The idea that Eric and I spent 79 days together, 24/7, walking across two countries, fascinates people. (It fascinated people we met on the Camino, too. I can’t count how often someone would ask “you’re walking all this way together…and you’re still married?”) … More Walking the Camino as a Couple
The book is launched, the book tour is happening, and right now I’m just trying to keep up with it all. We started with a bang last week, when I had the gift of sharing the Camino with a crowd of 600 people at Ignite Seattle, “the largest open submission public speaking event in the Pacific Northwest.” … More How to Thru-Hike Without Suffering: My Ignite Seattle Talk
Wow, how the time flies! The official launch of Walking to the End of the World: A Thousand Miles on the Camino de Santiago is still a week away, but it’s already hitting bookstore shelves here in the Seattle area, and the launch is in full swing. As you can probably imagine, this is a … More Talking about the Camino with Pilgrim Strong and Project Camino
Noja to Güemes: 16 km One of the great things about the Camino de Santiago is that you can walk as far as you want to in a day. With plenty of towns and hostels along the various ways, there aren’t limiting “stages” that you must follow. If you want to walk 5 kilometers or … More Camino del Norte, Day 12: Everyone Stops in Güemes
Liendo to Noja: 20 km What is the Camino del Norte like? Lots of people have asked me that, and there’s no one good way to answer. So here is the story of a typical day on the Camino del Norte, full of moments of breathtaking beauty, mixed in with moments of fear, confusion, surprise, … More Camino del Norte, Day 11: All in a Day’s Walk
Pobeña to Castro Urdiales: 15 km Castro Urdiales to Liendo: 25 km “I’d forgotten this part of Camino life,” I wrote in my journal on the 9th day of walking. “When the magic becomes normal, the feeling that walking is the way that I live now. The steady pattern of walk-eat-sleep-repeat. Take care of your feet. … More Camino del Norte, Days 9-10: Cantabria
Larrebetzu to Pobena: 46 km Did we really walk 46 kilometers in a day? Of course not. This was the Day of The Shortcut. When Eric and I walked our first Camino, we were purists. The familiar mantra “Walk your own Camino” meant that it was meant to be walked, and I confess I felt … More Camino del Norte, Day 8: The Shortcut
Packing for a Camino always feels like a mix of research and guessing. Will I need this, or will it just add extra weight to my pack? Will I miss it? Can I wait and get it in France/Spain if I need it? When I walked the Camino del Norte this spring, my packing list … More 3 Camino del Norte Packing Essentials
Writing and publishing a book, I’m learning, does weird things to time. On one hand, it seems like I’ve been working toward the release of Walking to the End of the World forever (well, okay, three years). On the other hand, the days left before release are flying by. October 1 is just around the corner, and … More 2 Months to Release: An Update
Zenarruza to Guernica: 18 km; Guernica to Larrabetzu: 17 km If I’m ever going to finish the stories of Camino del Norte, I need to start combining days. And actually, when I think about the end of our first week, these two shorter-distance Camino walks had a lot in common. For thirty-five total kilometers, we … More Camino del Norte, Days 6-7: Basque Country
