Off to Le Puy!
When I first decided to walk the Camino de Santiago, I dutifully ordered the first guidebook I could find. It was harder in those days; the options were a lot more limited. I ended up with Alison Raju’s The Way of St James: Le Puy to Santiago. It’s something to marvel at today, that this […]
2021 Pilgrimage on the Northern Caminos
Like everything else, the pandemic effectively shut down pilgrimage on the Camino de Santiago over the past 15 months, aside from a soft reopening for Europeans last summer. With Europe finally reopening, to varying degrees, the smoke is starting to clear. And, to my great relief, much of the pilgrim infrastructure is bouncing back, with […]
Day 7 – Batavia to Cincinnati, OH – 32 miles
19 months and another world ago, I walked out of Cincinnati. Today, some 2650 miles later, I walked back into it. I probably could have found a more direct route. But we’re all working hard and sacrificing a lot to get back to where we were. ——————- In Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities, Kublai Khan and Marco […]
Days 5 & 6 – Seaman to Batavia, OH – 43 miles
Wednesday’s story was one of fear. OK, that’s a little strong. But the weather forecast was certainly concerning. Thunderstorms were on the docket, striking sometime around noon and then lashing the region throughout the afternoon and evening. Those tempests would then yield to a wind storm. While a full-blown tornado wasn’t yet in the forecast, […]
Day 4 – Elm Grove to Seaman, OH – 29 miles
You learn a lot of valuable lessons from walking, but one of the biggest is this: the first problem is never the one that really messes you up. A blister on your heel, an aching knee, a bit of tendonitis where your leg meets your foot… none of those are fun. However, it’s rare that […]
Day 3 – Waverly to Elm Grove, OH – 16 miles
The routine reasserts itself with the ease of a dilettante. It’s only day three, but it could be any day. After all, any day of a walking trip is simultaneously Groundhog’s Day and a unique item, broadly consonant in the plot points, but–hopefully–cherished for the finer details. Like most hotel mornings, this started in a […]
Day 1 & 2 – Logan to Waverly, OH – 61 miles
“I’m in Circleville,” the old man said. “I’m going to Circleville Country Club to golf with my friends.” “Circleville?”, the highway patrol officer asked. “Sir, what county do you think you’re in right now?” I couldn’t hear the answer, but when the officer’s eyes bugged out, I knew it had missed the mark. And I […]
Day 0 – Portland, OR to Logan, OH
I axed the planned trans-continental walk across the USA almost a year ago to the day. A couple of months later, I took a shot, hoping that some positive signs augured well for the future, and holding on to some optimism that I might still be able to push through an expedited itinerary before school […]
On Being Unfinished
Two years ago, I sat in the dining hall in the pilgrim hostel in Roncesvalles, Spain. For many pilgrims on the Camino Francés, this marks the completion of their first day’s walk, having just crossed the Pyrenees. For my group on this occasion, though, it was just the opposite–we were celebrating (and mourning) our last […]
Day 5 – 5/13 – Glouster to Logan – 24 miles
Jason runs a small business in Logan, Ohio, a small town best known as the stepping-off point for visits to Hocking Hills State Park and its famous Old Man’s Cave. He anticipated that 2020 would be his best year ever; instead, he’s been sitting around idle for much of the time. Since he doesn’t have […]