This chapter presents an autoethnography about the author’s personal experience of learning and employing qualitative methods during his PhD journey, with the Qualitative Camp being a critical node in this journey. The autoethnographic account consists of five episodes that unfolded in a chronological order: (1) Prior to the Qualitative Camp: Walking into the shadow; (2) May 2016, The Qualitative Camp: Moments of enlightenment in the shadow; (3) The summer and autumn of 2016: Facing off inside the shadow; (4) The three years post the Qualitative Camp: Walking out of the shadow; and (5) Stage beyond the dissertation defense: Looking back at the shadow. This chapter joins autoethnographic accounts of doctoral students that explicitly discussed and reflected on lived experiences of junior researchers learning to do research. In the end, the author provides seven tips to other doctoral students or neophyte researchers trying to master qualitative methods.