Over 2.5 million people have read my article, "10 Reasons Why El Camino de Santiago Sucks." One of those people is Susan Alcorn, who has hiked to Santiago, Spain 16 different times over 9 different routes.
Instead of taking offense to the article, she took it as constructive criticism of the article. We've had a civil discussion about El Camino ever since.
One of my central points is that the most popular Camino trail (El Camino Frances) is crowded and has few wilderness experiences. I encouraged people to explore other Camino trails.
That's exactly what Susan has done.
Susan Alcorn has even written a couple of books about El Camino. Her first book was Camino Chronicle: Walking to Santiago.
She also wrote We're in the Mountains, Not over the Hill: Tales and Tips from Seasoned Women Backpackers.
Her newest book is called Healing Miles: Gifts from the Caminos Norte and Primitivo.
Most pilgrims hike El Camino Frances.
About 5% backpack El Camino Primitivo and another 5% hike El Camino del Norte.
In this conversation, we focus on these two lesser-known trails. I ask her:
- What was one of the most unusual paths she has taken?
- What percentage of pilgrims are hiking purely for religious reasons? (The answer is surprising!)
- How many pilgrims get to Santiago every year? (You won't believe it!)
- Has she camped on the trail?
- What advice would she give to first-time pilgrims of El Camino de Santiago?
You should learn more about Susan Alcorn.
Susan added these points after listening to the podcast
"First, that the mileage from Porto, Portugal to Santiago is more in the 140-150-mile range rather than the 200 I stated. And I meant to emphasize the tremendous difference in the number of people on the various routes. Whereas the Frances can be very crowded (meeting up with dozens--maybe even hundreds--per day), the route from Vezelay, FR (that we have been doing in sections the last couple of years) is very isolated. We are lucky to see a couple of dozen other pilgrims in a two-three week walk."
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