Camino de Santiago Blogs
Camino 2024: Friendship, Service, and a Journey to the End of the World
This Camino was a long, unique, and amazing adventure. I arrived in Madrid three weeks ahead of Dave and met up with my friend Janine from Australia at the Madrid airport. We spent a few days making our way to Refugio Guacelmo in Rabanal del Camino where we volunteered as hospitaleras from September 1-15. On September 18 I met up with Dave in Porto where we embarked on a journey along the stunning Camino Portuguese from Porto to Santiago and then eventually to the End of the World.
Camino 2023
Dave and I walked the GR 65 Chemin de Saint-Jacque du-Puy from September 1 to October 7, 2023. This route is 736 km long and leads from Le-Puy-En-Velay in south-central France, joining up with the popular Camino Frances in St.-Jean-Pied-de-Port. When Dave and I walked our first Camino in 2015 to celebrate my 70th birthday, St. Jean was our starting point. This time St. Jean was our ending point and the birthday we celebrated upon our arrival was Dave’s 85th! 🎂 🎉 🥳
Camino 2022
Dave and I cancelled plans to return to Spain to walk another Camino twice in the last two years because of COVID and a health scare. We finally got there in the fall of 2022.🤞We arrived in Barcelona on September 6th, made a quick recovery from jet lag, and were off on an eight hour train trip to Leon soon after. We spent seven days walking the Camino San Salvador from Leon to Oviedo and then carried on walking the Camino del Norte from Aviles to Santiago for another 19 days – another memorable journey! 👣👣 😊 😊
Stay-at-Home COVID Caminos, 2021
Dave and I have become such Camino addicts over the last five years, that doing even a “virtual” Camino fills us with excitement that’s hard to contain. For fun and a little extra motivation to get out there and walk during and in spite of the pandemic, we registered for the “Camino for Good,” a virtual 780 km walk along the ancient Camino Frances pilgrimage route from St. Jean Pied de Port, France, to Santiago de Compostela, Spain. Here’s a look at what it’s like walking the Camino de Santiago at home in the Pacific Northwest.
An Interview With Dennis Tam In 2020
We were so excited to be interviewed by Dennis Tam of the Canadian Company of Pilgrims about our journey along the Camino Primitivo!
Thank you Dennis! Subscribe to his Camino Series for more!
Three Caminos in One, 2019
Our second Camino was a mix of three different Caminos, solo along sections of the Camino Frances (Judy for sixteen days) and Camino del Norte (Dave for two days). Together we continued along the Camino del Norte for four more days, took three days “off” the Camino as we made our way to Oviedo by bus, stopping in Guernika and Bilbao. We then took nineteen days to walk all of the Camino Primitivo. Daily posts began on April 18, 2019.
Our 2015 Camino Frances Journey
Dave and I first walked the Camino Frances together in autumn of 2015. We left St. Jean Pied de Port in southern France on my 70th birthday, September 10th. What a way to celebrate a new decade! We arrived in Santiago de Compostela fifty days later on October 29th, walking approximately 16 km per day with the shortest day being about 8 km and the longest, 32 km. No blisters, just lots of good memories and pictures.