Could You Be a Hospitalero? Yes, You Can!

april 2025 hospitalero training spring 2025 la concha.

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!”

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Book Review: Dreams of Passing Fire

Dreams of Passing Fire January Ring spring '25 la concha

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.

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Buen Camino Greetings

Adriana Rovers buen camino greetings spring 2025 la concha

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.

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Blessing on the Camino Francés

blessing on camino frances John Baldwin spring 2025 la concha

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.

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Book Review: Practical Pilgrimage

Practical Pilgrimage Ryng spring '25 la concha

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.”

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A Dream of Passing Fire

Sunflowers Katherine January spring 2025 la concha.

This poem by Katherine January resonates with a sense of continuity and common experience that connects pilgrims across the centuries.

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Becoming a Camino Family

Linnea Hendrickson three closeup spring 2025 la concha

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.

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A Sense of Awesome Wonder

camino splendor Susan Florek spring 2025 la concha.

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.

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