Camino Book Review: One Woman’s Camino

Tracy Pawelski, author

Book Review by Stacey Wittig

My heart raced a bit as I tore open the package that contained this book and a ‘Welcome Home’ note from author Tracy Pawelski when I returned from my latest Camino. While I walked Camino del Norte this month, Tracy released her book, One Woman’s Camino.

Earlier this year, I was honored to preview Tracy’s manuscript and write a pre-publication review of this inspiring Camino book. I found her writing style to be engaging and that her story was similar to mine: successful business woman steps back from her all-encompassing career to find more on the Camino de Santiago.

After opening the package and admiring the cover, I turned the book over to see if the publisher had used a quote from my review on the outside back cover. Sure enough, there it was.

My full review is printed in the preface of the book:

This engaging narrative is not simply a mother-daughter story set on Camino de Santiago, but goes deep to reveal how that sometimes-complicated relationship can lead to transformation and mid-life self-discovery. One Woman’s Camino is an insightful, true story about a modern, corporate woman overcoming obstacles on the ancient pilgrimage route.
— Stacey Wittig, author Spiritual and Walking Guide: León to Santiago.

 

Trading high heels for hiking boots

Tracy trades her high heels for hiking boots and sets out for a Camino Frances adventure. Although she plans for a mother-daughter experience, the Camino author soon learns that this journey will be a “One-Woman” Camino that is all about self-discovery and self-actualization. Tracy’s authenticity is sure to inspire you to walk the ancient path.

The first step can be the hardest

Whether your next step is

• Rewiring your priorities,
• Resetting your course, or
• Reconnecting with your faith,

the first step can be the hardest, says Tracy on her author website. Yet in Tracy’s story, you’ll find the inspiration to “make each step a new beginning in this uncertain but glorious journey we call life.” You can see why Tracy Pawelski is one of the Camino authors that I enjoy reading.

Order the book now on Amazon at https://amzn.to/2JMN6oO

 

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Camino Book Review: Inspired Journeys

Inspired Journeys: Travel Writers in Search of the Muse

Brian Bouldrey, Editor

Book Review by Stacey Wittig

Inspired Journeys is a diverse collection of essays by real travelers who move the reader through both time and place. Much of travel writing is simply about place or what to do once you arrive. But as we pilgrims know, often the real stories lie within the journey rather than the destination. Editor Brian Bouldrey, a Santiago pilgrim himself, understands this well and has compiled seventeen stories of pilgrimage to places as divergent as Varanasi, India; Ross Island, Antarctica; El Centro, California, and Santiago, Spain. These tales are told by American writers and mirror both their inward and outward journeys, a theme that the editor describes as “telling the way within.”

The name Brian Bouldrey may be familiar to many American Pilgrims on Camino (APOC) members as he was the lauded keynote speaker at the APOC 2016 conference. The 2016 annual gathering was themed “Telling the Way Within,” and included a pre-conference travel writing workshop presented by the editor/writer who teaches creative writing at Northwestern University.

Bouldrey admits that he casts a wide net around his definition of pilgrimage by including stories of both spiritual and secular pilgrimages. While introducing us to the stories he explains that each author addresses what pilgrimage is and that he orders the anthology to give the definitions “encouragement, space and incrementally growing meaning.”

While some writers share journeys to religious shrines as in Sharman Apt Russell’s “Buen Camino” and Russell Scott Valentino’s “An Accidental Pilgrimage,” others move along Laura Ingalls Wilder’s prairie (Kimberly Meyer) or the Grimms’ fairy-tale road (Raphael Kadushin.) Though some stories read like raw, black-and-white documentary film footage of the writer’s experiences, others like my favorite essay “The Terriblest Poet” (Brian Bouldrey), and Kadushin’s “Driving the Fairy Tale Road” feel like they were shot for the big screen in panoramic Technicolor.

After reading these essays that are not just about place, but also about the inward journey and outward movement of getting to that place, you’re sure to find several that will move you as well. The engaging, 280-page book is available on Amazon at www.amazon.com .

Brian Bouldrey has written eight books, including Honorable Bandit: A Walk Across Corsica, and edited six anthologies, including Traveling Souls: Contemporary Pilgrimage Stories.

Stacey Wittig is author of three books including Spiritual and Walking Guide: Lourdes to San Jean Pied de Port, a guide for both the inward and outward journey.

This review originally appeared in La Concha, the quarterly publication of American Pilgrims on the Camino.

‘You’ll love this yarn – it’s honest and it’s revealing’ says Australian Talk Show Host

‘You’ll love this yarn – it’s honest and it’s revealing’ says Dan Mullins, Australian Talk Show Host about the interview he conducted with me last week. “Stacey and I talk about her journey, both spiritually and physically – in our hearts and on our feet.”

Click here to listen in on the conversation: https://player.whooshkaa.com/episode/?id=106114

Dan Mullins, a Sydney radio broadcaster, producer, and host of ‘My Camino – The Podcast,’ asks probing questions that have me revealing my innermost thoughts on pilgrimage and on my own spiritual experiences. He asks:

• Why do people walk? What is it about walking?
• You mentioned earlier the immense history of the Camino. When you walk, how conscious are you of Christ’s involvement and the Christian involvement in that history?
• You talk in the guide about pilgrims carrying too much in their packs, and you say, ‘Generally we as humans carry too much stuff.’ How can a faith-based life ease that load?
• So you are inviting pilgrims, Stacey, to explore themselves, to learn more about themselves and to find themselves. Is that a fair assessment?
• You write about forgiveness and you say the Camino provides an opportunity for forgiveness. Can I ask you to elaborate on that just a little bit?

Click here to listen in on the conversation: https://player.whooshkaa.com/episode/?id=106114

Dan Mullins, “My Camino-The Podcast” Talk Show Host

Camino books, Spiritual Camino, Camino guide, Camino devotional

 

Bootstrapping: Challenges of translating Camino book from English to German

“It’s an idiomatic phrase that we don’t really have in German,” explained Thomas with a frown. I couldn’t really SEE his frown, but I could HEAR it. I was sitting in my car in Flagstaff, Arizona, talking on WhatsApp to the linguistic expert who is translating my first Camino book from English to German. The young Deutscher just moved to Brisbane, Australia, last month so it is somewhat difficult to set an appointment where our time zones don’t collide. It was 5 pm my time and 10 am his time. I’d just completed my last meeting of the day and could give my full attention to the international call.

“You say in your book that you ‘pull yourself up by your own bootstraps.’ We don’t really say that in German,” Thomas continued. Bootstrapping may just be a purely American thing. “We do say that we pull ourselves up by our hair,” he added.

“That would work,” I replied, and thought, “This guy is GOOD! I am so blessed to have met him in Paris.” Thomas and I had accidentally, or perhaps with divine intervention, met in Paris, France, when we walked a pilgrimage from the cathedral of Notre Dame to the Chartres Cathedral 100 km away. The Christian Paris to Chartres pilgrimage that takes place every year during Pentecost has roots in the Middle Ages. The pilgrimage is called Notre-Dame de Chrétienté in French.

Even though I was older than Thomas’ mother, we had walked together joking and laughing much of the way. (When we weren’t lamenting blisters, sleep deprivation or exhaustion.) In three days filled with challenges and joy, Thomas and I got to know each other well. When I learned that he was a professional translator, I asked the twenty-eight-year-old about interpreting my first book, Spiritual and Walking Guide: Leon to Santiago. Since publication, many Germans have recommended that I translate the text into their language.

“I could work on it in September, after I move to Australia,” he smiled. “I’ll have time then.” Since Pentecost was in mid-May, I had plenty of time to prepare my manuscript and raise funds to pay for his services.

But last night Thomas wasn’t laughing or joking too much. This translation was serious business for the young scholar and he approached me with the respect due a valued client. “Maybe I am being too German here, but I want to discuss each of these changes with you. You have laid your heart out in this book. And you’ve been very true to the Bible scriptures that you quote. I don’t want to change the words [imagery] without your approval,” he said sternly.

The impossible task of pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps is analogous to the achievement of getting out of difficult situations through your own efforts. The German version uses “Schopf,” an archaic word for “hair” or “head of hair” and is used in this context because it is from an old proverb. Today’s use of “schopf” means “swamp.”

The excerpt from my Camino devotional that uses the bootstrapping idiomatic phrase:

Seven years ago, during a self-imposed weekend retreat, I heard the Lord whisper, “Walk El Camino de Santiago.” El Camino hadn’t crossed my mind for over a decade; and, in fact, I really didn’t know much about the ancient pilgrimage route. Yet I felt the Lord’s call to take a spiritual journey. The obedient act of walking would teach me to shift my emphasis from trust in a busy calendar to trust in God’s provision. I had to let go of the belief that if only I had enough sales appointments, won enough sales contests, (fill in the blank with your own if only,) then I would be perfectly happy. I thought of myself as self-made, and relished the image of me – a working woman – pulling myself up by my own bootstraps, or in my case, by my own Bandolino Italian leather pumps.

The German translation of that excerpt:

Vor sieben Jahren dann, während eines Einkehrwochenendes, hörte ich den Herrn zu mir sagen: „Begib dich auf den Jakobsweg.“ Der Jakobsweg war mir damals schon über ein Jahrzehnt nicht mehr in den Sinn gekommen und ich wusste auch nicht allzu viel über diese historische Route. Allerdings fühlte ich einen starken Ruf, mich auf eine spirituelle Reise zu begeben. Laufen hat etwas von Demut und ich hoffte, dass mir eine Pilgerreise dabei helfen würde, mein Vertrauen in Gottes Plan anstatt in einen vollen Terminplaner zu setzen. Ich musste loskommen von dem Gedanken, dass ich eigentlich nur genug Verträge brauchte; eigentlich nur genügend Wettbewerbe gewinnen müsste, um endlich glücklich zu sein. Jeder hat irgendwo ein „eigentlich nur“, eine Bedingung für das Glück. Mein Selbstbild war das einer eigenständigen, erfolgreichen Frau, die sich in schwierigen Situation am eigenen Schopf aus dem Sumpf zieht. In meinem Fall an einem aufwändig frisierten Schopf.

Order the English version by clicking here: Amazon.com

German version now available at https://www.amazon.de

Book Review: Spiritual and Walking Guide: León to Santiago

Spiritual & Walking Guide reviewed on popular Camino blog "The Camino Provides." Thanks for the kind words, Laurie Ferris! Thanks for adding my book to the Camino books on your Camino Book list.

The Camino Provides

Travel writer Stacey Wittig thought of everything with this guidebook for the last major section of the Camino Francés. It not only includes daily prayers to reflect on, but also details about where to sleep and daily walking distances. Even though I’ll be walking different routes before my Camino Francés in 2018, I enjoyed reading this book cover to cover for the practical tips on lodging and pilgrim etiquette.  For example, when she talks about waking up early to be alone and meditate, she advises to respect the sleeping pilgrims and abide by the earliest arise time set by the individual refugios. She also shares tales of interesting people she met along the way.

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American Pilgrims on Camino adds ‘Spiritual and Walking Guide’ to Book List

The latest addition to the American Pilgrims on the Camino book list is Stacey Wittig’s Spiritual and Walking Guide: León to Santiago. American Pilgrims on Camino (APOC), a non-profit organization, provides information to pilgrims that includes links to online resources, book lists, CD and music lists and Camino essays. The APOC Camino reading list includes a wealth of books for pilgrims interested in walking El Camino de Santiago, an ancient pilgrimage route in northern Spain.

The mission of American Pilgrims on the Camino is to foster the enduring tradition of the Camino by supporting its infrastructure, by gathering pilgrims together, and by providing information and encouragement to past and future pilgrims. Their high-traffic website states:

The modern literature on the Camino and on pilgrimage encompasses not only many walker’s guides, but also cultural handbooks on art and architecture, personal narratives and reflections, novels and more.

The easy-to-use Camino book list is divided into the following categories:

• Guide Books (in English)
• Guide Books (Other than English)
• Personal Accounts and Reflections
• Fiction
• Culture and History
• Other Printed Material

Listed in the “Guide Books (In English)” category, Spiritual and Walking Guide: León to Santiago is included with other well-known Camino books such as John Brierley’s Pilgrim’s guides and maps to the Camino de Santiago and the Camino portugués, and Bethan Davies’ and Ben Cole’s Walking the Camino de Santiago.

“When I first walked El Camino in 2005, I used Bethan Davies’ guide,” explained Camino author Stacey Wittig. “So I am intimately familiar with her work. Back then, I originally looked for a route guide that also included Bible scriptures and daily devotionals. I didn’t want to carry a heavy Bible, a daily devotional and a route guide. I hoped that such a book would also include space to journal my own thoughts. Since I couldn’t find that sort of thing, I felt inspired to compile a guide that would lead readers spiritually as well as physically through the landscape. This inspirational Camino guide includes scriptures for The Way of St. James. It has been described as ‘The Way devotional.’

“I am very honored that American Pilgrims on the Camino includes my book on their Camino reading list,” continued the writing pilgrim. The Camino devotional is now listed on the reading lists of three of the world’s top Camino de Santiago websites.

The APOC listing describes the book:

Author Stacey Wittig has written a spiritual guide for walking from León, Spain, to Santiago. What about pilgrimage helps you let go of fears and find peace that passes understanding? How can you be still and hear God’s voice as you trek the ancient pilgrimage route? How will you prepare your heart for a closer walk with God on the Camino? Find answers to these and other questions in this daily devotional and walking guide. Included in this book are daily scripture readings, meditations and questions for reflection to make the most of your pilgrimage and on the more practical side, details about where to sleep, daily distances walked and essential websites, insider travel tips, how to obtain a credential, how to follow the route without maps. The book contains space to journal thoughts and revelations.

Order Spiritual and Walking Guide: León to Santiago now on Amazon: http://amzn.to/1Slo6Rq