Winter 2026: Support & Solidarity
Letter from Our Editor
by Amy Horton
Fellow Pilgrims,
As we hung our laundry out to dry at the Xunta albergue in Hospital de la Condesa, my husband, Ben, and I had a clear view downhill to the Camino Francés path. Noticing a pilgrim struggling to walk, Ben headed down to meet him, setting in motion an international chain of support.
Dehydrated, overheated, and nauseated, the Irish man was experiencing severe heat exhaustion. He was too weak to walk up to the albergue, so Ben settled him in the shade of a small building just off the path. I brought the man fresh water, but he couldn’t keep it down. He refused other help, insisting he just needed to rest a spell before continuing in hopes of rejoining his two traveling companions still somewhere on the trail. We persuaded him to let us call his friends; upon their arrival, they agreed he needed medical attention.
Running toward the albergue for help, I and a German woman intercepted an Italian man, Francesco. He understood our English and spoke Spanish well enough to relate the situation to the local woman tending the check-in desk. She confirmed the quickest route to care in this rural village would be to call the emergency services network. Francesco dialed 112 and reached an Italian interpreter to request the needed aid.
After the ambulance whisked the Irish man off to hospital, his friends in tow, a few of us headed to the village’s only café-bar. Others who’d witnessed that afternoon’s unfolding events joined us, and we bonded over this moment of camaraderie and collective aid. (Two days later, Ben and I would encounter the Irish trio of friends between Sarria and Spain, the man now back on Camino and notably vibrant after an overnight hospital stay in Lugo to receive IV fluids.)
This La Concha issue appreciates the SUPPORT & SOLIDARITY forged on the pilgrim path. We hear from an hospitalera who gains as much as she gives by serving pilgrims, and about the support fostered and shared in our local chapters. We read about a dog that gives a pilgrim the comfort and encouragement she needs to carry on. A woman and a rowdy group of pilgrims she’d been trying to avoid who welcome each other through mutual care. A local woman who offers refuge to a couple awakened by a fire in their pilgrim shelter. A man, forced to slow down due to painful blisters, who realizes even if he didn’t get the Camino he wanted, he could be the Camino companion others needed. Song lyrics that playfully highlight the “if you know, you know” sense of solidarity among fellow pilgrims. A poem about a walled-off, distrusting woman who meets angels along the way, restoring her trust in others and herself. These and so many other experiences recounted in this issue help paint a picture of what one woman describes as the Camino’s “landscape of kindness.”
Join us here in La Concha as we highlight the ways we, as pilgrims, foster and experience a sense of mutual support, just as bridges uphold those who cross them.
May your journey be sacred,
Amy
Winter 2026 La Concha Content
American Pilgrims News
Letter from the Chair – Winter 2026
Winter 2026 letter from American Pilgrims on the Camino Board Chair Rachel Ganzon plus a summary of the October 2025 meeting of the American Pilgrims Board of Directors.
Chapter Happenings – Winter 2026
A Winter 2026 compilation of American Pilgrims on the Camino chapter happenings.
Deepening Camino Knowledge & Connection at the Universidade de Santiago de Compostela
Participants share their experiences in an inaugural program offered by the Universidade de Santiago de Compostela to American Pilgrims members.
Camino News
Exploring Changing Meanings of Pilgrimage at 2025 Annual Symposium for Pilgrimage Studies
A pilgrim reports on her experience attending the 2025 Annual Symposium for Pilgrimage Studies hosted by the Institute of Pilgrimage Studies on the William & Mary campus in Williamsburg, VA. Symposium sessions over a packed two days explored the changing meaning of pilgrimage, while also providing a chance to connect with fellow Camino and pilgrimage enthusiasts. She left the experience feeling well fed physically, mentally, and spiritually.
Despite New Spanish Federation Hospitalero Age Limits, Many Ways to Serve on Camino
The Federación Española de Asociaciones de Amigos del Camino (FEAACS) recently announced age limits for hospitalero volunteers in the albergues that FEAACS oversees. While these age restrictions will impact some volunteers, it doesn’t change who may register for the American Pilgrims hospitalero training program, and there are many other service opportunities on the Camino to also consider.
A Fond Farewell to Two Hospitalero Trainers
American Pilgrims on the Camino bids a fond farewell to two dedicated hospitalero trainers.
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.
Service Scrapbook – Winter 2026
A Winter 2026 compilation of highlights from those who have recently given their time in service on the Camino.
Pilgrims Way: Reflections on the Theme “Connection & Reflection”
What Makes a Pilgrim
A woman berates herself for not living up to the idea she had about what constitutes a “real” pilgrim. When she finally allows herself to accept help, she comes to understand what it means to be a pilgrim.
The Vision to See Everyday Small Miracles
A husband and wife discover that the Camino fosters openness and generosity along with the space and pace to notice and appreciate simple, everyday acts of kindness as small miracles.
The “Miracle” of Agés
A man develops a crippling limp on one side of his body that he believes has ended his Camino. Talking with fellow pilgrims over dinner, he learns the cause of and remedy for his affliction, giving him courage and hope to complete his Camino.
The Last Deployment
As an F-14 pilot flying a mission over Lebanon in 1983 prays for courage, he promises to walk the Camino when his deployment ends. Still haunted by that promise four decades later, he finally makes the journey to Santiago de Compostela, carrying with him the weight of the 241 U.S servicemen killed in Beirut all those years before.
The Day I Transformed from Tourist to Pilgrim
Rupert sets out on his walk across Spain as a tourist on a great vacation. Then one day in the sweltering heat, he comes upon Lesley, who he’d only met the day before and is now struggling in the heat. He pours water on her head and neck, then picks up and carries her pack. As they make slow and silent progress to the next town, they connect in the way humans looking out for one another do. In that moment, Rupert knows he’s transformed from tourist to pilgrim.
The Camino I Didn’t Want
After a significant, life-changing experience on his first Camino, a man returns for a second Camino where he develops large painful blisters that would slow him down, lead to disappointment, and alter his walk. Back home, as he reflects on the long conversations he had with 36 people from 15 countries in 12 days, he comes to realize that he may not have gotten the Camino he wanted. But perhaps he became the Camino companion others needed.
Martin’s Herbal Blister Balm
When John develops a painful blister along the way, his Camino friend Martin heads into the woods and emerges with an herb that he makes into a seemingly magical balm.
Kindness is Never a Wasted Act
While a woman takes a cab in search of the toiletry bag and medicines she’d left back at the albergue that morning, the proprietor of the café-bar in the tiny hamlet where she’d be staying for the night gathers provisions for her from friends and neighbors, just in case.
Julio’s Pack
Bob and his wife meet Julio through their local American Pilgrims chapter. Julio helps them prepare for their first Camino and in the process a friendship forms. Along the way, Julio is stricken with a brain tumor. After his death, Juilo’s family donates his Camino gear to the chapter. When Bob and his wife eventually make their Camino, Bob carries Julio’s backpack.
Gratitude & Hope at Journey’s End
A man expresses gratitude for the journey he embarked on with a long-time friend, and the new friends, made along the way, who give him hope for the future of this world.
Go 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.
Fire 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.
Find 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.
A 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.
A Landscape of Kindness
Under a drenching rain, a woman walks upon the scene of a man who has fallen on the Camino. He is surrounded by a group of pilgrims who have come to his aid. Others having attended to his physical needs, one pilgrim does what’s left to do: sit silently and hold his hand. As she stands in her wet boots, the woman takes in this extraordinary scene, this landscape of kindness.
A Daily Record of Camino Angels
Through the daily journal accounts of her journey, a woman comes to understand that the Camino provides not only for our physical needs, but offers emotional, psychological, and spiritual benevolence, too.
A Cup of Kindness
Nearing Santiago and her euros now exhausted, a woman anticipates her first coffee of the day, only to discover the establishment doesn’t take credit cards. Two pilgrims she’d met earlier that morning come to her rescue and spot her some change, filling her cup with coffee and kindness.
A Camino Encounter of the Dog Kind
At the summit of an especially grueling climb that tested her fortitude, a pilgrim is greeted by an Anatolian shepherd that reminds her of a late, beloved family pet. His giant but gentle presence uplifts her with the comfort and encouragement she needs to carry on.
Poetry
I Am Not Throwin‘ Away My Pack
In these song lyrics set to the rap rhythm of “My Shot” from Broadway’s Hamilton, Evan Massaro playfully highlights quintessential details—blisters, snoring, café con leche, tortilla española, cows, sideways rain, and more—that are a shorthand language of the Camino experience, fostering an “if you know, you know” sense of solidarity among fellow pilgrims.
Confianza
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.
Camino de Despedida
A toast offered by one pilgrim to his Camino companions at a farewell dinner in Santiago de Compostela.
Book & Film Reviews
Film Review – Camino de Santiago: The Pilgrims Speak
A review of Camino de Santiago: The Pilgrims Speak, a documentary short film by Rich Henkels. Every pilgrim has a story to tell of their reasons for making a pilgrimage, and Henkels helps several pilgrims tell theirs, which range from spiritual and religious to recreation and personal growth.
Book Review: Walking the Caminos
A distinctive Camino guide by Scottish husband-and-wife duo David and Debbie Mercer. Reviewer Jerald Stroebele, who has walked several lesser-traveled Camino routes himself, considers this book especially noteworthy for the 144 pages the authors dedicate to sharing practical information and personal insights on the 17 different Caminos routes they have walked.
Book 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.”
Book 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.
2026 La Concha Themes
The Annual Gathering of Pilgrims marks an unofficial start to a new pilgrimage year. The theme for the 2026 Gathering of Pilgrims planned for April 9-12 seeks to listen for “Echoes from the Camino: The Gifts We Carry. The Gifts We Share.”
The 2026 Gathering theme considers elements of the Hero’s Journey—the archetypal story structure famously identified by mythologist Joseph Campbell and told in countless works across literature, film, and song. This theme invites us to reflect on the gifts that summon us to journey, the gifts that serve as waymarkers, and the gifts that continue to shape us and reach others long after we return home.
We have drawn on the Gathering’s overarching and supporting themes to form a cohesive set of quarterly topics to guide a year of shared reflections, poetry, and imagery in La Concha. We invite you to think about how your pilgrim experiences, creative works, scholarship, and insights intersect with these themes La Concha will explore in upcoming seasons:
- Parting Gifts (Spring 2026) – When your call to the Camino came, did it tickle like a feather or strike like a sledgehammer? Did the germ of your journey take root with a changing season of life, or did it sprout suddenly from the ashes of a metaphorical wildfire? In a moment of fear or doubt, did someone offer you a token of encouragement to send you off on your quest? In this issue, we unpack not the necessities we carried, but the gifts—tangible or intangible, delightful or surprising—that helped us step over the threshold from our everyday into the foreign territory of pilgrimage.
- Hidden Arrows (Summer 2026) – What trials did you face or obstacles did you navigate along the way that were blessings in disguise? Did they offer vital lessons in adaptability, resourcefulness, assertiveness, surrender, compassion, or humility? Was there a friend or foe, a place that felt dark or dangerous, or a specific ordeal that provided a moment of clarity, sudden insight, or sense of direction? In this issue, we’ll map the unexpected yellow arrows—the people, places, and points in time—that guided us and became defining features of our journey.
- Buried Treasures (Autumn 2026) – As you trod your path, what seed of potential did you unearth? What inner resource did you tap into, what latent gift did you rediscover, or what forgotten part of yourself did you remember? Did you find it in a creative act—journaling or writing poetry; sketching or painting; singing or playing music? Did you discover it through an act of service—providing aid to a fellow pilgrim, preparing a communal meal, experiencing traditional Camino hospitality? Or did you receive joy, feel a sense of deep peace, and experience oneness through the act of walking and living simply? This issue celebrates the ways we listened to our hearts, followed our truths, and found our bliss.
- Enduring Gifts (Winter 2027) – At journey’s end, the hero returns to their ordinary world carrying the “elixir,” a magic potion of wisdom and power gained through their odyssey. They return with something they didn’t start with and share it with their community. The story of getting the treasure is the treasure. This issue explores the ways we bring the magical elixir of our pilgrimage back to our lives and communities, each offering an echo of the Camino—an outward ripple that touches others far beyond the trail.
We invite American Pilgrims members to share their pilgrim experiences and insights on these themes over the coming year. Watch your email for our call for submissions and associated deadlines for each La Concha issue. If you would like to submit materials and are not yet an American Pilgrims member, learn more here.
Your original creative contributions may take the form of:
- Personal accounts, reflections, and essays
- Poetry
- Artwork
- Photography
Please limit written works to 400 words maximum.
Submissions to the Spring 2026 issue close March 28
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 – Winter 2026 Volunteers
- Amy Horton, editor-in-chief
- Carol Guttery, web designer and content creator
- Copy Editors & Proofreaders: Rebecca Balcárcel, Kelly Bates, Julie Gianelloni Connor, Deborah Haggart, Anna Harris, Pruitt Layton, Jeanette Mills, Gigi Oyog, and Sasha Reber.
- Lauren Kerr, features contributor
- Julianna Goodman, social media management
Other Communications Team Volunteers
- Corinne Dougherty, committee chair and membership liaison
- Rachel Ganzon, board chair
- Tracy Pawelski, board member
- Joe Curro, board member, webmaster, and technology wizard
- Thom Ryng, communications manager and monthly e-newsletter editor
- Jim Porter, video and YouTube management
- Rosa Torres-Tumazos, Facebook group lead moderator
Archives
Explore our archive of back issues of La Concha in PDF format (through Winter 2024) and find more recent 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.