There are times in our lives when we just need something. Something different, something new, something challenging, to shake things up and show us who we are right now.

Something is what has called my guest this week – Marina – to walk the Camino. Marina is asking a really important question as she embarks on this journey. It’s an existential question, really, like who am I? But it goes even deeper and broader.

Free pilgrim gratitude walk!

Join your host, Nancy, and pilgrim and author Jen Manglos for a reflective and contemplative gratitude walk on Friday, November 28, 10 am to noon, at Carkeek Park in Seattle, Washington. Free.

Not in the Seattle area? You can host your own gratitude walk! Nancy and Jen will provide the reflective guide to share with your walkers.

Get the details and register for the Seattle walk or to host your own walk here: https://thecaminoexperience.com/gratitude

The most daunting part of walking the Camino is getting started. Why go it alone then? Two spots have opened up in my May 2026 Camino Experience group. Grab your spot today: https://thecaminoexperience.com/walk-with-me/

#youonthecamino #caminodesantiago #firsttimepilgrim #thecaminoexperience #caminopodcast

We don’t talk about this enough. It’s something almost every pilgrim feels: the emotional and spiritual challenge of returning home.

After all the walking, the quiet, the moments of connection and clarity, it’s jarring to come back to schedules, noise, and expectations. You may feel disoriented. Disconnected. Even a little lost.

That’s not a sign something went wrong—it’s a sign that something changed.

This is sacred ground.

Today I am sharing two audio sessions from the Bringing home the Camino guided journey inside our new La Terraza online pilgrim community:

• The post-Camino blues
• Why integration matters just as much as the journey

These are the first steps to life after the Camino and the start of your next pilgrimage.

Join La Terraza, where pilgrims gather to share in the spirit of the Camino de Santiago. https://thecaminoexperience.com/laterraza/

Enrollment is open from noon on Tuesday, November 4 through Friday, November 14, 2025.

Join your host, Nancy, and pilgrim and author Jen Manglos for a reflective and contemplative gratitude walk on Friday, November 28, 10 am to noon, at Carkeek Park in Seattle, Washington. Free.

Not in the Seattle area? You can host your own gratitude walk! Nancy and Jen will provide the reflective guide to share with your walkers.

Get the details and register for the Seattle walk or to host your own walk here: https://thecaminoexperience.com/gratitude

#youonthecamino #caminodesantiago #firsttimepilgrim #thecaminoexperience #caminopodcast

You walked the Camino de Santiago and met YOU. Maybe it was the best version of you, maybe it was the worst. Maybe it was your authentic self that you were longing to meet and had suspected was hiding somewhere within you.

My guest today is Kathy Kehe, pilgrim and life coach who is passionate about you finding and bringing home the gold from your pilgrimage. She and I really get into it, as that is my passion, too.

We are all about what happens after you walk the Camino. We are about how you bring home the gifts of the Camino to change your life for real.

It’s not just about tending to the inner landscape, which is, of course, important and necessary. It’s also about adjusting the external features of your life – what you do each day, who you share your time with, and how you find your post-Camino dream and go after that.

Find out more about Kathy's work here: https://www.kathykcoaching.com/

Check out Camino Wisdom Stories here: https://www.heroscamino.com/wisdomstories

Join La Terraza, where pilgrims gather to share in the spirit of the Camino de Santiago. https://thecaminoexperience.com/laterraza/

Enrollment is open from noon on Tuesday, November 4 through Friday, November 14, 2025.

Join your host, Nancy, and pilgrim and author Jen Manglos for a reflective and contemplative gratitude walk on Friday, November 28, 10 am to noon, at Carkeek Park in Seattle, Washington.

Not in the Seattle area Why not host your own gratitude walk? Nancy and Jen will provide the reflective guide to share with your walkers.

Get the details and register for the Seattle walk or to host your own walk here: https://thecaminoexperience.com/gratitude

#youonthecamino #caminodesantiago #firsttimepilgrim #thecaminoexperience #caminopodcast

Every so often, timing lines up just right. This week, I catch Lisa and Abhay just days before they leave for Spain to begin their pilgrimage on the Camino Francés.

They are both used to moving fast and taking on big challenges, but the Camino offers them something different: a chance to slow down, be present, and savor the shared experience of walking this ancient pilgrimage path.

Registration in our new pilgrim community, La Terraza, opens on Tuesday, November 4 for anyone who has already walked one of the Camino routes.

The La Terraza community takes your Camino experience to the next level, with targeted audio sessions that walk you through the transition back home and numerous opportunities to connect with other pilgrims who share the awe and wonder of making this pilgrimage.

I have ONE spot left in my September 2026 Camino Experience group. Let's get started together: https://thecaminoexperience.com/walk-with-me/

(The May 2026 group is full.)

#youonthecamino #caminodesantiago #firsttimepilgrim #thecaminoexperience #caminopodcast

Imagine facing down your fears with such clarity and determination - with a sure and clear statement of yes I can - that your fear transforms into freedom.

That's what happened on the Camino for pilgrim Jen Manglos, and her life has never been the same.

She has since written and published a landmark book for pilgrims returning home from walking the Camino de Santiago:

The Way Back: Reflections, Practices, and Rituals to Help You Bring Home the Wisdom of Your Pilgrimage

Available on Amazon or contact Jen via her website: https://jenmanglos.com/

Jen shared a couple of fantastic resources available to pilgrims wanting to debrief their pilgrimage experiences, both of which are available in Santiago:

Pilgrim House, located at Rúa Nova, 19

Camino Companions, located in the same building as the Pilgrim's Reception Office, at Rúa das Carretas, 33

The very special place to stay on the Camino Portugués is Albergue De Peregrinos Casa Da Fernanda, in Vitorino dos Piães, Portugal

And the musical Jen referred to is called Come From Away: https://comefromaway.com/

Let's get started together. Drop me an email at nancy@thecaminoexperience to grab one of the final spots in my 2026 Camino Experience groups.

#youonthecamino #caminodesantiago #firsttimepilgrim #thecaminoexperience #caminopodcast

I hope you are ready to be inspired, because in this episode you are going to hear from someone who knows how to make dreams happen. And more than that, she knows the value of going after those dreams . . . now.

Kat is living in Spain with her husband and daughter, following one of the best plot twists ever. When Kat said yes to walking the Camino, it sparked an amazing and seemingly unlikely chain of events.

“Yes” is a powerful word, so use it wisely! You just never know where one yes will lead you.

For Kat, it led her to motherhood, moving to Spain, and a whole new take on career and family. She learned the benefits of slowing down, and at this new pace she was able to contemplate the question of who she wanted to be, for real.

Let's get started together. Join me on the trail: https://thecaminoexperience.com/walk-with-me/

#youonthecamino #caminodesantiago #firsttimepilgrim #thecaminoexperience #caminopodcast

How many pilgrims were inspired to walk the Camino after seeing a movie set on the trail? For most people it was the movie The Way, with Emilio Estevez and Martin Sheen. For my guest today it was the charming (although largely inaccurate) Hallmark movie, Journey to You.

Jeff is recently retired, and his discovery of the Camino after watching the movie Journey to You, led to an immediate plot twist in his newly implemented retirement plans.

Jeff asked some excellent questions, so you are going to get some more information on using trekking poles on the Camino – how to get the most benefit from them, and how not to lose your poles. And I’ve got some pro tips for you on staying in Roncesvalles.

Let's get started together. Join me on the trail: https://thecaminoexperience.com/walk-with-me/

#youonthecamino #caminodesantiago #firsttimepilgrim #thecaminoexperience #caminopodcast

What is the Camino really all about? Many pilgrims say it’s all about the people, and my guest today is likely to agree with that.

Cheryle walked the Camino with her friend, Janet, at the age of 81. Together they made friends all along the Way.

Cheryle doesn’t consider herself a walker, but she did it, and when she wrote to me last week, she said this: I still have the love and glow of the beautiful walk I had on the Camino.”

Let's get started together. Join me on the trail: https://thecaminoexperience.com/walk-with-me/

#youonthecamino #caminodesantiago #firsttimepilgrim #thecaminoexperience #caminopodcast