One more full day of walking the found me in the town of Orbigo, where I intuitively followed the signs that led to Albergue Verde (The Green Hostel) – not knowing whether I would be received there at all, much less with any open-hearted generosity. The hostel was located more than a ways off the […]
Another two days passed, and the Sun was beginning to set when I found myself entering the city of Ponferrada. As it turned out I was one of the very last pilgrims to pull into the Albergue De Peregrinos San Nicolas De Flue. After being warmly welcomed by the hospitaleros on hand, I assumed (due […]
Even at my fatigue-infected pace it only took me one more day to hobble into the village of Pieros and down to the wayside hostel of El Sorbal y La Luna (translation: The Rowan Tree & the Moon). And no sooner did I round a small bend and enter its foyer-garden enclave than I felt […]
For the next three days I passed through several small, still-sleepy hamlets before finally rounding a gentle bend and coming upon Isabel’s lovely little coffee stop hostel. I was fully enamored by the warmth emanating from the same and walked quietly into its snuggly courtyard, intending only to snap a few photos and be on […]
And then it was that I entered the tiny wayside hamlet of O Rio, rounded a gentle bend in the road, and glanced to my left to see a small pilgrims’ rest-stop that beckoned for a rest. And so it was that I indeed decided to pause there for a time and sit in the […]
Then, after passing into & through the traditional destination-city of Santiago itself, I smoothly continued onward towards the coast … “Every quest takes places in both the sphere of the actual, which is what maps reveal to us, and the sphere of the symbolic, for which the only maps are those unseen in our hearts. […]
And then it was that I did indeed finally arrive at the first of my Adventure’s essential destinations – walking through the city of Finisterre and on to what used to be known as “then end of the world”: the very westernmost tip of the western coast of Spain. Tears of gratitude and joy welled […]
After it had become clear that hitchhiking on a cargo ship was not going to be feasible or fluid, I returned to Santiago, where a previous offer of transportation to Madrid (and thereafter by plane to the States) was waiting for me. And upon arriving once more in that glorious city, I immediately r33ceived confirmation […]
After a series of humbly-received generosities allowed me to make it across the ocean and arrive in New York City by plane, I was blessed to remain in Brooklyn for a handful of days with my dear friends Sam & Matt (and their two children, Sidney & Cecelia) before again setting forth on the final […]
While I knew going in that the walking was probably going to be much more difficult in the United States, I was in no way properly prepared for just how uncomfortable (and at many times downright scary) walking along America’s often shoulder-less highways proved to be … “When your efforts run in the face of […]
This was one of my favorite things done on the entire Walk: regularly rescuing butterflies who had been dazed by the violent rush of highway traffic … “One of the worst things you can do is put supposed kindness out into the world while expecting to get it back. For this isn’t real kindness at […]
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