The Way There & The Way Back: Two Camino Books

I wrote two books about the Camino because I ended up needing two. One for the winter before I went, reading forum threads at midnight and wondering if I was too unfit or too old for it. And one for about three weeks after I got home, back at work, still waking at six with nowhere to walk to. Going soon, or thinking about it? The Way There Get The Way There Already walked it? The Way Back Get The Way Back Not sure, going back, or buying for someone? Both books Not much more than one, and it comes with a printable gift page and a one-page Holy Year 2027 sheet. Get both books Instant download · Read it on your phone · Free updates What you get It's not a guidebook. No distances, no albergue lists. It's what the walk and the coming home are actually like, and what to do about the bits that go wrong. The Way There For whoever's booked it, or nearly has, and is lying awake about it. The walk from St Jean to Santiago, told the way it felt, with the useful stuff worked in as it comes up. I didn't sleep the night before St Jean. There were eleven of us in that room and I'm fairly sure nobody did. You could hear people turning over. Someone's phone lit up every half an hour. At about four, a woman on the top bunk opposite whispered "is anyone else awake?" and four of us said yes. We talked in the dark for an hour. Every one of us thought we were the least fit person in the room. See all 11 chapters 1. The night before St Jean, and the doubts nearly everyone has 2. The first day over the Pyrenees, and why between 1 November and 31 March you go via Valcarlos 3. Days three to seven, when most people's feet go 4. Walking on your own, and how the "Camino family" thing actually happens 5. Beds: when it's worth booking, when it isn't, and what changes in 2027 6. The Meseta 7. Cruz de Ferro, and what to bring from home to leave there 8. Galicia, and the rain 9. Sarria, where it suddenly gets busy, and the two stamps a day you need from there 10. Arriving in Santiago: registering online for your Compostela first, and why you want two nights there, not one 11. Walking in the Holy Year (the Holy Door opens on 31 December 2026 and stays open all of 2027) Plus three printable pages: the Fear List, Why I'm Walking, and a stamps and Compostela checklist. Get The Way There The Way Back For after Santiago. A lot of pilgrims call it the Camino blues. You come back different, home's exactly how you left it, and for a while that's harder than the walk was. The first week home was fine. I slept a lot, ate a lot, showed people the photos. It was the second Tuesday that it got me. I was in the queue at the big Tesco and it dawned on me I hadn't said hello to a single stranger all day. Out there I'd have said it forty times before lunch. I stood there holding a basket of stuff I didn't need and felt like I'd lost something, and I couldn't have told you what. See all 10 chapters 1. The last morning in Santiago, and saying goodbye to people you've known for five weeks 2. Getting home, and why it usually hits a week or two later 3. Talking about it without losing people after two minutes 4. The Camino blues: what's actually going on, and when it's worth talking to someone 5. Walking at home, wherever home is 6. Keeping hold of your Camino family 7. What to do with your credential, your Compostela and your shell 8. The thing you decided on the Meseta, and doing something about it 9. Going back: in 2027, on a different route, or as a volunteer 10. A letter for a bad day Plus three printable pages: 30 Before You Forget prompts, a My Camino Family page, and a One Change card. Get The Way Back The printable pages Three in each book. Print them on A4 or US Letter, or fill them in on a tablet. Buying it for someone? If someone you know keeps saying they're doing it in 2027, or they've just come back and can't stop talking about it, get them both. They'll have the right book whichever one they turn out to need. Print the gift page, write something on it and hand it over with a card. Get both books How you get it Questions Which one do I need? Not been yet: The Way There. Been: The Way Back. Walked part of it and going back, or not sure: both. I'm walking the Portugués, not the Francés The Way Back works for any route. The Way There follows the Francés, but the feet, the beds, the crowds near the end, the Pilgrim Office and the Holy Year apply to most routes. I'm not religious Most people walking it aren't doing it for purely religious reasons, and neither book assumes you are. The Holy Year is explained plainly for anyone who wants to know. Is it a paper book? No, it's a download. Two PDF books you can read on your phone, tablet or laptop, plus the printable pages. Nothing gets posted. I want the planning side too That's the Your First Camino planning kit: stage planner, packing list by weight, a 12-week training plan and a blister card. It goes well with The Way There. I didn't get the email Check your junk folder first. If it's not there, reply to your order confirmation and I'll send the files straight over. If anything changes on the Camino, you get the updated books free. Which one's yours? I'm going: The Way There I've been: The Way Back Both books Buen Camino. Joel Roots & Routes makes honest, practical guides for real places and real decisions. See everything else.