Autumn 2025: Connection & Reflection

Autumn 2025 La Concha cover Connection Reflection

The Autumn 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 “Connection & Reflection.”

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Touched By God

touched by god cross mark larocca pitts autumn 2025 la concha

When a man passes a small church in a mountain village, a woman beckons him to see inside. His experience leaves him feeling more connected to God, himself, and everything.

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Book Review: The Traveler’s Path

Book Reviews travelers path autumn 2025 la concha

A review of The Traveler’s Path by Douglas J. Brouwer, which explores a question common among pilgrims: “Why are you doing this?” Brouwer extends that question beyond pilgrimage, and applies it to the whole scope of human movement.

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Walking My Way Through Divorce

walking way through divorce katherine january autumn 2025 la concha

When her marriage unravels, Katherine January steps out on Camino, tucking into her backpack a small bundle of nylon cord her ex-husband kept stashed around the house. As she walks, she considers the ways she might use that string to solve problems on Camino, just as she, no longer tethered, must now improvise a new life.

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To Be a Traveler

to be a traveler tom friesen autumn 2025 la concha

A pilgrim reflects on how the Camino led him to seek foreign experiences as a traveler rather than as a tourist for more enriching encounters.

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The Transformative Journey of the Camino

transformative journey the arrival alder allensworth autumn 2025 la concha

A pilgrim finds the construct of the Camino unfolding in three stages—physical, emotional, and spiritual—as closely mirroring Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs—physiological and safety needs, self-actualization, and transcendence.

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Book Review: Tales from the Trail

Book Reviews tales from the trail autumn 2025 la concha

A review of Jackie Saxon’s Tales from the Trail, a humor-infused collection of 53 short essays that offer both pilgrim wisdom and disenchantments, along with a glimpse into the unique challenges the author faced as an African American woman walking the Camino.

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To Estella

estella tunnel rebecca ring autumn 2025 la concha

In this poem, Rebecca Ring writes about escaping on pilgrimage upon retirement from a career as an elementary classroom teacher, only to find herself surrounded by a group of Spanish students on a field trip day on Camino, and a connection she made in one brief exchange with one of the students.

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