Pilgrim Road [CDN01] was a real-time, daily email newsletter published while walking the del Norte route of the Camino de Santiago, some 550 miles across the north of Spain. It ran from May through mid-June 2023.

Each day, subscribers received a dispatch from me. Some photographs, walking data, a field note or two. The idea was to open small “windows” into life on pilgrimage.

As we walked, we encountered the life and times of the Camino del Norte: pilgrims of every age and walk of life, the hospitaleros who run the network of pilgrim-only accommodations, and the sprawling infinitude of mountain paths, mid-sized cities, remote farms and vineyards, cathedrals and coast lines, flat plains, and tiny “pueblos” dotted along the undulating topography of Spain’s four northern provinces: Basque Country, Cantabria, Asturias, and Galicia.

Contents

[CDN01] Welcome to Pilgrim Road: Camino del Norte
Day 1 : The Ferryman and the River
Day 2 : Twelve Tribes
Day 3 : Circadian Rhythm
Day 4 : Little Flower
Day 5 : At the Head of the Table
Day 6 : Onomatopoeia
Day 7 : Guggenheim, Lay-Ups, & Industrial Hell Sprawl
Day 8 : Mi Ping Pong, Su Ping Pong
Day 9 : Sand Pocket
Day 10 : An Ernesto Education
Day 11 : Yah, That's Fair
Day 12 : El Convento
Day 13 : Snowcaps, Sea Spray
Day 14a : Seagulls on a Perch
Day 14b : Donativo
Day 15 : Pilgrimage in the Age of the Smartphone
Day 16 : 25k is 5k 5x
Day 17 : You're Gonna Take This Away, Too?
Day 18 : Cynicism, the Power of Accurate Observation
Day 19 : Green Lights
Day 20 : Left Feels Right
Day 21 : Attachment Theory
Day 22 : It's A Crutch
Day 23 : Orphans Marching
Day 24 : On Process
Day 25 : Free Men Feel Freely
Day 26 : Horizon Line Averaging (HLA)
Day 27 : Too Tall For Spain
Day 28 : Wisdom In Action
Day 29 : The Pew Where My People Are
Day 30 : Four Legs Good, Two Legs Bad
Day 31 : It's a Matter of Direct Experience
Day 32 : Get Bored!
Day 33 : Home Stretch
Day 34 : We Never Fully Arrive
[CDN01] Done!