You Don’t Need as Much as You Think
What hiking the Camino de Santiago taught me about money, happiness, and who you are without the job title.
Most people spend years planning the money side of retirement.
Very few spend any time thinking about what they’ll actually do… or who they’ll be when the job title disappears.
And that’s where people get stuck.
Because once the structure is gone, you realise pretty quickly… you need something that actually makes you want to get out of bed.
For me, that’s hiking.
In October 2025, I walked another Camino de Santiago. This one was about 400km from Granja De Moreruela to Santiago de Compostela.
No particularly solid plan. Just the usual but comforting routine of hiker life.
Wake up. Walk 20–30km. Eat like a tank. Crash out. Repeat.
That was it.
And it was brilliant. Absolutely bloody brilliant!
You Don’t Need Much (You Just Think You Do)
Everyone gets caught up chasing “their number”.
The Camino quietly shows you how little that number might actually need to be.
Accommodation?
€5–€10 donations in albergues if you want to keep it cheap. Private pilgrim hostels when you feel like upgrading for a night.
Food?
I was spending €20–€30 a day because after walking that far, you’re basically a furnace.
Others were doing it for €20 or less. Supermarkets, sandwiches, a bit of planning.
No one was struggling.
No one felt like they were missing out.
You’re sitting in a small village in northern Spain, eating simple food, having a laugh with people you met that morning.
That’s a pretty high-quality day.
Follow the Yellow Arrows
One of the best parts is the navigation system… if you can even call it that.
Little yellow arrows painted on walls, rocks and letterboxes.
That’s your guide.
Chill as. No overthinking. No “optimising the route”.
Just follow the arrows until you’re done.
And somehow, it works. Day after day as you snake your way through forests, towns and hills to Santiago.
The People
You meet all sorts of humans on these walks.
Some absolute legends.
Some people you can only handle in small doses.
Some you walk with for an hour.
Others you see every day for a week. I have met some life long friends who I met on day one of a 32 day hike, in 2019. We’re still mates!
But none of it comes with the usual baggage.
No one cares what you do for work.
Back home, it’s usually the second question when you meet someone new: “What do you do?”
Out here, it’s: “Where are you stopping today?”
No one’s comparing salaries or trying to figure out where they sit.
You’re just a group of people heading in the same direction, managing blisters and looking for coffee.
Simple.
You Drop the Labels
This was my sixth Camino.
Different routes, same outcome.
After a few days, the usual identity stuff fades out.
You stop thinking about your job. The 9–5 disappears.
And then you’re left with… you.
For some people, that’s uncomfortable.
If your whole identity is built around your work, there’s not much left when that goes.
But the walking strips that away.
What’s left is usually a lot simpler.
Somewhere along the way, I stopped being the corporate guy or the security guy.
I’m Andy the hiker now.
Didn’t plan that. Just happened after enough kilometres.
This Is What FIRE Actually Looks Like
Everyone thinks FIRE is spreadsheets and hitting a number.
That’s just the entry ticket.
This is the part that matters.
Waking up, getting on a train, heading somewhere random, throwing a backpack on, and walking towards Santiago.
No one to ask.
No timeline.
No pressure to be anywhere else.
Just walking, eating, talking… or not talking at all.
After a few days, something else happens.
Your head goes quiet.
No noise. No constant thinking. No background stress.
Just space.
And for me, that’s not normal.
I’m naturally wired to be “on” all the time. Ideas, plans, distractions… constant movement in my head.
Call it ADHD, call it entrepreneurial brain… whatever it is, it doesn’t switch off easily.
But out there, walking 20–30km a day, something changes.
The noise drops away.
And in that quiet, I can actually think properly. That mental peace is like crack to me and I crave it.
It’s where my best ideas come from.
It’s also one of the few times I’ve found where everything just… slows down.
That alone is worth the walk.
Do you have anything like that in your life?
The Point
The Camino isn’t just a hike across Spain.
It’s a bit of a reality check.
You don’t need as much as you think.
You don’t need to spend as much as you think.
And when the job title disappears, you might actually like what’s left.
Do you know what your version of this looks like?
Not the spreadsheet version. Not the “someday” version.
The real one.
The thing that actually gets you out of bed when the job title disappears.
And if you don’t… what’s your plan?
If you’re serious about figuring that out sooner rather than later, become a paid subscriber.
That’s where I break down how to actually build a life like this.
Already planning the next one.
Not because I have to. Because this is what a good life feels like.
Cheers
Andy
Valencia
This is a great reminder that most people are solving the wrong problem first.
They obsess over the number, but never define the life that number is supposed to support.
What stood out is how the Camino strips everything down to the essentials. Not just financially, but mentally. No noise, no titles, no comparison. Just direction and movement.
That’s the part most people miss with FIRE. It’s not just about escaping work. It’s about having something meaningful to move toward.
Otherwise, you just trade one form of structure for another kind of emptiness.
The real takeaway isn’t that you need less money. It’s that you need more clarity.
Because once you know what a “good day” actually looks like, the number tends to take care of itself.
Love this. Thanks for sharing!