Welcome to La Concha!
Here you can find the latest and past issues of La Concha, a publication of American Pilgrims on the Camino. We plan each issue around a specific theme and invite our members to share their stories, reflections, poetry, photography, artwork, or other original creative works that intersect with that theme. Content is organized into regular sections including American Pilgrims News, Camino News, Hospitalero Corner, Pilgrims Way (reflections on the issue theme), Poetry, and Book & Film Reviews.
We notify our members via email when a new issue is released. If you are not yet a member and would like to receive La Concha updates, you can join here today.
Explore the Latest Issue of La Concha:
Summer 2026: Parting Gifts
Find past themed issues of La Concha here.
Explore the Latest From La Concha
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Letter from the Chair – Summer 2026
Summer 2026 letter from American Pilgrims on the Camino Board Chair Rachel Ganzon, a special In Memoriam section, plus a summary of the April 2026 and January 2026 meetings of the American Pilgrims Board of Directors. -
Chapter Happenings – Summer 2026
A Summer 2026 compilation of American Pilgrims on the Camino chapter happenings. -
2026 Gathering of Pilgrims: Echoes from the Camino – Gifts We Carry, Gifts We Share
Reflections from the Annual Gathering of Pilgrims hosted by American Pilgrims on the Camino, from April 9-12, 2026, in Hunt, TX. -
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.
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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. -
When in Paris, Consider a Stop at La Tour Saint-Jacques
Whether you are starting a pilgrimage in Paris or just find yourself in the City of Light, consider a stop at the Tour Saint-Jacques, a stunning Camino-related monument now recognized as a starting point for the Camino de Santiago in France. -
Lay Your Burdens at the Camino de California Cruz de Ferro
As part of its mission to promote spiritual pilgrimage along California’s Mission Trail, the nonprofit Camino de California organization has dedicated a Cruz de Ferro at the historic Mission San Miguel Arcángel in San Luis Obispo County. This replica of the iconic iron cross, located at the highest point on the Camino Francés, offers a symbolic place for reflection and unburdening to those traversing the re-established Camino Real route. -
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.
More Camino News here.
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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.
More stories from Hospitalero Corner here.
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Three Gifts for My Camino
A friend’s special playlist, cards from her sister, and attending online services at her home church were the unexpected gifts that motivated and encouraged a pilgrim throughout her journey. -
The Little Voice that Guided Me in Spain and to Spices
A woman learns to listen to her inner voice on Camino. Back home with a head cold, that same inner voice inspires her to create a healing blend of spices that opens her sinus passages and opens herself to possibilities. -
Number 13: More Than Good Luck
Seeking a journey of rebirth, a man embarks on Camino. Along the way, the number 13 surfaces and resurfaces in unexpected ways, not superstitiously but as a reminder that we can always begin again -
Not Just Any Piece of Cloth
As a woman embarks on Camino, a friend passes on to her a scarf the friend had rescued while on Camino in 2010. Upon her return, the woman hands the scarf off to another woman. The journey of the Camigas scarf continues today, and woven into its fibers is a simple yet profound truth: we walk our own paths, yet we are connected to each other in ways we don’t always see.
More stories from Pilgrims Way here.
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Camino Letter
Song lyrics by Robert Bain, set to the tune of the folk-rock song “Teach Your Children,” serve as an audio shadowbox for the gifts that accompanied him on his first Camino in 2018: a shell from friends, Euros to spend, a stone to leave at Cruz de Ferro, and a letter from his wife. -
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.
More Poetry here.
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Film Review: All Backwards
A review of the documentary short film All Backwards, which considers an unlikely journey walked literally backward. -
Book Review – The Camigas Scarf: Crone
A review of Alder Allensworth’s “The Camigas Scarf: Crone” the last in a three-part fictional series inspired by an actual scarf that has created a special bond among women across many Caminos. This book follows 80-year-old Dot on the Camino Portugués. -
Book Review: The Camino Compendium
A review of The Camino Compendium, Dave Whitson’s deep-dive into forgotten histories, unlikely miracles, and cultural oddities to explore along the Camino Francés. Whitson also bursts a few bubbles on some of long-lived myths along this long-traveled pilgrim route. -
Book Review: Two Camino Books by Sybille Yates
A review of two guides by Sybille Yates. Pilgrim Tips & Packing List offers the prospective Camino pilgrim practical tips on what to know beforehand, what to take, and what to leave at home. Taking the Camino Home is a thin volume packed with advice and gentle admonition on how to continue to live the simple life of a pilgrim back home.
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Parting Gifts: A Photo Collection
Selected photos that consider this issue’s theme, “Parting Gifts,” through the lens of contrast. -
Adding to Your Pack: A Photo & Video Collection
A collection of photos and a video that consider this issue’s theme, “Adding to Your Pack,” from various perspectives. -
Lightening Your Load: A Photo Collection
A collection of photos that consider this issue’s theme, “Lightening Your Load,” from various perspectives. -
Castles, Climate & Creative Alchemy
Ancient castles, fortresses, and churches spark Martin Peña’s creativity in this photo essay exploring the meanings he has drawn from his Camino experiences.
More in Gallery here.
For back issues of La Concha through Winter 2024, please visit our archive page.
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, 2026, 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 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 seasonally:
- Parting Gifts (Summer 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 (Autumn 2026) – What trials did you face or obstacles did you navigate along the way that were blessings in disguise, offering vital lessons in adaptability, resourcefulness, assertiveness, surrender, compassion, or humility? Was there a friend or foe; a place that felt dark or mysterious; or a specific ordeal that provided a moment of clarity, sudden insight, or sense of direction? As you trod your path, what seed of potential did you unearth, inner resource did you tap into, latent talent did you rediscover, or forgotten part of yourself did you remember? In this issue, we’ll map the unexpected yellow arrows that guided the way or became defining features of our journey.
- 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 at americanpilgrims.org/membership.
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 Autumn 2026 issue close August 29.
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.
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.