Thanks for dropping by my site! Here’s the quick overview of all things Dave:
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- Guidebooks: I’m the author of three guidebooks, published by Cicerone, on different branches of the Camino de Santiago, a network of pilgrimage routes that spread across Europe, ultimately converging on Santiago de Compostela in Northwest Spain:
- The Camino del Norte and Camino Primitivo: Beginning in Irún, on the French border, the Norte follows the coast westward through San Sebastián, Bilbao, and Santander, before finally cutting inland at Ribadeo. The Primitivo, meanwhile, splits from the Norte near Oviedo, and climbs through the hills to Lugo, en route to Santiago.
- The Camino Ingles and Ruta do Mar: The Inglés begins in Ferrol and Coruña, and offers a more compact pilgrimage to Santiago. The Mar, meanwhile, is a recently recovered route that allows pilgrims to remain on the coast from the Norte to the Inglés, avoiding the busier Camino Francés completely, and passing through some of the most stunning coastal terrain in Spain. Read more about it here.
- The Via Podiensis: This is one of France’s four main branches of the Camino de Santiago, and it’s far and away the best developed of them. This is pristine village France, and the culinary experience is nearly as compelling as the walking. Read more about it here.
- My non-guidebook, Pilgrimage: A Medieval Cure for Modern Ills, started out as an attempt to explain why I keep going on pilgrimage, and it grew into a discussion of why pilgrimage is so valuable to us, at this particular moment in time. It’s not a memoir; my own stories take up a relatively small share of the book. Rather, it’s a synthesis of insights gleaned from pilgrims and academics alike
- The Camino Podcast: When I started out, almost ten years ago, mine was the lone pilgrimage podcast, hence the name. It’s a more crowded landscape today! My goal for the pod is to take deeper dives into pilgrimage. This includes the Camino Francés, of course, but it also explores pilgrimage in many other places. I speak with historians, pilgrims, and other scholars. This includes people like Jack Hitt, Mark Kurlansky, John Brierley, David Gitlitz and Linda Davidson, Edwin Mullins, and many, many more. Available on Apple, Spotify, Youtube, and Soundcloud
- The US Walk: I walked coast to coast across the USA, following the American Discovery Trail and the Oregon Trail. I started out in 2020-21, was interrupted by COVID, and then finished the job in 2024. A complete archive of posts is available here; in time, it will become a book
- Instagram: When I’m on the road, I post photos. When I’m not on the road, I close the app. I’ll be walking across Italy soon, so there should be a lot of cool sights to see
- Patreon: I set up the patreon as a way for people to support the podcast and the writing, as a donativo-inspired model. If you’re interested, for example, in reading preview chapters from my upcoming book, The Camino Compendium, you can find 16 of them already posted there. Going back further, you can also find daily videos from my walk across the USA. I also share out resources, like gps tracks for routes I’m walking, or research materials that inform my writing. A lot of the travel writing will end up here, on davewhitson.com, for free, but the first glimpse is always made available on Patreon
- Guidebooks: I’m the author of three guidebooks, published by Cicerone, on different branches of the Camino de Santiago, a network of pilgrimage routes that spread across Europe, ultimately converging on Santiago de Compostela in Northwest Spain:
Don’t hesitate to get in touch. You can reach me at my gmail account; the name is camino podcast.