was never jealous.
Never.
[sniffles]
I didn't ask him to leave them for me.
I was happy.
And he was happy too.
What I didn't know was that
he was stealing.
He was stealing to pay for me.
And for our lifestyle.
He was stealing from his charity.
That made his shame greater.
Mine too.
He killed himself.
[Cristina sobbing]
He left his wife and children penniless.
Of course they hate me.
And they blame me.
And they call me "whore."
Perhaps I am.
Nothing more than a whore.
And then I I
I discovered that I I was sick.
So I've just come to believe that
God has chosen to punish me
by by poisoning my blood.
Which is as it should be.
Because I've poisoned
many other people's lives.
I deserve it.
And now
I walk the Camino
to seek forgiveness for my sins
before I die.
Is that it?
What do you mean?
Well, is that all you did?
Isn't that enough?
I've killed a man.
No, you didn't. He
[laughs] Don't be silly.
He killed himself.
Because of his shame and guilt.
He was a thief and a philanderer.
You're not responsible for his death.
I know a lot of people
who've done far worse things
than have an affair with a married man.
They haven't come down with cancer
or whatever it is you've got.
No.
God's not punishing you.
You're punishing you.
You're making yourself sick.
With your guilt.
Forgive yourself.
That's what you need to do.
Forgive yourself.
And then you might find that
you'll get better.
Oh.
It's it's impossible.
All the doctors say that I cannot.
Ah, I don't believe the doctors.
If you believe what the doctors say,
you'll die.
No, don't believe them.
This is the Camino.
Miracles happen all the time.
- [chuckles]
- Ah, yes.
Yeah.
Forgive yourself.
[whispering] And ask for a miracle.
- Hey, Siri. Call Jen.
- [Siri chimes]
[line ringing]
[call drops]
- Hey, Siri.
- [Siri chimes]
- Call Jen.
- [Siri chimes]
[line ringing]
[call drops]
[sighs]
[panting]
[exhales]
Oh, hello.
I didn't expect to see you again.
I didn't expect to see you again too.
[chuckles] Ah.
New boots.
- Yeah, I bought a new one.
- [thunder rumbles]
I tied it like you say,
like the photo we took.
Oh, good. Are you well?
Yeah, I'm very well. And you?
Oh, I'm not. In fact, I'm wretched.
I've got to get to Santiago
by 5:00 p.m. tomorrow
to return a towel
to a bloke who gave it to me.
But I don't think I'll get there.
What's the importance of that towel?
Well, it's expensive.
But you can post it, right?
No, I want to give it to him personally.
Why?
Well, I just do.
You don't have to suffer
to be a pilgrim, right?
Well, believe me,
I don't want to be in pain,
but I have to do it.
Look, have you had breakfast?
I just have the coffee.
Let me buy you breakfast.
Should we take a selfie?
- Sure, yeah. Yeah.
- Okay.
- Okay.
- In my pocket.
- Here.
- It's okay with you?
Yeah, yeah. That'll be good. Thank you.
So, three, two, one.
[camera clicks]
That's all right? Not much headroom?
Oh, don't worry about the headroom.
[laughs] That's good.
Okay.
[exhales]
[vehicle beeping outside]
[clears throat]
[truck beeping]
[grunts]
[exhales deeply]
[Laszlo] Hey, Bill.
Hey, is that you?
Oh! Oh, Laszlo! Hey.
I'm in hurry because Rosa and Balazs
wait for me at the cathedral at 5:00 p.m.
- Okay.
- Okay.
Right.
You can be there?
- Yeah, I'll see you there.
- Yeah, yeah.
- See you, see you.
- Fine. Yep, yep.
[Bill coughs]
[exhales, mutters indistinctly]
[Bill grunts]
[Bill] Oh, my God.
It's the spire of the cathedral.
I'm almost there.
I've done it.
I've done it.
- [voice breaking] Uh, Siri. Call Jen.
- [Siri chimes]
[line ringing]
[groans]
[cell phone ringing]
Hello, darling?
[grunts]
- Bill?
- [sniffles]
Bill, what's the matter?
Oh!
Bill, is something wrong?
I'm sorry.
What are you apologizing for?
Um
For being such a horrible person.
And such a terrible father. Um
For always putting work
before you and the kids.
For putting myself first.
I
I've been selfish
and demanding
and controlling and insecure.
Um
So much anger and resentment and fury.
Uh, I've let you down so many times
and you've always stood by me.
And you
You've forgiven me.
Made excuses for me.
Anyone else would have left me years ago.
Bill, stop it.
You're not a horrible person.
You're a difficult man, absolutely.
You're demanding and difficult.
But you're also the kindest
and the most loving
and the most perfect person I know.
- Okay?
- [sniffles]
Of course you're a bit arrogant
and up yourself. It's okay.
I love you. Come on.
I love you very much.
Mmm.
Now you're sounding really, really tired.
I think you need
to take a day off walking.
Whereabouts are you now?
Uh
I can see the, uh,
cathedral in the distance.
That's incredible. [laughs]
You're just extraordinary.
Where are you?
I've been trying to call you
the last couple of days.
Oh, well, you know what I'm like.
I left my phone somewhere,
and I couldn't find it
and the battery went down and Anyway
[sniffles] Sweetie
I love you more than I can put into words.
I love you, too.
Everything's okay.
Bye.
[line disconnects]
Ah.
[exhales]
[Bill] No. I can't do this.
I can't finish.
I'm not ready.
Soon it will all be over.
What will I do then?
- [cathedral bell tolling]
- Who will I be?
[tolling continues]
[Bill] I guess I'd better find out.
[bagpipes playing slow melody]
- [Ivan] Bill! Hey, Bill!
- Oh! [laughs]
- I don't believe it. You made it.
- Ivan!
We get to Santiago!
- Let me hug you!
- [chuckles]
Good to see you.
- I said I'd get here.
- [Giovanna] Ah, Bill!
- Did you take a taxi?
- No, no. I did not take a taxi, Giovanna.
Bravo! [chuckles]
- No taxi.
- [Rosa] Bill!
- Hey!
- [Balazs] Hey, Bill! Unbelievable.
Balazs!
Look, look, look, look, look. For you.
- This is for you.
- Wow!
[all laugh]
- The towel. It's amazing.
- [Bill] The towel, yeah.
[all laughing]
Toro!
[Balazs] Incredible! How is your knee?
[Bill] It's good. The towel fixed it.
Along with about ten packets of pills.
[Balazs] You are crazy with this towel.
- You didn't have to do this.
- [Bill] I did.
- It's so good to see you.
- [Bill] And you.
Thank you.
[sighs deeply]
[Bill] What's the funniest thing
that you've seen on the Camino?
[Ivan] Probably when I saw you
for the first time.
- [laughter]
- [Bill] Mmm, mmm.
I saw a man with a red cap,
standing five minutes,
then limping,
then standing again five minutes.
I say to Giovanna,
"Hmm, this pellegrino
can't go to Santiago."
[Bill] Uh, well, you're wrong.
[laughter]
But then I meet you,
and we arrived in Santiago.
- [Bill] We're here, yep.
- [Giovanna] Yes.
- [Ivan] Salute!
- [all] Salute!
[laughter]
[Balazs] And he's drinking beer,
too, with hobos.
[laughter]
Bill.
[Bill grunts]
So why did I do it?
Hey.
Why did I put myself through all that?
Can you tell me, please, St. James?
[Jennifer] Mmm.
So I don't have to
apologize for you anymore.
[Bill chuckles]
[Jennifer] Mmm!
["Somewhere Along the Way
(the Camino Song)" by Dan Mullins playing]
El Camino roses
Santo Domingo crows
Believe you can
You're halfway there
Seven bells to four
Frighten off the horses
An old soul awakes
A lion's heart, an opening heart
And a soul as old as slate
Somewhere along the way
Somewhere along the way
I hope you find
What you're looking for
Somewhere along the way
Sellos on a soundboard
Beneath a field of stars
La familia growing
Crossing fields afar
Will you walk beside me?
Will you lead the way?
Footsteps by the fountain
Carry me away
Somewhere along the way
Somewhere along the way
I hope you find
What you're looking for
Somewhere along the way
How will I ever forget
The Spanish sunrise
The Spanish sunset
El peregrino cantante
The fullness of the moon
Prayers beneath the arches
Sunflowers in bloom
Words on parchment paper
Fill an empty room
I hope this blessing, such as it is
Finds you in full bloom
Somewhere along the way
Somewhere along the way
I hope you find
What you're looking for
Somewhere along the way
Somewhere along the way
Somewhere along the way
I hope you find
What you're looking for
Somewhere along the way
Somewhere along the way
Somewhere along the way
I hope you find
What you're looking for
Somewhere along the way
Somewhere along the way
Somewhere along the way
I hope you find
What you're looking for
Somewhere along the way
Somewhere along the way
Somewhere along the way
I hope you find
What you're looking for
Somewhere along the way