Screw the trail. I was walking the Camino de Santiago, Norte route (with my father) in 2020. The Camino is one of my least favorite treks for landscape photography, as it often follows the shortest, least scenic path. After days of unremarkable terrain, I had enough. I scoured Google Maps for just remotely unique that was close to the trail. Our next day grew from 12 miles to 20, but oh my goodness, it was worth it. This was the very first "distraction".
The sea caves are only accessible at low tide, and I forgot to check when that was ... but we lucked out and timed it perfectly. Even better, we had it to ourselves. I found this one area that had the green algae(?) covering the orange rocks and a tiny cave to act as a frame. Lucky once more, a single jogger passed by while I was feeding the mosquitos giving depth and scale to the shot.
Shot on a Canon R5, Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM + CPL. No meaningful post processing (my usual style plus darkening the cave a little in Capture One).
The rest of the trip was full of not walking the actual trail, and I LOVED it. So many great photographs and memories but this image is what I always associate with the wonderful pivot to the trip. And a pivot I have used on every trek since, screw the trail, it's just a guideline.