The Walk - Returning to Work After the Camino

About this episode

Fr. Roderick discusses the challenges of returning to work after the Camino and finding a balance between creativity and daily responsibilities.

Coming home from the Camino felt stranger than I expected. Not because I missed the walking itself, but because I suddenly had to switch back into a life full of deadlines, obligations and screens. After weeks of spending my days outdoors, telling stories while walking through forests and villages in Spain, I found myself sitting behind a desk again, staring at giant research documents and struggling to begin. In this episode of The Walk, I talk about the friction between creativity and pressure. About why some work drains energy while other work gives it back. And about the realization that for me, balance is less about working harder and more about finding a rhythm that actually fits the way I function. I also share how the Camino unexpectedly reshaped my plans for writing, podcasting and building a fantasy storytelling community in both English and Dutch. This walk through the woods became a conversation about overwhelm, delayed gratification, creative identity and the challenge of protecting long-term dreams while daily responsibilities keep demanding attention. And somewhere between the trees, dogs chasing my microphone, and thoughts about fantasy festivals and unfinished…

People in this episode

Host: Fr. Roderick Vonhögen

Topics covered

• creativity
• work-life balance
• overwhelm
• delayed gratification
• creative identity
• storytelling

Keywords

• Camino
• creativity
• work
• balance
• storytelling
• overwhelm
• writing
• podcasting

Mentioned in this episode

Places: Camino, Spain

More episodes of The Walk

• The Walk - Momentum Before Motivation · June 3, 2026 · 1h 2m
• The Walk - What Happens When You Challenge Your Own Beliefs? · May 28, 2026 · 1h 2m
• The Walk - The Pressure That Finally Caught Up With Me · May 21, 2026 · 54 min
• The Walk - Imagination Is Not Escapism · May 15, 2026 · 1h 5m
• The Walk - What the Camino Taught Me · April 29, 2026 · 1h 9m
• The Walk - My Camino Week 4 · April 23, 2026 · 1h 12m