Due to his treatments for his stage 4 cancer, free spirit Phil can only dream of walking the 500 mile long spiritual pilgrimage known as the Camino de Santiago in Spain. The Camino is an ancient spiritual pilgrimage that has been walked for hundreds, even thousands, of years. Many people walk it today, often starting at a small French town near the border of Spain, first climbing over the Pyrenees, then continuing west to Santiago de Compostela, a small city where near the Western coast of Spain (about 500 miles). Since walking the Camino seems out of the question, he does the next best thing: he builds a Camino in the forest behind his house and keeps track of the 'laps' he walks by tracing his route along a map of Spain. He walks the complete 500 miles of the Camino de Santiago without ever leaving home. In so doing, his health is improved enough for his doctors to give him a 'chemo holiday', so instead of having to go to the hospital every two weeks, he has one month between treatments. He flies to Spain and walks the actual Camino de Santiago. He returns home wiser, worn out, and happy. Along the way he realizes his true pilgrimage is the one he travels within.
