Edwin Mullins has spent the better part of his life associated with the Camino de Santiago, with his first book on the subject--The Pilgrimage to Santiago--appearing in 1974. In his more recent publication, The Four Roads to Heaven: France and the Santiago Pilgrimage, Mullins lays out the history and highlights of the four major Chemins de Saint-Jacques. This episode features a conversation with Mullins about his experiences with the Camino, spanning more than five decades, focusing in particular on those French routes. Given his particular love of Vézelay, the episode then explores that chemin in greater detail with John Newman, a pilgrim from New Zealand, who recently walked it in its entirety.

While walking the Camino de Santiago is demanding in and of itself, the completion of pilgrimage poses a special challenge. The mixed emotions a pilgrim often feels when arriving in Santiago are often a precursor to the prolonged slump that can occur at home. This episode focuses on the process of return, and the steps a pilgrim can take to make their pilgrimage a genuinely transformative experience--should they so desire it! Alexander John Shaia, author of Returning from Camino, offers practical advice alongside of his own story, to help guide pilgrims through each part of the process. He is followed by Ginny Bartolone, whose own story of facing anxiety and depression on pilgrimage lends further insight into the healing journey.

Most people only experience the Camino as pilgrims. However, there are many ways to engage with the pilgrim road, and a number of these include rich volunteer opportunities. This episode focuses on three different possibilities. The Ditch Pigs are an annual clean-up crew, organized by Rebekah Scott, and two members of this year's group--Amelia and Jim--bring us into the middle of the action. The most common form of giving back for pilgrims is to serve as hospitaleros; Julie-Ann Milne trains hospitaleros in Sydney, Australia, and she discusses what the work entails and why it matters. Finally, it's also possible to serve in the Pilgrim Office in Santiago; Tom A has been spending weeks there each summer for a number of years, and he takes us behind the curtain. It's a mix of personal stories and practical advice, in the hope of inspiring more of us to contribute, however we can.

Soldiers are hardly a new phenomenon on the Camino de Santiago; indeed, the pilgrimage originated hand in glove with the military initiative to reconquer the Iberian peninsula from the Moors. Today, though, a new movement is taking place to bring more veterans to pilgrimage, as a potential rite of passage to mark their re-entry into civilian life. Brad Genereux has been a key catalyst in this work, taking his own experience--which he wrote about in A Soldier to Santiago--and extending it outward to others through his organization, Veterans on the Camino. Dan Huvane, a US marine, was part of a 2018 cohort that Brad led. The potential of this is also the stuff of research, with Dr. Heather Warfield at the forefront of that work. This episode features Brad, Dan, and Heather, talking about their experiences and the impact of pilgrimage on veterans.

The Camino de Santiago has a powerful gravitational pull. It draws many back for multiple pilgrimages; in some cases, it reorganizes individuals' lives. That is certainly the case for the two people featured in this episode. John Brierley first walked the Camino three decades ago. In that first pilgrimage, he quickly realized he would become a guidebook writer, and indeed, he has become the most read English-language author in that realm (see caminoguides.com for more). Rebekah Scott, meanwhile, moved to Moratinos, Spain--a small town in the meseta on the Camino Francés--many years ago. She is deeply involved in many pilgrimage-related initiatives, many of them bundled beneath her Peaceable Projects organization (see peaceableprojects.org). Both share stories from their lives on the Camino, along with previews of their upcoming work.

Pardon the bait and switch, but this is not a new episode of the Camino Podcast. (It'll be back, I swear!) Instead, I'd like to share the first episode of my new podcast series, Sea to Shining Sea, focused on the American Discovery Trail--the first coast-to-coast, non-motorized trail across the USA. In this episode, I interview one of the route's founders, Eric Seaborg, and then the first continuous through-hikers of the route, Ken and Marcia Powers (aka "Gottawalk"). Future episodes will be posted to a different Soundcloud/iTunes account, but I wanted to make sure as many people as possible saw this first episode!

While walking pilgrims remain the dominant demographic on the Camino, bike pilgrims constitute an increasingly significant part of the community. Despite--or perhaps because of that--a great deal of tension exists between the two groups, and dialogue is often limited to a dinging bike bell and a "buen camino." This episode digs into the bike pilgrim experience, focusing both on practical considerations that anyone contemplating this approach should factor into their planning, as well as broader reflections on the walker-biker dynamic. David Landis, author of the Camino Guidebook and also CaminoCyclist.com, and Doug Werme, a prolific bike pilgrim and Camino Forum voice, share tips and stories from the road.

Along with hosting the Camino Podcast, Dave Whitson is also the co-author of The Northern Caminos guidebook with Laura Perazzoli. In this episode, Dave and Laura reflect on their summer spent re-walking the Caminos del Norte, Primitivo, and Inglés, and also their first experiences on the Ruta do Mar, Camino Salvador, Camino Vasco, and Ruta Vadiniense. Along the way, they share stories detailing a dog attack, an encounter with the True Cross, and the best albergue ever.

The Generalissimo Francisco Franco ruled Spain for the better part of four decades and had a profound impact on the country over that time. He also had a tremendous impact on the Camino de Santiago. Indeed, his time in power coincides with the acceleration of the Camino's rebirth, which kicked off in earnest in 1879 and culminated in the Jubilee year of 1993. Dr. Stanley Payne is one of Franco's biographers and in this episode he shares his expertise on Franco's rise to power and relationship with the Church, with some specific consideration of Franco's impact on several places relevant to the Camino: El Ferrol, Guernica, and the region of Galicia. He's followed by Dr. Sasha Pack, who focuses more specifically on Franco's role in the reemergence of the Camino de Santiago, and his very tangible impact on the pilgrimage that we see--and walk--today.

Johnnie Walker is one of the most prominent names associated with the Camino de Santiago these days. Ever since moving to Santiago de Compostela, Johnnie has taken an active role in re-shaping the English-speaking pilgrim's experience in the city, and he has recently emerged as a prolific guidebook author as well. In this episode, Johnnie shares how he got started as a pilgrim, picked up his nom de plume, and his affection for the Camino Inglés. He's followed by our first return guest, Brian Bouldrey, whose new anthology, Inspired Journeys: Travel Writers in Search of the Muse, explores the concept of secular pilgrimage.