Camino magic is real

[Simperegrina]

So yday I met this absolute legend, Jose Antonio Garcia, yday evening at my accommodation in Ponte de Lima.

The Pilgrim - Man Spends Eleven Years Walking 107,000 Kilometers in the Name of Faith

Jose Antonio Garcia has spent the last 11 years of his life walking 107,000 kilometers, visiting thousands of holy sites all around the world. He has become known as The Pilgrim.

www.odditycentral.com

The article was from 2016, but believe me, he’s still walking to pilgrimage sites.

The owner is a friend of Jose’s and won’t let him stay in an albergue when he’s in Ponte de Lima.

His story is extraordinary, and it was a privilege to meet him.

 

[Bert45]

My Camino del Norte diary
Day 20
Tuesday 3 July, 2018
Hotel Monte y Mar, La Isla.
I met a man, José Antonio García Calvo (The Pilgrim), who was here 7 August 2014 when he had walked 103,000 km after surviving his boat capsizing off Norway in1999 and clinging to the bodies of two other sailors. He has spent the years since visiting holy sites on all the continents except Oceania (and Antarctica, I presume).

 

[Simperegrina]

My Camino del Norte diary
Day 20
Tuesday 3 July, 2018
Hotel Monte y Mar, La Isla.
I met a man, José Antonio García Calvo (The Pilgrim), who was here 7 August 2014 when he had walked 103,000 km after surviving his boat capsizing off Norway in1999 and clinging to the bodies of two other sailors. He has spent the years since visiting holy sites on all the continents except Oceania (and Antarctica, I presume).

He’s up to +120,000km now!

 

[lovelyshell]

Wow that’s amazing!

 

[JennN]

Incredible! I met him while walking the CF back in 2001. Though his English was limited and my Spanish was almost nil he managed to tell me the story of being the sole survivor of the tragic accident. He also carried a scrapbook containing various news articles about his story. Strange this linked article seems to indicate he hadn’t started yet in 2001 but I’m sure I met him. Regardless he’s been walking for a long long time. You don’t forget a story like that - I’ve thought about him over the years. Amazing to hear that he’s still going!