Take a Virtual Vacation: El Camino 2024

I’m leaving for Spain tomorrow to lead my second hiking trip on the Camino de Santiago. Twelve travelers will be joining me and my co-leaders, Brenda Porter and Andre Mallinger, next week for a journey we’ve dubbed “The Creative Camino.” The creative part? I’ll be teaching writing and Brenda will teach sketching and watercolor as […]

I’m with my two co-leaders, Brenda Porter and Andre Mallinger, traveling our walking route on the Camino by rental car. We’re spending our first few days in Spain scouting: revisiting the places we’ll be staying, double and triple-checking hotel reservations, finding the best restaurant open on the day we’ll be passing through, determining the best

I’m sitting in the spacious living room of Villa San Vento on the outskirts of Santiago de Compostela, in one of the houses we’ve rented for our group. All is in readiness. We’ve planned our first couple of days together. The rooms are made up. We’ve filled the refrigerator with food; Brenda and Andre have

Brenda and Andre made us a great first night dinner—a giant salad with tomato, avocado, chicken, beets, walnuts, and Spanish olives. Everyone got to add what they wanted. Dessert was fresh nectarines, dark chocolate, and dried apricots. We’re sitting around outside in a breezeway with perfect temperature, slowly getting to know each other. One of

I’m loving the slow start to this Camino, our choice to have this three-day landing/retreat before we physically begin walking our 100-km pilgrimage. Yesterday, in our orientation session, I opened with an initial welcome of the group, Andre went over group ground rules rooted in respect, self-care, self-responsibility and what it means to travel in

Today was our first full day walking the Camino—ten or so miles (depending on whose digital device was counting). From here on out, we’ll be walking all the way to Santiago. This being the start of our non-stop walking journey, Brenda and Andre and I created a ritual for our group. After we were dropped

Today we had a full day for rest, writing, laundry, shopping for needed items, and art. For our morning writing session, I designed a writing class based on Tim O’Brien’s classic Vietnam novel, “The Things They Carried.” The object of the class was threefold: to learn how powerful objects can be in defining character, to

Today was a 12+ mile day. There was rain in the forecast, so we all had our raingear handy, but it ended up being a cool, and at times sunny day, perfect hiking weather. At first, there were lots and lots of people on the trail, everyone greeting each other with a friendly, “Buen Camino!”

After months of preparation and anticipation, several days getting to know each other while waiting for late arrivals and lost luggage, several days sharing wine and Spanish food, writing and art classes, with instructions about how to adjust our backpacks and properly use our hiking poles, and getting all geared up, we actually took our

I first met Brenda Porter when the company she worked for, a women’s adventure travel company, sent her to be our guide for a retreat I created with my wife, Karyn: writing and yoga in the Sacred Valley of Peru seven years ago. When Brenda showed up at the retreat center, I could tell within

I never expected that I’d write a blog post about our Creative Camino pilgrimage entitled “love.” But it was the undeniable choice for today’s post. Our group—twelve pilgrims and three leaders (who of course are pilgrims in their own right)—has bonded so beautifully. The kindness and compassion with which we are greeting each other is

Every morning before we start to walk, we gather in a circle and I pull out a little blue cloth bag filled with quotations I’ve collected about pilgrimage and walking, growth and life. I printed them out before I left Santa Cruz on stiff oaktag at Kinko’s and spent a couple of evenings in front

Today was the last “rest day” on our pilgrimage. From here on out, it will be a straight shot to Santiago, walking every day. I have loved the rhythm we created for this retreat, walking the last 100 kilometers of the Camino with five extra days off to focus on creativity. These extra rest days

Today was the longest walking day of our Camino pilgrimage. We walked over 16 miles. Now it is 6:30 PM and I am lying in my hotel bedroom right now with my feet up. I just massaged them with something called Green Goo Foot Care Salve, which is made of calendula, yarrow and comfrey. It

I don’t know how the time has flown by so fast, but our Creative Camino is drawing to a close. Tomorrow we will walk into Santiago—kilometer zero—the destination of all the Caminos. After that, we’ll have one more day together as a group, and the morning after that, just a few days from now, we’ll