Spring 2025: Unity & Friendship
Letter from Our Editor
Fellow Pilgrims,
As I write this, I’m just back from a day trip where I was a guest panelist for a lifelong learning program about the Camino that my pilgrim friend Connie teaches. After class, Connie invited us panelists back to her house for lunch. Except for Connie, with whom I’ve connected at several American Pilgrims gatherings, I’d only met the others once last year via Zoom. And yet, the Camino has a strange way of connecting strangers. Around that pilgrim table, we easily engaged in conversation, sharing stories from our paths. I left Connie’s home satiated not only by food but by that special sense of fellowship shared among pilgrims.
The week prior, I took part in the American Pilgrims hospitalero training, and over several days I also enjoyed special connections with fellow pilgrims—some familiar and many new faces. I experience a similar sense of connection serving my local American Pilgrims chapter. And, I feel a special kinship with each La Concha contributor as our team interacts with and prepares their offerings for our readers to in turn connect with.
This May’s joint gathering is no doubt another place for American, Canadian, and other pilgrims to make connections. This gathering, which marks an unofficial start to a new pilgrimage year, celebrates the theme “Bridges of the Camino: Connecting Cultures and Hearts.” That theme has also inspired a new year of shared reflections, poetry, and imagery in La Concha through quarterly themes: Unity & Friendship, Cultural Exchange, Connection & Reflection, and Support & Solidarity.
This La Concha issue explores the theme UNITY & FRIENDSHIP. We hear from American Pilgrims chapters fostering community locally and with other chapters. You’ll also find book reviews to help prepare for Camino—one a pocket-sized guide addressing both the physical and inner journey, and another offering 12 rules to “not necessarily ensure a more spiritual or fruitful pilgrimage, but perhaps a less needlessly difficult one.” We also review a collaborative collection created by two friends who retraced their Camino steps through poetry. And, we review a film about the fictional story of a man who sets off on foot to visit a dying friend, offering a genuine portrayal of pilgrimage.
We have poems about our pilgrim shadow, our need for both solitude and companionship, the support one pilgrim provides another, the Camino tradition of hospitality, and the sense of unity we feel with fellow pilgrims—those we walk beside and those whose footsteps we touch on any given day and across the centuries. We have essays about connecting with Camino flora and experiencing spiritual awe and natural splendor along the pilgrim’s path, about Camino families, and about chance encounters—on the path and around the pilgrim table—that left lasting impressions. And we have reflections about setting intentions to create connection, and about how we rescue each other in grand and small ways along the Way.
Join us in this exploration of the varied ways we experience Camino companionship—with the global pilgrim community, with a fellow traveler, and even with oneself.
May your journey be sacred,
Amy
Spring 2025 La Concha Content
American Pilgrims News
Letter from the Chair – Spring 2025
Spring 2025 letter from American Pilgrims on the Camino Board Chair Joe Curro, plus a summary of the January 2025 meeting of the American Pilgrims Board of Directors.
Chapter Happenings – Spring 2025
A Spring 2025 compilation of American Pilgrims on the Camino chapter happenings.
American Pilgrims Receives Candid Platinum Seal of Transparency for 3rd Year in a Row
American Pilgrims on the Camino requalifies for the Candid Platinum Seal of Transparency, demonstrating the organization’s commitment to transparency and accountability.
Camino News
Camino de las Américas: Start Your Camino de Santiago in St. Augustine, FL
Pilgrims can officially start the Camino de Santiago in Florida. With their documented completion of the Camino de las Américas, they can receive 30 kilometers credit toward the minimum required 100 kilometers walked to qualify for a Compostela.
Hospitalero Corner
Could You Be a Hospitalero? Yes, You Can!
Have you had a meaningful interaction with an hospitalero or hospitalera on Camino and wondered, “Could I do that”? Daniel De Kay, a long-time trainer in the American Pilgrims hospitalero training program, offers some history and insights on being an hospitalero to help you see that, “Yes, you can!”
Pilgrims Way: Reflections on the Theme “Unity & Friendship”
We are Each Other’s Angel
A visually impaired pilgrim comes to see that we rescue each other in grand and small ways on the Camino.
The First Move
A woman who fears rejection sets a Camino intention to make the “first move” to create connections with other pilgrims, leading to lasting friendships with fellow pilgrims.
Thankful for 542 Smiles on the Camino
When a man transfers photos from his phone, he discovers he has 542 photos of smiling faces he encountered on his ten Caminos. He is grateful for each and every one of the 542 faces and smiles the Camino has given him, and he wonders if some of those people also have a photo of his smiling pilgrim face.
Remembering Alessandro
As a mother walks the Camino Primitivo with her son, she fondly remembers those with whom she previously shared the route and cherishes the new memories she is creating with her son.
Perfect Pairing: Replacing Trekking Poles Tips with Wine Corks
A man replaces the worn rubber tips on his trekking poles with wine corks. He finds the repurposed corks to be a sustainable, durable, and quieter alternative to rubber tips—a perfect pairing for his next Camino.
Our She-roes Journey
A group of clergywomen embarked on Camino together as a pandemic respite. They gathered as strangers, strangers became friends, and friends accompanied one another on their shared journeys on and off The Way.
My Camino Family
Of all the connections he has made along three pilgrimages, a man discovers that when his brother and children join him, there is little to compare to bonding as a Camino family with his actual family.
Grateful Hearts on the Camino Francés
Despite the camaraderie and shared experiences she’d had on Camino, a woman can’t shake the feeling that she is meant to discover something more. A day before walking into Santiago de Compostela, she finds a heart-shaped rock. Examining and contemplating the rock’s details, she unearths the deeper meaning she had been seeking.
Don’t Forget the Flowers!
Whether you’re a first-time pilgrim or a seasoned traveler, whether you love flowers or have never given them much thought, Hector Jimenez reminds us to not forget to appreciate the floral wonders along the way.
Connections That Transcend Language
A man discovers that the Camino is a place where strangers become friends, languages stop being foreign, and each pilgrim is understood.
Building Bridges Over Food & Shared Experience
In a remote Galician hamlet on the Camino Sanabrés, a multinational group of pilgrims build bridges over a pieced-together meal and the fellowship of a shared experience.
Blessing on the Camino Francés
A man walking the Camino Francés encounters a group of Lithuanian pilgrims. When they learn he is an Episcopal priest, many in the group ask for his blessing. He, in turn, discovers that through the connections made, they had also blessed him with a wonderful memory of unity and friendship.
Becoming a Camino Family
A 64-year-old woman on her first Camino in France forms a special bond with two 26-year-olds from Belgium and Germany. They stayed in the same places, shared meals, and looked out for each other. She didn’t know the expression then, but they’d become a Camino family.
A Sense of Awesome Wonder
The prayerful hymn “How Great Thou Art” carried and comforted a woman as she experienced an overwhelming sense of unity with God and humankind through the joy of nature’s tranquil beauty along the pilgrim’s path.
Poetry
Tandem
This poem by Rebecca Ring considers the duality of our human need for both solitude and companionship, on Camino and in life.
Shadow Pilgrim
Poet Suzanne Doerge considers the ethereal, inseparable companionship one finds in their own shadow while on pilgrimage.
Lighten the Load
This rhyming verse by Mari Snipes celebrates the support one pilgrim may provide to another, whether carrying their burden for a stretch or helping lift their spirits.
Buen Camino Greetings
In these song lyrics by Robert Bain, set to the tune of The Mamas & The Papas’s “California Dreamin’,” a solo pilgrim discovers he’s not alone for long and now has friends from different countries and a chance to bond with them on the Camino de Santiago. This makes his adventure more spiritual and meaningful.
A Dream of Passing Fire
This poem by Katherine January resonates with a sense of continuity and common experience that connects pilgrims across the centuries.
Book & Film Reviews
Film Review: The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry
A review of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, a British film adaptation of Rachel Joyce’s novel of the same name. This story is a genuine portrayal of pilgrimage in which the titular character sets off on foot to reach a friend in hospice care. Along the way, we discover that this journey of hope, forgiveness, and love is about so much more than reaching her.
Book Review: Before the Camino
A review of Before the Camino by Karin Kiser. Reviewer Sara Steig Gradwohl describes this pocket-sized guide as a “trusty companion as you prepare for your Camino.” This book complements Kiser’s other two books of the same small format, Your Inner Camino and After the Camino. Collectively, the three offer nuggets of wisdom, right-sized to carry in your backpack, before, during, and after your Camino.
Book Review: Dreams of Passing Fire
A review of Dreams of Passing Fire, a collaborative collection of poems created by writing-group friends who embarked on a Camino journey. They didn’t then envision this book, but when their plans to return to the Camino were upended by a global pandemic, they set off on a different journey, retracing the steps of their earlier Camino through poetry writing presented in this collection.
Book Review: Practical Pilgrimage
A review of Thom Ryng’s Practical Pilgrimage, in which a Camino pilgrim who has walked into Santiago five times on assorted routes of varied distances offers readers 12 rules to “not necessarily ensure a more spiritual or fruitful pilgrimage, but perhaps a less needlessly difficult one.”
Submissions to the Summer 2025 Issue Close June 14
The Summer 2025 theme is CULTURAL EXCHANGE. As Camino pilgrims, we take part in a centuries-old tradition of journeying to an unknown or foreign place that holds special significance. We have opportunities to experience religious and spiritual traditions; explore the lively and complicated histories of a place; and enjoy the art, music, and cuisine of other people. We move, eat, and rest amidst people from all corners of the globe, of all ages and abilities, and of all faiths and none. We hear and practice languages besides our mother tongue. We are challenged to leave behind what’s comfortable. And we may find new appreciation for our own customs as we are enlivened by others. In this issue, we’ll explore the interchange of traditions, tales, and tenets we carry on and bring home from Camino that enrich the journey for all.
We invite American Pilgrims members to share their pilgrim experiences and insights on this theme. Watch your email for our La Concha call for submissions as the Summer 2025 deadline approaches. If you would like to submit materials, but are not yet an American Pilgrims member, learn more at americanpilgrims.org/membership.
Your contributions can take the form of:
- Original personal reflections, essays, or poems that tie to the issue's theme (limit 400 words)
- Original photography
- Original artwork
Access the LA CONCHA SUBMISSION FORM for complete submission guidelines and to submit your creative work. We include as many submissions as possible in each issue. We may defer some items to future issues.
Team La Concha – Spring 2025 Volunteers
- Amy Horton, Editor-in-Chief
- Carol Guttery, Web Designer
- Francine Mastini, Creative Director
- Copy Editors & Proofreaders: Rebecca Balcarcel, Kelly Bates, Julie Gianelloni Connor, Pruitt Layton, Jeanette Mills, Gigi Oyog, Sasha Reber, and Thom Ryng.
Communications Co-Chairs
- Tom Coleman
- Corinne Dougherty
Archives: Explore our archive of back issues of La Concha in PDF format (through Winter 2024) or find fresh content on our La Concha homepage.
Thoughts and opinions expressed by La Concha contributors are those of the individual and do not necessarily represent the views of American Pilgrims on the Camino.