interesting article from 2018--I'm not sure it has been posted here before.

[kelleymac]

The Long View: Individualism on the Camino de Santiago

Every year thousands of pilgrims traverse ancient pathways across Europe to a remote corner of Northern Spain. Their reasons and backgrounds vary, but they all walk with a singular purpose — to rea…

theoxfordculturereview.com

 

[MesaWalker]

There is a lot to chew on in this article.

On a fall 2021 Camino Francés, many of our fellow pilgrims were coming to the Camino on the heels of a major life transition - a divorce, a death, loss of a job, retirement, etc. I think the overriding motivation was personal - getting away from the hustle of daily life and trying to gain personal insight to move forward. Nothing bad about that, and I think the Camino is a wonderful means to that end. But that's probably a far different motivation than a medieval pilgrim would have had.

It's interesting to ponder how the purpose of the Camino has morphed and adapted over the years. Thanks, kelleymac, for posting this article.

 

[Annw]

"You walk your own Camino" seems to epitomize the point.

 

[sinein]

Really interesting article, thank you.

 

[David Tallan]

An interesting article. I have to admit, though, that I was a little surprised by the line "some monasteries and churches even resurrect the same designs as were stamped over a thousand years ago" near the beginning. I have to wonder how much stamping was going on over a thousand years ago. It isn't something I've seen much of from back then.

 

[kavindra]

I was surprised to read that at the end you get your 'certificate' as long as you've done the walk 'for religious reasons'!. This sounds absurd to me.