There are a lot of books, websites, blogs and other material to help you get started on your thinking, planning, dreaming, walking.  I will add resources until the program begins. Everyone is invited to leave a comment that includes resources we should know about.

YOUR CREDENCIAL AND TWO WEBSITES TO BEGIN

Request your free credencial (the pilgrim’s “passport”) from American Pilgrims on the Camino (http://www.americanpilgrims.com/), browse their “Resources” page, and consider joining the organization (a student membership costs only $15 per year).  From north of our border: http://www.santiago.ca/

BOOKS, ARTICLES, POEMS, SELECTIONS
Those with a (W) are recommended by Dave Whitson, author of the guidebook to the northern caminos.

Archibald, Elizabeth, “What tips for traveling have changed since medieval time?  Surprisingly few.,” Washington Post, Sept 3, 2015.

Ashley, Kathleen, and Marilyn Deegan. Being a Pilgrim: Art and Ritual on the Medieval Routes to Santiago. Farnham: Ashgate/Lund Humphries, 2009.

Berry, Wendell, “A Secular Pilgrimage,” The Hudson Review 23 (3), Autumn, 1970: 401-424.

Boers, Arthur P. The Way Is Made by Walking: A Pilgrimage along the Camino de Santiago. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2007.

Ciszek, Walter J., The Way of the Pilgrim and The Pilgrim Continues his Way, New York: Image Books, 1985.

Coelho, Paulo, and Alan Clarke. The Pilgrimage: A Contemporary Quest for Ancient Wisdom. New York: HarperOne, 2008.

Cousineau, Phil. The Art of Pilgrimage: The Seeker’s Guide to Making Travel Sacred. Anniversary Edition. Conari Press, 2012.

Currie, Jim. The Mindful Traveler: A Guide to Journaling and Transformative Travel. Chicago, Ill.: Open Court, 2000.

Davies, Bethan, Ben Cole, Daphne Hnatiuk, Walking the Camino de Santiago, Pili Pala Press, 2009.

Downie, David. Paris to the Pyrenees: A Skeptic Pilgrim Walks the Way of Saint James. Pegasus Books, 2013.

Eco, Umberto, Carlo Maria Martini, Minna Proctor, and Harvey Cox. Belief or Nonbelief?: A Confrontation. [S.l.]: Skyhorse Pub., 2012 (selection: pp. 80-102).

Edmundson, Mark, “Body and Soul,” The Hedgehog Review 17 (2), Summer, 2015.  Fascinating, provocative essay on what happens to the body when we’ve decided we have no souls.

Ehrmann, Max, “Desiderata,” 1927.

Fitzgerald, Janine, “Marx on the Camino de Santiago: Meaning, Work, and Crisis,” Monthly Review: An Independent Socialist Magazine 67: 1, May, 2015: 52-61.

Fletcher, Richard, The Quest for El Cid, Oxford University Press, 1991, or The Cross and The Crescent: The Dramatic Story of the Earliest Encounters Between Christians and Muslims, Penguin, 2005, or Fletcher, Richard, St James’ Catapult: The Life and Times of Diego Gelmirez of Santiago De Compostela, Clarendon Press, 1984. (Others by this author) (W)

Forest, Jim, The Road to Emmaus: Pilgrimage as a Way of Life, Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2007.

Francis, John, Planetwalker: 22 Years of Walking, 17 Years of Silence, Washington, D.C.: National Geographic, 2009.

Frey, Nancy Louise, Pilgrim Stories: On and Off the Road to Santiago, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998.

Gitlitz, David, and Linda Davidson, The Pilgrimage Road to Santiago: The Complete Cultural Handbook, St. Martins Griffin, 2000. (W)

Hibbert, Christopher, Corunna, Macmillan, 1971. (W)

Hitt, Jack. Off the Road: A Modern-Day Walk Down the Pilgrim’s Route into Spain. 1St Edition. Simon & Schuster, 2005.

Hoinacki, L. El Camino : Walking to Santiago de Compostela. University Park, Pa.: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1996.

Kelly, Gerald. Camino de Santiago – Practical Preparation and Background. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2012.

Kelly, Gerald. Walking Guide to the Camino de Santiago History Culture Architecture: From St Jean Pied de Port to Santiago de Compostela and Finisterre (Volume 1). CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2012.

Kevin, Tony. Walking the Camino: A Modern Pilgrimage to Santiago. Melbourne: Scribe, 2008.

Kujawa-Holbrook, Dr. Sheryl A., Pilgrimage–The Sacred Art: Journey to the Center of the Heart, Woodstock, VT: Skylight Paths Publishing, 2013.

Kurlansky, Mark, A Basque History of the World, Penguin Books, 2001.

Mahoney, Rosemary. The Singular Pilgrim: Travels on Sacred Ground. Boston: Mariner Books, 2004.

Manning, Robert and Martha, Walking Distance: Extraordinary Hikes for Ordinary People, Oregon State University Press, 2013.

Masters, Edgar Lee, “Father Malloy,” Spoon River Anthology, Macmillan, 1915, p. 177.

Melczer, William. The Pilgrim’s Guide to Santiago de Compostela. New York: Italica Press, 1993.  Contains a good introduction to the cult of relics and saints, commentary on the history of pilgrimage and of the Way of Saint James, even a little essay on the question few think to ask, “Why would Santiago himself be characterized and actually described as a pilgrim?” hmmm….  The heart of the book is a translation of the fifth book of the Liber Sancti Jacobi, also known as the Codex Calixtinus, the first guidebook to the Camino which was published sometime between 1139 and 1173 CE.  Melczer’s book ends with a 40-page Hagiographical Register, the stories of the many, many saints one meets along the Way to Santiago, and a Gazetter of place names in the Codex and along the routes.

Mullins, Edwin.  The Pilgrimage to Santiago. Interlink Books, 2001.  First published in 1974, before all the fuss, a time when a question about where the old road is would be answered by dispatching village children to take the pilgrim through the woods and fields to where he might regain his footing and find his path.

Nilsen, Sylvia, and Greg Dedman. YOUR CAMINO – a Lightfoot Guide to Practical Preparation for a Pilgrimage. EURL Pilgrimage Publications, 2011.

O’Donohue, John, “For the Traveler.“

Rudolf, Conrad, Pilgrimage to the End of the World: The Road to Santiago de Compostela, University of Chicago Press, 2004.  A little history, some stuff on sensibilities, a few pictures, and some how-to advice.

Saramago, José, The Stone Raft, Editorial Caminho, SARL, Lisboa, 1986 (Portuguese), 1995 (English), Harcourt, Brace & Company, A fanciful novel with a premise made for our times: What if a country or two broke away from Europe?  Not just, for example, “left the euro-zone,” but broke away starting with a slice right down through the Pyrenees mountains between Spain and France, a fracture that sends, in Saramago’s imagination, the Iberian peninsula on a wandering, spinning voyage into the Atlantic Ocean eventually to settle between Africa and Central America.  The magical writing of the Nobel Prize winner Saramago brings together a small group of friends for a sort of “reverse Camino,” a trip north through Portugal to Galicia and across the north of Spain, up the western side of the mountains for a look down the sheer side of the Pyrenees into the sea, and on from there.  One reviewer said, “It is as if one large chunk of the earth, sick of or feeling sorry for its becalmed and deadened humanity, had decided to get the human faculties of imagination, generosity and discovery moving again–by moving itself. Saramago’s lovely and original questing story, in a lineage of such others as ‘Don Quixote’ and Kipling’s ‘Kim,’ is a journey of the spirit told as a journey of the feet” (Richard Eder, Los Angeles Times, May 28, 1995).  Ranges from the pedestrian and the all-too-human to heady questions in epistemology.  Especially suited for lovers of magnificent sentences.

Sibley, Robert C.  The Way of Stars: Journeys on the Camino de Santiago.  University of Virginia Press, 2012.  A journalist and searcher.  “The real gift of the Camino, the one that has lingered with me over the years since my pilgrimage, was to have found a place I could return to imaginatively over and over, recreating that heightened awareness of the world.  It was as though my pilgrimage had been a preparation for other journeys, both inward and outward…”

Stokstad, Marilyn, Santiago de Compostela in the Age of Great Pilgrimages, University of Oklahoma Press, 1979. (W)

Solnit, Rebecca. A Field Guide to Getting Lost. New York: Penguin, 2006.

Solnit, Rebecca. Wanderlust: A History of Walking. New York, N.Y., U.S.A.: Penguin Books, 2001.

St. Germain, Randall. Camino de Santiago in 20 Days: My Way on the Way of St. James. Wolf Shield Publishing, 2011.

Strayed, Cheryl. Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail. Vintage Books, 2013.

Sumption, Jonathan. The Age of Pilgrimage: The Medieval Journey to God. Hiddenspring, 2003.  The best introduction to mediaeval spiritual life and the cult of saints and relics.  Many anecdotes.  Nicely readable.

Sweet, Victoria. God’s Hotel: A Doctor, a Hospital, and a Pilgrimage to the Heart of Medicine. Reprint. Riverhead Trade, 2013.  A book by a physician working in the last almshouse in the US.  Mostly about the dysfunctions of modern medicine and what can be learned from the “inefficiency” of care permitted by the fact that Sweet’s patients are exceptionally poor, ignored and forgotten.  Her 1,200-mile pilgrimage from Le Puy, France, which she completed in four stages over four years, informed her work as a physician.  Comments on her Way begin on p. 206, but read the whole thing.  “The pilgrim leaves home in order to experience being a stranger…, to experience otherness as the other.  The thing about a pilgrimage is that there is no way to experience it except to do it.  In that way it is very much like life.  No armchair reading, no movies, no virtual photo albums can substitute.”  (So………?)

Tone, John Lawrence, The Fatal Knot, The University of North Carolina Press, 1995. (W)

GUIDEBOOKS

Brierley, John. 2012. A Pilgrim’s Guide to the Camino Portugués: Lisboa, Porto, Santiago. Fourth Edition, Fourth edition edition. Forres, Scotland: Camino Guides.

Brierley, John. 2014a. A Pilgrim’s Guide to the Camino de Santiago: St. Jean • Roncesvalles • Santiago. Tenth Edition, Tenth edition edition. Camino Guides.

Brierley, John. 2014b. A Pilgrim’s Guide to the Camino Finisterre: Santiago • Finisterre • Muxía. Fifth Edition, Fifth edition edition. Forres: Camino Guides.

Raju, Alison. 2005. The Way of St. James – Vía de La Plata: From Seville to Santiago. Milnthorpe: Cicerone.

Raju, Alison. 2008. The Way of St. James (Camino de Santiago): Pyrenees-Santiago-Finisterre : A Walker’s Guide. Milnthorpe: Cicerone.

Raju, Alison. 2010. The Way of St. James. Milnthorpe: Cicerone.

Whitson, Dave and Laura Perazzoli.  2013. The Northern Caminos: Norte, Primitivo and Inglés. 1 edition. Milnthorpe: Cicerone Press Limited.  For updates and other useful information, see http://northerncaminos.com/

USEFUL WEBSITES

Good places to begin include the Pilgrims’ Office in Santiago de Compostela (http://peregrinossantiago.es/eng/) (their homepage includes today’s number of pilgrims arriving at the Office to receive their Compostela), the Cathedral in Santiago (http://www.catedraldesantiago.es/en) the Confraternity of Saint James in England (http://www.csj.org.uk/), the American Pilgrims on the Camino (http://www.americanpilgrims.com/), and Peter Robbins’s slightly dated but still informative site (http://www.peterrobins.co.uk/).  A remarkably helpful site for planning your trip is http://www.urcamino.com/ which includes this advice on planning: “Most likely your plan will change due to a variety of things: a blister on your foot, a tired knee, getting ill, falling in love with a hospitalero/a and deciding to stay there forever   Be prepared for everything.” urcamino.com has information on the Caminos Francés, Portugués, the Caminho Português Interior (starts from Farminhão, near Viseu, and crosses into Spain after Chaves to join the southern branch of the Camino Sanabrés at Verín), the Primitivo, Fisterra, and Muxía, and it has more information on blisters (←repeating theme; pay attention).  Outside Magazine intro: (http://www.outsideonline.com/1917861/walking-camino-de-santiago-beginners-guide)  And don’t just ignore commercial, guided tour sites (e.g., http://caminoways.com/)

http://www.elcaminosantiago.com/

http://www.pilgrimhousesantiago.com/ Pilgrim House is a welcoming spot at 19 Rua Nova in Santiago.  All the hosts speak English.  An inviting space to leave your pack, have coffee, chat, use wi-fi, get a city map, get help finding local accommodations, and meet other pilgrims who may be able to help you find your way around town.  They also know the schedule of Pilgrim Masses and at which ones the Cathedral will fly the botafumeiro, the giant censer (for which, see, for example, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zg9r2Vrtj_0).

Northern Route: Dave Whitson and Laura Perazzoli http://northerncaminos.com/
http://www.camino-norte.co.uk/pages/pilgrimwalks.htm
and, in Spanish, http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camino_de_Santiago_de_la_Costa

http://www.jacobeo.net/

http://www.girlsontheway.com/ “Men are fine and wonderful, of course, but I believe women and girls need to see more and more examples of mothers taking the lead and heading out there with their daughters. Alex, Sage, and I were the only mom-daughter team I saw on the Camino (we were on our own more than half the time, with Hugh flying in on occasion).  We were the only mom-daughter team I saw or heard of on the John Muir Trail in August 2014.  I don’t know of any other mom-daughter teams highpointing (with the daughters being under the age of 18).  Here in the Whites, I know of only two other moms who get out there with their daughters on any kind of regular basis.  There might be many mom-daughter teams I don’t know about, of course — but wouldn’t it be great to see their stories all over the blogosphere?  The mom-daughter hiking team niche is fairly empty out there in cyberspace.”  Patricia Herr aims to fill that niche.  Author of Up: A Mother and Daughter’s Peakbagging Adventure.  Publishers Weekly calls Up “…a charming, uplifting account…a keen feminist fable for brave girls.”

BLOGS

https://pilgrimpace.wordpress.com (scroll down the sidebar and look for “Camino” entries, but look at other blogs as well; the “Solitary Walker” has lots of notes on several walks to Santiago, for example)

http://www.caminosantiagodecompostela.com/ “Camino de Santiago | Pilgrimage in Spain | “The Way of St. James” | The Way.

http://caminoways.com/ill-push-interview-justin and http://illpushyou.com/ Camino story of best friends Justin Skeesuck and Patrick Gray.  Justin is in a wheelchair; Patrick said, “I’ll push you” on the camino.  An especially moving entry involves the “steep rocky ascent into O Cebreiro” (http://caminoways.com/ill-push-bittersweet), a mountain crossing that tests everyone in some way.

From Tom Cooks (http://www.tomcooks.com/the-camino-de-santiago-from-saint-jean-pied-de-port-to-lisbon-part-one): “I suggest getting in touch with the lady that runs La Casa do Raposito (http://www.thelittlefoxhouse.com/) if you are looking for a quiet place to have a student retreat.”

FILMS

The Way. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_way_2011/.  Already classic with Martin Sheen, Emilio Estevez and Deborah Kara Unger.  Stories from Jack Hitt’s book folded into a Hollywood “buddy” picture.  Based in part on Sheen’s own walk on El Camino.

Walking The Camino: Six Ways To Santiago. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/walking_the_camino_six_ways_to_santiago/.  2014 documentary that follows six pilgrims on their Ways.

El Camino a Santiago–Paulo Coelho by Kevin Aroca.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lSyWAMk8LI .

The Way of St. James (Camino de Santiago): Temple of Stars, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blK3IF51B0M

Mark Shea, The Way: One Man’s Spiritual Journey Along the Camino de Santiago.  Video Journal.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dqOI87nSU0 .

Camino de Santiago: A Journey of the Mind by Drew Robinson.  Personal reflection.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4R30r6Tync .

Cities of Light: The Rise and Fall of Islamic Spain (Evergreen SAIL DP101.C58 2007)  Excellent overview of the time when Christians, Jews and Muslims lived together in Southern Spain in mutually enhancing, world-enhancing ways.  And how that ended.

The School of Life’s (www.theschooloflife.com)YouTube channel contains some useful, insightful remarks on travel.  See, for example, “The Point of Travel” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaExiKsvt9A) and “An Advert for Staying at Home” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMnPpuEbwbA) to get some perspective on your impulse to travel.

The Indonesians have a saying that when you walk idly on the beach you have no special form, but when you walk purposefully towards an important place you gather a shape around you which precedes you to your destination.

-Kathan Brown