California Lutheran University’s Athletic Director Howard Davis recently took a trip to Europe to complete a 210-mile, 16-day walk along the Camino de Santiago, and visit various sights and cities on the continent.
“It was an incredible experience. I had never been outside of the U.S., other than Tijuana, so to experience Europe like that was just incredible. It was everything I thought it would be and then some,” Howard Davis said.
Howard Davis said the Camino de Santiago, or, “The Way of St. James,” is a pilgrimage made up of nine main routes, all leading to the Santiago de Compostela Archcathedral Basilica in Galicia, Spain, where it is reputed that the Apostle St. James’ tomb is located.
“It’s a walk that’s been going on for hundreds of years,” Howard Davis said. “It was a spiritual walk for some people… everybody does the walk for their own purpose.”
Howard Davis said he, his wife Christina Davis, and their two friends walked the route that started in Portugal, took them down the coast, and ended in Spain.
“I really wanted to embed myself in an area and experience something for more than a weekend. That was the main purpose for doing the walk, and plus, on the walk you meet so many people from all around the world,” Howard Davis said.
Howard Davis said the walk was an “unbelievable experience,” but did face some struggles on the walk, including rain during a ten-mile day.
“Had one day of rain which sucked,” Howard Davis said. “Our feet were soaking wet. Luckily, that was only like a ten-mile day though, so it wasn’t too bad.”
Another day, Christina Davis said their feet hurt more than usual due to a 17-mile walk on a corbel stone-paved road.
“It became ‘Oh my lord! What have I got myself into?’, but I am going to keep getting up every day and just keep trudging on no matter how crappy I felt or if my feet hurt. It was like nope, I gotta do it,” Christina Davis said.
Christina Davis also explained the incredible feeling of being able to finish that walk even though the group could have quit at any moment.
“That last day I felt great. Even though I had already thrown away a pair of sneakers and we have already gone through all of our Advil, it was just like, ‘wow’. The accomplishment was like, ‘darn, we just accomplished that,’” Christina Davis said.
Howard Davis said that he and his wife also learned a lot about their relationship and their relationship with their friends.
“We had a great relationship with these friends and it just got enhanced through this walk. You just talk about things you never thought you would talk about. That was really cool. My wife has knee issues so it was more of a struggle for her physically, but I was really proud of how tough she was and how she persevered,” Howard Davis said.
Howard Davis said the group spent some time in Lisbon, Portugal exploring the city before embarking on their 16-day walk. Howard Davis also said that after their trip, they made two more stops in Barcelona, Spain, where they watched The Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup sailing race, and spent time in Munich, Germany for Oktoberfest.
“The Portuguese people were unbelievable and so friendly, nice and tolerant of our not-Portuguese-speaking. The Spanish didn’t seem to be as happy with having tourists around, but the food was unbelievable and we basically had seafood every night,” Howard Davis said. “In Munich, just seeing people revel in their history at that Oktoberfest was really cool to see,”
Howard Davis said he and his wife planned the trip after he retired from being the Athletic Director at Moorpark College and before being named the Athletic Director at Cal Lutheran.
“We thought it would be a great retirement trip. They asked me to come here on an interim basis, but of course, I fell in love with it and now I want to keep doing it,” Howard Davis said.
Howard Davis said that he tried not to worry about his job back home so he could gain the full experience of the walk. Howard Davis said he would check his emails when they would get back to the hotel each night and reply to the emails that seemed urgent. Howard Davis also said that the people back at Cal Lutheran were very respectful of that.
“We definitely missed having Howard and his energy here, but luckily our coaches are very good at their jobs and running their programs,” Associate Athletic Director and Senior Woman Administrator Brianne Talboom said.
Talboom had taken over as the acting Athletic Director in Howard Davis’ absence.
Howard Davis said that at the end of his trip he could not wait to come back and get back to work as the Athletic Director. He said a bunch of ideas were starting to percolate in his head that he was able to push aside for his 4-week trip.
“I just really appreciate Howard’s attitude, mentorship, leadership, his partnership and I think we have all really thrived under him. It is always nice having his energy back in the office,” Talboom said.
