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
Writings
MORE Camino Magic
Albergue Ave Fenix, the site of more magic This story is adapted from my book The Walk of a Lifetime: 500 Miles on the Camino de Santiago. The best experiences on the Camino aren’t orchestrated. They are the unexpected encounters with friends in cafés, the sandwiches, cookies and apples shared at a picnic bench, the cups … Continue reading MORE Camino Magic
Book sales top 1,000
Last September I published my own book, The Walk of a Lifetime: 500 Miles on the Camino de Santiago, and set the modest goal of selling 1,000 copies in my first year. I'm happy to say that I crossed that milestone early this month, after only ten months, and I'm celebrating. Like many other authors, … Continue reading Book sales top 1,000
A Year of Downshifting
This piece was originally posted in January of 2019 on the now-defunct blog, The Rusty Walker "So, what are you doing these days now that you are retired?" This is a question that I get asked regularly. "It's complicated," is my first response, followed up by, "actually, I'm not retired. I've downshifted." In a car, you … Continue reading A Year of Downshifting
Walking the Camino: the inner preparation
From the first that I heard about walking the Camino de Santiago, (and the Camino Frances in particular) I understood it to be a unique spiritual experience and one I would actually dream about for 20 years. This means that the inner preparation for the pilgrimage began decades before that cool and wet March morning in … Continue reading Walking the Camino: the inner preparation
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
¡Solidaridad! (Solidarity)
I took my youngest grandson Greg, 22 months-old, on a walk through town yesterday. I normally babysit him every other Tuesday while my daughter-in-law teaches English to immigrants. She was home because her school was closed, but I came over anyway and gave her a break while he and I went out. I don’t like … Continue reading ¡Solidaridad! (Solidarity)
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
