Summer 2024: Lightening Your Load

Summer 2024 La Concha Lightening Your Load.

The Summer 2024 issue of La Concha, a magazine published by American Pilgrims on the Camino with news, pilgrim stories, poetry, and more on the theme of “Lightening Your Load.”

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What I Left Behind

What I Left Behind Alexander summer 2024 la concha.

Carrying an immense load of grief and anger after her mother’s death, a pilgrim walks the Camino with a 1.6-pound rock painted by her niece in memory of her mother. When she finds the perfect spot to finally set down the rock, she feels lighter than she has in months.

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The Heaviest Things, Objects, Items & Stuff

The Heaviest Things Ashmore summer 2024 la concha

Sitting on the side of the trail nursing her blisters and inflamed calves caused by an overburdened backpack, a woman meets a Camino angel who offers her a vital insight that changes her pilgrimage and ultimately her path in life.

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Film Review: Camino

film review camino viaplay summer 2024 la concha.

Hany Farag reviews “Camino,” a Danish film about an estranged father and daughter on pilgrimage together to fulfill the dying wish of their wife and mother.

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The Left-Behind Clothing

left behind clothing poem Lawrence Jones feature summer 2024 la concha.

In this poem, Lawrence Jones muses about some discarded attire spotted along the way and the cautionary tale it may offer fellow pilgrims.

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Lightening the Camino with Song

Hospitalero Corner Lighten Load Music summer 2024 la concha.

When the road gets weary, songleader Tom Friesen finds there’s nothing like belting out a good tune to lift your spirits and lighten your load. And nothing creates Camino community quite like an albergue singalong.

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The Downside of Lightening Your Load on the Camino

Downside of Lightening Your Load Kiser summer 2024

More and more, pilgrims are lightening their load by discarding worn-out boots, trash, and even human waste on the trail. A new tradition encourages pilgrims to pick up just one item of litter each day of their pilgrimage, to help lighten the load of trash on the Camino.

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The Camino Means Freedom

The Camino Means Freedom fauser summer 2024 la concha.

Miserable, burned out, and on the verge of breakdown from the stresses of running a small business, a husband and wife watch the movie The Way and are compelled to sell their business and set out on the Camino to reclaim their life.

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