When Jack Hitt set out to walk the 500 miles from France to Santiago de Compostela, Spain, he submitted to the rigorous traditions of Europe's oldest form of packaged tour, a pilgrimage that has been walked by millions in the history of Christendom.Off the Road is an unforgettable exploration of the sites that people believe God once touched: the strange fortress said to contain the real secret Adam learned when he bit into the apple; the sites associated w...

WHAT IS IT THAT DRIVES THE SUCCESS OF AMERICA AND THE IDENTITY OF ITS PEOPLE? ACCLAIMED WRITER AND CONTRIBUTING EDITOR TO THIS AMERICAN LIFE JACK HITT THINKS IT’S BECAUSE WE’RE ALL A BUNCH OF AMATEURS.America’s self-invented tinkerers are back at it in their metaphorical garages—fiddling with everything from solar-powered cars to space elevators. In Bunch of Amateurs, Jack Hitt visits a number of different garages and has written a fascinating boo...

When Jack Hitt set out to walk the 500 miles from France to Santiago de Compostela, Spain, he submitted to the rigorous traditions of Europe's oldest form of packaged tour, a pilgrimage that has been walked by millions in the history of Christendom.Off the Road is an unforgettable exploration of the sites that people believe God once touched: the strange fortress said to contain the real secret Adam learned when he bit into the apple; the sites associated ...

WHAT IS IT THAT DRIVES THE SUCCESS OF AMERICA AND THE IDENTITY OF ITS PEOPLE? ACCLAIMED WRITER AND CONTRIBUTING EDITOR TO THIS AMERICAN LIFE JACK HITT THINKS IT’S BECAUSE WE’RE ALL A BUNCH OF AMATEURS.America’s self-invented tinkerers are back at it in their metaphorical garages—fiddling with everything from solar-powered cars to space elevators. In Bunch of Amateurs, Jack Hitt visits a number of different garages and has written a fascinating boo...

The Path is the story of a group of international travellers who walk the Camino de Santiago, the ancient eight hundred kilometre pilgrimage from the Pyrenees to the remains of the apostle Saint James in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostella in Northern Spain.The group are of all ages, all professions, all religious denominations (and none). They include a British ex-army captain, a beautiful Danish businesswoman, a manic Austrian architect, a Welsh painter, a driven American pr...

Noel Braun yearns to walk the Camino, the ancient pilgrimage route that leads across France and Spain to Santiago de Compostela. Since the suicide of Maris, his beloved wife of forty-two years, he has struggled to find himself. But is it pure madness? He's an old bloke. At seventy-seven-years, he should be sensible, act his age and relax in a rocking chair. Can his body and spirit withstand the demands? Can he leave family and friends behind? Noel believes this is a journey he MUST underta...

Despite quadruple heart bypass surgery, fear of failure, and concern also at being labelled a copycat for repeating the theme of the movie The Way—walking the Camino de Santiago de Compostela in memory of a lost son—64 year-old Melbourne writer Michael Thornton takes on the often gruelling 800km Spanish pilgrimage.Michael's 27-day trek from St Jean in southern France to Santiago de Compostela in north-west Spain is plagued by self-doubt at having to walk 25 kilometres a day for a m...

The Kiwi Sisters' Camino de Santiago gives practical advice on the preparation for the walk; shares the many challenges and joys pilgrims face along The Way; offers humerous, wry observations on themselves, fellow pilgrims and village life; identifies six Camino lessons as touchstones for life; and considers the broader, life-changing ramifications of completing the trip.

In Grandmas On the Camino, author Mary OHara Wyman, a 72 year old grandmother from San Francisco, relates her 2010 adventures walking 500 miles alone as a pilgrim on the Camino Frances. Her journey takes her from St. Jean Pied de Port in France, across the Pyrenees to Spain, then westward to the ancient spiritual destination of Santiago de Compostela. Through back-home reflections based on journal entries and postcards sent to her grand daughter, Mary describes engaging encounters with pil...

The Camino de Santiago - an 800 kilometre hike across Northern Spain spanning two mountain ranges, one barren wasteland, four different provinces and, most daunting of all, five weeks sharing dorm rooms with exhausted snorers, and bathrooms with enthusiastic wine drinkers. The whole concept sounds absurd and unbearable. But Dean and his wife did it anyway, and nothing was more surprising than how much they enjoyed it. The camaraderie, the sense of community, the satisfaction that accompani...

Emmett Williams was joining his wife on her pilgrimage along El Camino de Santiago de Compostela (an ancient 500 mile walk across northern Spain). It had been a “bucket list” item for each of them, but for different reasons. His wife was going in search of an epiphany, and Emmett was just taking a walking vacation. He found a personal freedom and joy previously unknown to him. Emmett is a sexagenarian “every day” man. On the onset of his journey, Emmett is a healthy man, but has some minor...

William S. Schmidt is an associate professor of the Institute of Pastoral Studies at Loyola University Chicago. He is the author of two books and numerous articles in the fi elds of counseling and spirituality. He is the editor of the Journal of Spirituality in Mental Health published by Taylor and Francis.