I'm just trying to walk myself home.
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Camino de Santiago: Arrival in St Jean Pied-de-Port I stepped off the bus after its arrival in St Jean Pied-de-Port and immediately walked up into a small park that overlooked the road. I found an empty bench above the vineyard covered hills and sat down to breathe in the presence of this place I’ve …
Well friends, It’s that time again. I’m headed back to the Camino de Santiago. My hope is to walk 266 miles (428 kilometers) of the Camino this time around. My sister will help me get started in the Pyrenees, then I’ll walk for a week by myself. And Lord willing, when I get to the last …
Trail Angels and Trail Magic on Backcountry Hikes This summer when we were hiking a portion of the Appalachian Trail in the hot June sun, we came across two trail angels waiting at a spot in the road where the trail crossed Skyline Drive, the road that runs the length of Shenandoah National Park. . …
Shenandoah National Park A little over two years ago, (before the pandemic was even a whisper) Taido and I drove to Pennsylvania to attend the wedding of a dear friend. On the way there, we took a slight detour to take in the sights of Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park. It was early April …
Every time we move, it takes me a minute to find my walk. My every day walk. Last year it was walking the campus of Augustana College. We moved a few miles away from the college in August, and I tried out several neighborhood walks. Sometime in October, I found Chippiannock Cemetery, and since then, I …
Walking in the Snow The Answer To “The Questions That Have Assailed Us All Day” Yesterday I woke up to a world covered in snow. I had gone to bed with a heaviness that is all too familiar. I am forever grateful that mercies are new every morning. And this snow that had come down …
It’s 5am and I’ve been awake a couple of hours already, which might have something to do with the fact that I’ve been holed up in my sleeping bag since yesterday afternoon. I woke up yesterday morning to rain on the tin roof of the Holdon Valley Vista Shelter. We had stopped at the shelter …
Well friends, the end of 2020 is within sight. I daresay it’s been a year we will never forget, even if we want to. But before this year is over, I am hoping to squeeze in a little (socially-distanced) adventure AND bring some light and love to the world in the process. So I am …
Longer Walks For Seeking The Sacred Over the last few weeks, I have been going for longer and longer walks. Four times a week, I’m crossing the five mile mark, which is long for me friends. It’s partly because I am training for a long walk (Yes, I have bravely put something on the calendar …
Maybe you were “supposed” to be somewhere else right now, but instead you are at working from home or doing school from home, or you are doing a job where you have to wear a mask all the time. Probably, in some way, your life has changed drastically over the last several months. Something is …
The Same Walk Every Day We’re moving today, so it seems like a good time to say thank you to the walk I’ve taken almost every day in the year that we’ve lived here. Since we move around quite a bit, I have come to really value the ability to take the same walk every …
Walking While Sheltering: Changing Plans and Shifting Perspective I was meant to be flying home from Italy today after a week of walking in Umbria and a week of retreating in Tuscany. It’s strange how far away that feels as a possibility now. I do believe I will return to Italy one day, but …
A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about the self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. -Wikipedia I’ve been reading and thinking lately about the idea of pilgrimage. I love to go for a walk, but …
Snapshots of Walking in Winter in Illinois + Musings From My Wanderings Several years ago I wrote the following Richard Rohr quote on an index card and hung it up in the kitchen of the apartment we were renting. In order to live your soul into the world, you must continually loosen your beliefs about …
Snapshots of Burgos, Spain. or The End of the Journey. This post is from the end of our walk from Logrono to Burgos, Spain. You can read more posts from this walk, or from other Camino trips. In my longtime obsession with the Camino, I have read quite a bit about the different cities that you …
Atapuerca to Burgos 19 kilometers. Day 7 on The Camino. Or We Made It! Let’s Have A PARTY and Eat All The Things. This post is our trip log from Atapuerca to Burgos. You can read more posts from this walk, or from other Camino trips. We got up and packed fast, walking out …
Villafranca to Atapuerca. 18 kilometers. Day 6 on The Camino. Or Remember That One Time We Slept In A Barn. This post is our trip log from Villafranca to Atapuerca. You can read more posts from this walk, or from other Camino trips. One of the reasons our albergue in Villafranca was full, besides …
Belorado to Villafranca Montes de Oca. 12 kilometers. Day 5 on The Camino. Or We Walked In The Snow But This Day Was Still My Favorite. This post is our trip log from Belorado to Villafranca Montes de Oca. You can read more posts from this walk, or from other Camino trips. We got out …
Santo Domingo de la Calzada to Belorado. 22 kilometers. Day 4 on The Camino. Or Thank God It’s Not Raining. This post is our trip log from Santo Domingo to Belorado. You can read more posts from this walk, or from other Camino trips. We had a little coffee and breakfast before starting out around …
Najera to Santo Domingo de la Calzada. 21 kilometers. Day 3 on The Camino. Or We Only Thought It Was Raining Yesterday. This post is our trip log from Najera to Santo Domingo de la Calzada. You can read more posts from this walk, or from other Camino trips. We had decided at dinner the …