Book Review: Before the Camino
Before the Camino: Your Pocket Guide to Prepare Your Body and Mind for the Camino de Santiago
by Karin Kiser
Camino Chronicles Press, 2025
44 pages
on Goodreads
Reviewed by Sara Steig Gradwohl | Mooresville, IN
If you’ve never walked the Camino or perhaps have walked a more casual week-long Camino and are looking for “something more” on a mental level, Karin Kiser’s latest book “Before the Camino” is must-read material. Measuring 3.5 inches wide by 5.5 inches tall and weighing just 1.4 ounces, its small size makes it possible to carry this pocket guide on practice walks at home. As you prepare, record your insights and observations. It can be your trusty companion as you prepare for your Camino.
The book is divided into four parts and in them Kiser helps pilgrims prepare for and understand both the physical Camino as well as one’s inner journey.
Karin succinctly explains the Camino de Santiago, dispels two major myths, and encourages pilgrims to set an intention (which is so different than an expectation).
She offers helpful advice on packing, cultural sensitivity, Camino etiquette, and history, but what I really appreciate about Karin’s approach to the Camino is the work we should do as humans, as pilgrims, to get the most out of the experience. I especially connected with her advice that a week or two before you begin your Camino, write a letter to your future pilgrim self, seal it, and write a date upon which you can open it—perhaps three to four weeks after you return home. You can include your intention, questions you have, anything you wish to release from your life or change as a result of undertaking your Camino.
What I most admire about Karin’s “Inner Camino” preparation is expressed beautifully in what is usually an ugly topic: judgment. Specifically, she reminds and asks us to withhold judgment of others we encounter on the Camino. It seems we need this advice more now than on my first Camino in 2015. Pilgrims come from all places and with individual intentions, and what preconceptions we might have about being a “real” pilgrim have no place in the global community of pilgrims. It is the intention for the journey that distinguishes the casual walker or tourist from a pilgrim.
First-time pilgrims often wonder how to prepare physically for a lengthy journey, both the body and what to carry. Karin offers tried and true advice from her deep experience, yet keeps it simple and approachable.
Before you embark on your Camino, take some time to read this book. You might also consider picking up her other two books, Your Inner Camino and After the Camino. There are nuggets of wisdom in all of Karin’s books and their small size makes them the right size to carry in your backpack, before, during, and after your Camino.
Editor’s note: Find a review of After the Camino: Your Pocket Guide to Integrating the Camino de Santiago into Your Daily Life (Camino Chronicles Press, 2019) in the June 2019 (page 18) La Concha. Find a review of Your Inner Camino (Camino Chronicles Press, 2019) in the Spring 2022 (page 9) La Concha.
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