Many people who are interested in walking the Way of St. Francis (Via di Francesco) in Italy have already walked a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, very likely the Camino Frances (French Way) in Spain. (And the names of these two routes are similar enough to create confusion for anyone not familiar enough with either.) … Continue reading How the Way of St. Francis compares to the Camino Frances in Spain
Into Assisi
After 16 days, 150 miles (250k) and more elevation gain that I kept track of, we reached Assisi on Wednesday this week. It was the great end to our pilgrimage. Roman Theater in Gubbio. We had entered Assisi over two years ago on our first pilgrimage here and it was a wonderful feeling. This time … Continue reading Into Assisi
Keep on Trekkin’
After a two-year wait, my wife and I are finally getting the chance to return to Italy and resume our walk on the Way of St. Francis, a newer pilgrim trail that goes about 350 miles from Florence to Rome, through Assisi, the home of St. Francis. The Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi In … Continue reading Keep on Trekkin’
Learning to follow the signs on the Camino
My first day on the Camino Frances started with breakfast at the Albergue Beilari, in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port. The lights had come on early and by 6:30 my fellow pilgrims were seated at the long tables in the dining room, ready to eat and start the day. I sleepily got myself up and dressed, headed downstairs to … Continue reading Learning to follow the signs on the Camino
Solitude and mind clarification: Walking the Meseta on the Camino de Santiago
Several pilgrims I met before Burgos told me they planned to skip the Meseta, the broad central Spanish plain. They had heard it was long, dull and monotonous. They were going to take the bus to Leon, cutting out, at very least, seven days of walking. I would not have skipped it for anything. The … Continue reading Solitude and mind clarification: Walking the Meseta on the Camino de Santiago
Feet, Shoes and Mud
Take long walks in stormy weather or through deep snows in the fields and woods, if you would keep your spirits up. Deal with brute nature. Be cold and hungry and weary.Henry David Thoreau--On the Duty of Civil Disobedience My hiking shoes finally gave out on the snowy final trek into Burgos, my 12th day of … Continue reading Feet, Shoes and Mud
Camino Magic
I was in a funk: not enough sleep and not enough caffeine. I had left Puenta La Reina that morning just before sunup on my fifth day of walking, a full moon hanging in the sky directly ahead of me as I crossed the bridge out of town. Now it was mid-morning and I was … Continue reading Camino Magic
How I packed for 500 miles–and what I learned along the Way
On the Camino de Santiago—or any other long-distance trek—bragging rights belong to the person who has the least. I understood this in principle before I left for my six-week, 500-mile pilgrimage on the Camino Frances in the spring of 2018; but after my very first day—24 kilometers (about 15 miles) climbing over the Pyrenees—I understood it … Continue reading How I packed for 500 miles–and what I learned along the Way
Camino Packing List
Wondering what to carry for a Camino? At the bottom of this post is a list of what I packed for my 500-mile trek on the Camino Frances. It was originally in a spreadsheet; I've used them for decades in my work, so it came naturally to weigh each item I was intending to carry … Continue reading Camino Packing List
Live life to the hilt
Backpacking with Greg, Great Smoky Mountains, 1976. The author is kneeling. A few days ago, was my brother-in law Greg Blaesing’s birthday. Were he still alive, he would be 66 and just a few months shy of full retirement age. Unfortunately, he died nearly a decade ago of non-smoker’s lung cancer. The time between his … Continue reading Live life to the hilt
Russ Eanes 
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