“There are no beds.” “There are too many people.” The rumors flew up the Way faster than I could walk, carried by Radio Camino. They were shared over pilgrim menus and café con leche, baguettes and French cheese plates. Even when I’m home, if I see them ripple out across the Facebook groups and discussion … More Beating the Camino Bed Race
“We need to be reminded sometimes that a sunrise lasts but a few minutes. But its beauty can burn in our hearts eternally.” – R. A. Salvatore Anyone who’s met me knows I am not a morning person. I don’t often see the sun rise, nor do I want to. (A more accurate quote … More First Light on the Camino
Before we left to walk the Camino de Santiago the first time in 2015, I read everything I could, including plenty of Camino memoirs. I was desperate for practical information and advice. How would I know where to sleep? Where would I find food? What if I needed a bathroom in the middle of the … More My Camino Family
Last week, on New Years Eve, the Twitter world had a #CaminoTuesday theme of “The Old and The New.” I didn’t have time to write up a whole blog post, but I did share this: Here are the photos bigger, in case you’re curious: And that got me thinking about bridges, and how important … More Beautiful Bridges of the Camino de Santiago
“The hilltop hour would not be half so wonderful if there were no dark valleys to traverse.” – Hellen Keller Walking through L’Aubrac was like walking through the legends and stories Eric read as a kid. Five days after leaving Le Puy, we reached the true highlands of the Massif Central, irregular rolling hills of open, … More The Day I Almost Quit the Camino (#CaminoTuesday)
My Instagram feed is full of people on the Camino del Norte (check out Nadine Walks and Ben Camino and OTCamino), and I am filled with both memories and a little jealousy. I want to be walking on cliffs overlooking moody oceans! (Oh, wait, I live in the Pacific Northwest, and I spent last weekend … More My 5 Favorite Albergues on the Camino del Norte (that aren’t Güemes)
Need something to listen to on these long winter nights (especially for those of you in the Pacific Northwest, facing another week of being snowed in*)? My interview with Out There Podcast about walking a thousand miles on the Camino de Santiago released this week. Last December, a radio producer came to my apartment and held a … More New Podcast with Out There: On Being a Secular Pilgrim and a Non-Outdoorsy Hiker
“If you’re walking down the right path and you’re willing to keep walking, eventually you’ll make progress.” — Barack Obama When Eric and I set out from Le Puy, Santiago de Compostela seemed impossibly far away. A thousand miles? It was easy to get discouraged and believe I couldn’t do it. But the thing … More Progress (Almost Wordless Wednesday)
A few years ago, if you’d asked me about pilgrimages, I would have had to dig back into history. The word pilgrimage seemed archaic, more appropriate for Chaucer than the twenty-first century, and carrying a backpack for days wasn’t my thing. After I fell in love with the Camino de Santiago, though, the Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon* … More Is There a New American Pilgrimage Trail?
