Happiness Relay

happiness relay clark summer 2025 la concha

Patricia Clark recounts a tale from her trek on Japan’s Nakasendo Trail when she saw an opportunity to participate in a chain reaction of goodwill. What many Americans call “paying it forward” and what her Japanese hiking companion called a “happiness relay” speaks to the universal language of kindness.

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Angels Along the Way

angles along the way treut summer 2025 la concha

Bick Treut describes the seemingly random, perhaps divinely designed way a culturally diverse group of pilgrims come together to form what he calls a band of angels.

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2025 Grants: Supporting Camino Infrastructure

Dis Camino grants 2025

American Pilgrims in 2025 approved 22 grants totaling $160,700, the largest one-year total in the history of the organization’s grants program that furthers the organization’s mission by supporting Camino infrastructure.

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A Village Comes to the Rescue

village rescue Ken Privratsky summer 2025 la concha

When a pilgrim falls ill along the Camino Francés and is hospitalized, locals from Estella—including friends he had made earlier that year as well as other strangers-turned-friends—came to his and his wife’s aid, showing them how community forms the foundation of Spanish culture in some villages.

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Book Review: From Sore Soles to a Soaring Soul

From Sore Soles Review Blaine A. Rada

A review of Blaine Rada’s, From Sore Soles to a Soaring Soul, a memoir about a man who walks the Camino de Santiago from St. Jean Pied de Port in a tight four weeks. Despite his fast pace, Rada still manages to walk with intentionality and finds himself embracing the unknown and engaging in unforeseen challenges.

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Spring 2025: Unity & Friendship

La Concha Spring 2025 Cover Unity Friendship

The Spring 2025 issue of La Concha, a magazine published by American Pilgrims on the Camino with news, pilgrim stories, poetry, and more on the theme of “Unity & Friendship.”

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