Hey Pilgrims,
Sandy took me to The Franciscan Renewal Center in Scottsdale, Arizona. It seemed a great place to podcast and share the details of our plans for ipilgrim podcast and things to come.

To watch “The Way” at the San Luis Rey Movie Night at Old Mission San Luis Rey
Saturday, May 12, 2012 – 6:30pm-9:00pm.
Registration necessary
Call 760-757-3659 ext 111 or 123
Children 12 and over welcome
Old Mission San Luis Rey Retreat Center, 4050 Mission Avenue, Oceanside, CA 92057

Buen Camino,

Deborah

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I’ve been in Arizona, California and Mexico for the past week.  Sandy and I have finally met in person and we have been working hard on ipilgrim podcast and La Flecha Amarilla Foundation (The Yellow Arrow Foundation.)  We’ve been working so hard, that many things will have to wait for my next trip to Arizona in order to be completed.

One of my goals of ipilgrim podcast is to also turn into a videocast as well. So, I brought my cheap flipcam (that has been on two caminos and has seen better days) and we tried to shoot a few videos of our activities.

Sandy couldn’t wait to have me (and her) eat street tacos in her hometown of Tijuana, Mexico. I did many cool things on this weekend, but eating tacos in TJ was my favorite.  Included is a very quickly edited video of Sandy and I in Mexico. I hope to edit and post more in the future.

Buen Camino,

Deborah

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Recently, the American Pilgrims on the Camino (APOC) held their National Gathering here in my hometown of Orlando (well, Winter Park, FL which is part of the Orlando Metro area) Sarah Van Treeck and I were able to attend the three-day conference. And both Sarah and I agreed that .. wowwie! It was like being on the Camino again …without the blisters, fatigue and tons of smelly pilgrims.  The feeling we left with was a jolt of Camino spirit.

With a sense that everything happens for a reason, Sarah and I found ourselves “in the right place at the right time”  For example, on  the first day, Sarah and I were being pokey after Mass and walked into the conference center when we were greeted with “where are you suppose to be?” After being given three choices of talks to attended, I was literally pushed into a room where people were talking about starting local chapters of pilgrims groups — something I have been thinking about for a while. And Sarah was pushed into a Hospitalero question and answer session — something she was interested in doing.

Through out the conference, we both met a lot of people. We were lucky to see Lydia Smith from The Camino Documentary present a few clips from her film. There were many new pilgrims, pilgrims who haven’t been to Spain yet and lots of stories and emails exchanged.

OH, if you want to get your own “e-Compostela” from the web site of the Cathedral ( http://www.catedraldesantiago.es/ing/webcatedral.html ) It’s super cool… at least I think it’s super cool.

All-in-all, The National Gathering was a good time had by all.

Buen Camino,
Deborah

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We finally had Steve back on the podcast. Just in time for Steve to hear feedback from our loyal listeners. We had several people write in the past few weeks, including our friends Dee and Tom Fox from the Catholic Vitamins podcast (Catholicvitamins.com) and Holly, who’s going on her first Camino in May.

In May, Sandy and I are going to meet for the first time in Phoenix. In sense, I feel like I’m going on a little Camino here in the USA. I’m driving up to Nebraska for a little while and then meeting Sandy for the first time. We hope to have a video version of ipilgrim that week.

Today, there was talk on one of the forums about The Camino Real. This is the Spanish Mission Walk along the California coast. Stephanie (http://californiamissionwalk.yolasite.com/) will start from Sonoma Mission by San Francisco on March 31st and walking down to San Diego. She hopes to map out a path for other pilgrims. It give me and Sandy yet another walk we need to take. Something more to add to our bucket list.

Finally, I’m very excited that the National Gathering of Pilgrims will happen next weekend here in my hometown of Orlando. Maybe I can post some special episodes of the podcast after that week.

Buen Camino,
Deborah

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Hey Pilgrims,

I was going to call this episode “Technology gremlins” because we had one of those episodes where things were going haywire all over the place. It started with my newer macbook in which I record all my episodes.. the backlight burnt out and I couldn’t see the screen, so my “baby” had to be sent in for repair. That left me with my six-year-old macbook pro and it was a bit buggy, but functioning.

Our guest is Judy Colaneri from the Camino business Spanish Steps. (www.Spanishsteps.com) Spanish Steps specializes in group travel along various Camino and pilgrimage Routes including the Camino Frances, Del Norte, Le Puy and even Via Francigena in Italy. Originally, Judy had a recorded an interview with us a week prior and the interview turned out to be extremely unusable due to our little gremlins. Which was a real shame, Judy is an amazing woman to interview.

So, take two. The second time with Judy, I still didn’t have my normal computer, but I think I got all the sounds issues figured out, when my wifi started acting up. The gremlins were still very active. So much so, I just had to laugh about the all the things going wrong. Luckily, the gremlins calmed down enough to record this interview and little “Bonus” episode that I might post later. And immediately after the episode, Sandy’s computer died.. no warning. Luckily, it didn’t die in the middle of podcast.

This isn’t the last time you will hear from Judy either, we hope to bring her back for reports on the Camino. And, she has inspired me to save my pennies to try one of her tours. Until next time….

Buen Camino,
Deborah

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Hey Pilgrims,

In this episode of ipilgrim, we finally get around to talking about some of the unsung heroes of the Camino– Hospitaleros. Those are the wonderful people who deal with the sweaty, sick, injured, stinky, grouchy, emotional –and yes — happy pilgrims who stumble into the albergues. And for some of the pilgrims that I ended up walking with during my past Camino really put the Hospitaleros through their paces. I think the  last Albergue I stayed in, the poor Hospitalera was upset about my friends out past curfew, drinking in the bar. Little did she know, that they were planning to sneak in through an open window in the middle of the night. That poor woman.
Heather Knight (pictured above) is very involved in everything Camino: she volunteers for The Camino Documentary. contributes regularly on many Camino forums.  In October 2011, Heather just happened to serve as a Hospitalera at Santa Domingo de la Calzada as I was walking the Camino Frances. Heather gives us at ipilgrim podcast what is  like to volunteer to work on the Camino. And you can find out what the deal is with the chicken picture. Heather has her own blog at http://renegadepilgrim.blogspot.com/

(our evening meal with pilgrim at Santa Domingo .. I’m on the right hand side next to Sarah Van Treeck and Heather)

If you want to attend the Hospitalero training this year in Winter Park, Florida, more information can be found at http://www.americanpilgrims.com/events/events_national.html And since the National Gathering of Pilgrims is going to be in my backyard this year,  I do hope to attend.

Oh, and don’t forget ipilgrim podcast is now an affiliate podcast of SQPN. Go check out Steve and myself on other podcasts on SQPN.com.

Buen Camino,

Deborah

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Hey pilgrims,

Sometimes, post Camino, it can  be challenge to live aligned with “your purpose”. For some pilgrims, the Camino is a chance to glimpse of what their purpose in life is or could be.  Armed with this vision, the pilgrim goes on with life and then realizing the vision received from the Camino and how it plays out in real life is more challenging than it looks.

“If I’m aligned with my purpose, isn’t it suppose to be easy? ” says Lydia Smith, our favorite documentary producer. Listen to what Lydia has to say about living up to the challenge of achieving one’s vision and purpose.

Today, Lydia joined ipilgrim to talk about her recent fundraising pilgrimage and how her film The Camino Documentary is progressing.  You can view the trailer and support the documentary at http://www.caminodocumentary.org/

Buen Camino,

Deborah

Hey Pilgrims,

We here at ipilgrim podcast want to wish you a happy 2012. We are excited about a new year and as always, we look forward to the possibility of doing the Camino in 2012.

Steve and Sandy had a chance to meet for the first time. There’s a picture I lifted off of facebook for you to see the occasion.

We also announced our affiliation with the Star Quest Production Network or SQPN.

We look forward to many new and exciting podcasts and projects in the coming year.

Buen Camino,

Deborah

Some links that we mention in this episode

http://www.facebook.com/Suseya

It’s been about a month since I have returned from Spain. Most pilgrims would say “the Camino really begins in Santiago.”  So according to their logic, I’m on the Camino. That’s very nice, but I wish they would tell that to my body which is squarely in the USA. And my body is still telling me “You stopped walking a while back.”

Post Camino Blues is hard to define in a sense. From a physical stand point, it’s a lack of neurotransmitters to the pleasure center of the brain. Thirty days of “runners high” and the brain got used to it.

The second piece of the blues is actual more mental. In my last post, I mentioned that walking the Camino may provide some clarity (while walking) about what one should do in life. And, many pilgrims make promises to themselves… “when I get home, I’m going to……eat organic, exercise more, quit that job, end that relationship, start that relationship (whatever the case may be.)  It may  become a challenge of logistics of executing the plans made on the Camino and their real life consequences.

During the podcast, Steve reads off a list of “remedies” that I can use to make me feel like I’m on the Camino at home.  He’s so helpful. Until the next podcast…

Buen Camino.

Deborah

Hey Pilgrims,

I returned from the Camino on Thursday. As one of my fellow pilgrim said: the Camino is a puzzle; we pick up the pieces along the way and put the pieces together after we have finished.  Some of the pieces of the puzzle are obvious where they fit. For example, I made the mistake of not planning enough time in Santiago for myself and my body. As a result, I went from walking the Camino to sitting in an airplane for 24 hours. By the time I got to Orlando, my feet looked like sausages because of the swelling. Lesson learned.

Other pieces I have to put together are much tougher to figure out where they go. I noticed that one of the German pilgrims posted on facebook, the video from Johnny Nash “I can see Clearly now” (a personal favorite) the day he arrived back from the Camino. The Camino can give such clarity about things that were cloudy before. The real challenge lies in the action of implementing the changes to make a complete picture.  As Sandy says in this episode, the Camino begins after Santiago.  In this case, I have a box full of puzzle pieces that need to placed.

Maybe one of my pieces of the puzzle is turtle shaped. The symbol of the turtle slowly carrying her home on her back became a Camino mascot– Walking your own pace even if it’s a turtle pace.  Luckily, the Camino puzzle doesn’t have to be completed in a specific time frame so I can really reflect on the pieces I’ve collected.

Until next time, Buen Camino,

Deborah