Preparation for the Santiago's French Way

I'm an atheist, but I'm endeavouring to do Camino de Santiago from San Jean de Pied de Port next year.

I came across this Camino when I read The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho in my first university year a long time ago. It was a gift of a friend  of mine who thought that this novel could be a metaphor to the experience I was going to undertake at university. By the time as an atheist I thought that the mystic plot of the main's character's travelling diary was an inspiring one, even to someone who rejects that deities exist.

For many years I wandered why so many pilgrims endure such as a hardship. I thought that the strength came from faith, which is something I don't understand, but I hopefully will one day. However, I believe it might be something different from faith. I know at least 4 people that have already done different parts of the way: 2 believers and 2 atheists. They have 3 different perspectives. The first believer wanted to introspect and deepen his mystical path on earth; the second believer wanted to think about her life as a sinner and improve her values as a human being; the atheists did neither in mind: they just wanted to be on their own, do sports and overcome their mental and physical limits. 

Some days ago I  saw The Way (you can click the link to know more about The Way, a film about El Camino de Santiago directed and written by Emilio Estevez). In my opinion, Emilio Estevez wanted to demonstrate that there are as many reasons to do El Camino de Santiago as many as pilgrims. Along the way each pilgrim in this story had his/her leitmotif. They wanted something to change in their life: quit smoking, get slimmer, spread ashes of a dead's son out of remorse, and recover writer's inspiration. All of them are somehow very selfish leitmotifs as far as metaphysics is concerned. Quite happy I became when I understood that all believers are like me; selfish enough to do El Camino de Santiago with no unearthly reasons. Yet, Emilio Estevez showed that after all El Camino was important for these characters: they all became better people in the end. They learnt how to accept other people's views, lifestyles and nature with unlimited  understanding and love to each other. Other people became more important than their own petty troubles or affairs. This interpretation of pilgrims by Emilio Estevez is for sure of an atheist nature. Yet, I would like to understand how metaphysical reasons work deep in one's mind and soul of a believer: 

is it purely selfish love, 

is it altruistic love, 

is it the way to get mental strength to fight for a better world on your own,

it it a way to fight for a better world next to your friends,

is it a way of improving the world next to your enemy,

or IS IT PENANCE TO GET GOD'S MERCY TO SAVE HUMANITY FROM ITSELF BECAUSE YOU HAD RENOUNCED A LONG TIME AGO.

After all these years my sister and her husband invited us (me and my husband) to take up this challenge of trekking 800km from France to Santiago. Let's see what happens. I wish I can widen my ability to understand the "other" and become a better atheist and human being.

Ana