Posts by Carol Guttery
Support & Solidarity Two Ways
As a Ribadiso Welcome Service volunteer and as an hospitalera, a woman discovers that she gains as much as she gives by listening to pilgrims’ personal stories.
Read MoreBook Review: The Way of the Wind
A review of The Way of the Wind, a memoir by John W. Pearson, a man walking the Camino Francés after suffering profound personal and physical loss. A geologist by profession, Pearson lends a scientist’s observant eye to his detailed descriptions of the human, natural, religious, cultural, and historical encounters of his journey, while managing to deliver them with humility and a touch of humor. Reviewer Jerald Stroebele regards Pearson’s story as “easy to read and hard to stop reading.”
Read MoreConfianza
Poet Suzanne Doerge writes of a pilgrim who begins her journey walled-off, distrusting. Injured along the way, she believes her journey would end there, returning home a failure. And then to her surprise, she meets angels who help restore her trust in others and herself.
Read MoreGo With the Paco & Flo
A husband and wife on Camino strike up an enduring friendship with a Spanish couple, Paco and Flo, who love to laugh, live in the moment, and understand that sometimes it makes sense to “get in the motor home” to get from point A to point B on the Camino.
Read MoreFire in the Attic
When a couple is awakened in the middle of the night to find the parsonage-turned-pilgrim shelter where they are the sole guests ablaze, a church member who lives next door provides them refuge.
Read MoreFind the Helpers
A man’s experiences of the help he offered and received on Camino remind him of the advice Fred Rogers famously received from his mother: In times of chaos or struggle, look for the helpers, for they are all around us.
Read MoreA New Creation
Having avoided a disruptive group of pilgrims at every turn, a woman stopping to care for an angry blister on her foot comes to the aid of a group member who is suffering heat exhaustion. In response, others in the group tend to her blister. In this moment, she experiences what the Apostle Paul called “new creation,” when strangers welcome each other through mutual care.
Read MoreService Scrapbook – Winter 2026
A Winter 2026 compilation of highlights from those who have recently given their time in service on the Camino.
Read MoreBook Review: A Rising Sun on the Scallop Shell
A review of A Rising Sun on the Scallop Shell, a memoir by Mike Guest, a Canadian-born, Japanese-enculturated man. This account of his interactions with his fellow pilgrims on the Camino Francés offers his unique perspective on intersecting cultural identities, modern Japan, and the experience of pilgrimage itself.
Read MoreCamino de Despedida
A toast offered by one pilgrim to his Camino companions at a farewell dinner in Santiago de Compostela.
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