Hallmark's 'Journey to You': Love & Peace on the Camino de Santiago

Hallmark Channel's new movie Journey to You, premiering April 19, tells the story of a reluctant pilgrim.

Monica (Hallmark favorite Erin Cahill), a hardworking nurse practitioner, is proud that she never takes a vacation. She never finds the time to develop a romantic relationship, instead working long hours in the hospital emergency room.

But when Monica is passed up for a promotion, she takes a step back and, at her mother's urging, decides to travel to Spain and walk the Camino de Santiago.

What Is the Camino de Santiago?

Since the 9th Century, the Camino de Santiago, the Way of St. James, has been a popular pilgrimage route. The Camino leads the devout from various locations in Europe to the Cathedral of Santiago -- formally called the Metropolitan Archcathedral Basilica of Santiago de Compostela -- a shrine in Galicia, Spain, housing the relics of St. James the Great.

What was once an exclusively Catholic pilgrimage has also become a popular adventure for all kinds of people, from different faiths or even no faith.

In Journey to You, Monica set out on a once-in-a-lifetime pilgrimage, following a route her parents had traveled many years earlier. In her bag she carried a devotional that her late father had given her, which contained Scripture passages and daily prompts to help her focus on God.

Note: Hallmark's DaySpring card line is Christian-focused, and the devotional Monica uses is available from the DaySpring line, further indicating the integration of Hallmark's TV division with its longstanding card business.

Gradually, the devotional and the slow, deliberate pace of the pilgrimage serve to calm Monica, to give her inner peace. Besides that, she finds a new friend Luis (Erik Valdez), a divorced dad of Spanish descent, who is traveling the Camino with his teenage son and his elderly father.

As the story progresses, Luis becomes a possible romantic interest.

Talking to Erin Cahill

So to whom does the title Journey to You refer? I asked Cahill about that in a recent interview, and she had some ideas.

“I think it's a three-pronged interpretation,” she said, “which is what I love! Give me a double entendre any time!”

Cahill delineated the three meanings: First, the character Monica was on a journey toward the Divine. Second, it was a journey toward the man who might take on a greater role in her life.

And lastly, Cahill said, it's a journey to you, to a deeper understanding of the self.

“I believe once you are connected to your self, to who you really are,” she said, “then you have an even deeper connection to the Divine.”

Cahill, who has appeared in more than 130 films and television shows, has a special appreciation for roles which focus on faith. Her work in Journey to You brought the benefit of physical strength –- she walked for miles during filming and she returned home, as she said, really fit.

But more than that, she appreciated its emphasis on spiritual values.

“I think your relationship with the Divine,” Cahill explained, “is like any relationship. One of my favorite quotes explains it: 'What you don't water, doesn't grow.'

"And my character doesn't have a deep relationship with the Divine at the beginning. She is more skeptical, and she's gotten caught up in work, which is very easy to do in this Western society in 2025 – to be so fast, that you just don't have time to pursue a relationship with the Divine.”

As for Monica's relationship with her fellow traveler: Will it develop into a lifelong love? Cahill's not sure, but she knows he's "so sweet, so very sweet! He's fun, and he's a really kind person."

As for Journey to You, Cahill hopes that people will be drawn to the film.

“I hope people watch this movie,” she said, “and then they feel 'seen.' Seen in their struggles, and seen in their growth. I hope that they feel connected, and that their faith and their possibility are ignited.”

A Note for Catholic Viewers

By the way, any Catholic viewers expecting a peek inside the Cathedral of Santiago (or any church) or faith content beyond a few instances of prayer and discussions about God will be disappointed. It's Hallmark, after all, so the emphasis is much more on personal experience and romance.

Journey to You will be released on the Hallmark Channel on April 19. After that, Cahill expects that Hallmark will rerun it, and that it will begin streaming.

Kathy Schiffer writes regularly for the National Catholic Register and Catholic World Report, and for other Catholic publications, including Evangelization and Culture, Crisis Magazine, Aleteia, Zenit, the Michigan Catholic, and Legatus Magazine. She’s worked for Catholic and other Christian ministries since 1988, as radio producer, director of special events, and media-relations coordinator.