I'm just trying to walk myself home.
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Camino de Santiago Day 6: Estella to Los Arcos 21.5 kilometers 13.5 miles We had coffee at our hostel before heading out on Day 6 from Estrella to Los Arcos. The day before, we enjoyed getting out early and doing most of the walking in the morning, but this stage was going to be our …
Camino de Santiago Day 5: Puenta la Reina to Estella 22 kilometers 14 miles We started early on our way from Puente la Reina to Estella to get ahead of the heat, and we were proud of ourselves for leaving in the dark. But then a coffee shop was open and the chocolate croissants were calling …
Camino de Santiago Day 4: Pamplona to Puente la Reina 23 kilometers 14.3 miles It was going to be a hot one on the walk from Pamplona to Puenta La Reina. At least that’s what we’d heard (and seen), so we set an intention to get our earliest yet start. Let’s try for walking by 7, …
Camino de Santiago Day 3: Zubiri to Pamplona 20.5 kilometers 13 miles It was still dark when I woke up from my best night of sleep so far on the Camino. I wrapped a blanket around my shoulders and went out to sit on our balcony under the stars. A little tiny sliver of a …
Day 2: Roncesvalles to Zubiri 22 kilometers 14 miles An alarm went off nearby at 5:30. I think it belonged to two young guys from Florence in the pod next door who then began to try to get ready quietly in the dark. I crawled out of my bunk and Anna asked me what time …
27 kilometers 15 miles At 6am someone’s alarm went off in the room where we were sleeping. No. Shhh Shhh Shhh.. I heard a man say to his alarm as he turned it off and went back to sleep.Now awake after a fitful night of sleep, I stuffed my sleeping bag liner into it’s tony pouch …
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 …