The email came as a surprise. “I am getting in touch to invite you to this year’s Cheltenham for a panel event about modern pilgrimages.” “This year’s Cheltenham”…as in the Cheltenham Literature Festival, in Cheltenham, England. The oldest festival of its kind in the world, Cheltenham is a big deal. It draws tens of thousands of peopleContinue reading “The Cheltenham Literature Festival (and a Bonus Book Review of Travels With a Stick)”
Tag Archives: pilgrimage
The Pilgrim Statue of Astorga (#CaminoTuesday)
Over on Twitter, the hashtag #CaminoTuesday is becoming a thing. Someone (I don’t know who) announces a new theme every week, and people post their photos and stories that fit. Today’s theme is “modern statuary and sculpture,” of which there are plenty of examples along the way. But for some reason, this previously unpublished photo from myContinue reading “The Pilgrim Statue of Astorga (#CaminoTuesday)”
Almost Wordless Wednesday: Holloways
If you’ve walked the Camino de Santiago, you’ve likely encountered a holloway, though you may not know it. According to Atlas Obscura: “Appearing like trenches dragged into the earth, sunken lanes, also called hollow-ways or holloways, are centuries-old thoroughfares worn down by the traffic of time. They’re one of the few examples of human-made infrastructureContinue reading “Almost Wordless Wednesday: Holloways”
The Passionate Man’s Pilgrimage (An Almost Wordless Wednesday)
Give me my scallop shell of quiet, My staff of faith to walk upon, My scrip of joy, immortal diet, My bottle of salvation, My gown of glory, hope’s true gage, And thus I’ll take my pilgrimage. — The Passionate Man’s Pilgrimage by Sir Walter Ralegh (click here to read the fullContinue reading “The Passionate Man’s Pilgrimage (An Almost Wordless Wednesday)”
Why Your Friends at Home Don’t Care About Your Camino
When I came back from my first long hike on the Camino de Santiago, friends and family would politely ask, “how was your trip?” If you, too, have walked part of the Camino or come home from some other big adventure, you understand the dilemma. I could give a short, trite, insufficient answer. It wasContinue reading “Why Your Friends at Home Don’t Care About Your Camino”
New Podcast with Out There: On Being a Secular Pilgrim and a Non-Outdoorsy Hiker
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 aContinue reading “New Podcast with Out There: On Being a Secular Pilgrim and a Non-Outdoorsy Hiker”
Why I Walked the Camino de Santiago
I’ve written about a lot of things on this blog over the past three years, but I’m not sure I’ve ever gone back to the basics and explained how I got here in the first place. (Or if I did, it was so long ago and is so buried in the archives that it’s worthContinue reading “Why I Walked the Camino de Santiago”
Is Walking the Camino Going to be the Status Symbol of 2019?
When people ask me why I took a three-month sabbatical from my life in 2015 to walk the Camino de Santiago, I try to describe the sense of burnout and mental exhaustion I was feeling. Postmodern adulting had burned me to a crisp, destroyed my attention span, and left me far too attached to myContinue reading “Is Walking the Camino Going to be the Status Symbol of 2019?”
The Bridge of Hospital de Órbigo
The 13th-century stone bridge of Hospital de Órbigo is 200 meters long and boasts twenty arches, which now mostly rest on bare ground now that a dam blocks much of the Orbigo River, but the bridge survives because of the Camino-worthy legend of Don Suero de Quiñones.
Camino del Norte, Days 9-10: Cantabria
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.Continue reading “Camino del Norte, Days 9-10: Cantabria”
camino times two 