Letters for the Camino
Letters due in
They leave in

September 14 · Sarria to Santiago · 115 km on foot

Kim and Mark are walking across Spain. Let’s fill their pack with mail.

In September they walk the last 115 kilometers of the Camino de Santiago, the old pilgrim road across northern Spain. Ten days, seven of them on foot, finishing at the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela.

Pilgrims on that road have always carried something for somebody else. We are going to do it with letters. Write them a note and I will bind every one into a book that goes in the pack, and they will read a few each night.

What to write

  1. Tell one story. A specific day, not a general compliment.
  2. Say what it changed. Something you do differently because of them.
  3. Give them something to pray for. Pilgrims call this an intention. Carrying them for other people is the oldest part of this.
  4. Write for a hard day. They will be tired somewhere around kilometer 19.

Four sentences is enough. A page is welcome. Handwriting is better than typing, but either one is fine.

Nobody reads these but Kim and Mark. Not me. Your letter goes straight into the book.

Sarria to Santiago de Compostela100755025Sarriathe first stampPortomarínover the MiñoPalas de Reicastle countryMelideoctopus for lunchArzúacheese countryO Pedrouzoeucalyptus woodsMonte do Gozothe towers appearSantiagothe cathedralNSarria to Santiago115 kilometres on foot025 kmBuen Camino

Where they are going

You can mark your letter for one of these days when you send it, and they will open it that evening.

Sarria
Day 1Sarria

The medieval bridge over the Celeiro, just outside town. This is where they start.

Portomarín
Day 2Portomarín

San Nicolás, a church and a fort at once. When the valley below was flooded in 1962, the town took it apart and rebuilt it stone by numbered stone on higher ground.

Palas de Rei
Day 3Palas de Rei

Pambre castle, built in the 1300s and still standing in the fields outside town.

Melide
Day 4Melide

Santa María de Melide, and the walk into town past it.

The eucalyptus woods
Days 5 and 6The eucalyptus woods

Most of the last two days look like this. Quiet, and mostly downhill.

Santiago de Compostela
Day 7Santiago de Compostela

The Praza do Obradoiro, and the cathedral they have been walking toward for a hundred and fifteen kilometers.

Where this comes from

On the older stretches of this road there is an iron cross called the Cruz de Ferro, standing on a heap of stones. Pilgrims carry a stone to it from home, one they picked up before they left, and set it down at the base. The stone stands for whatever they are carrying. A burden, a person, something they are asking for.

Catholic pilgrims also carry intentions, which are prayers handed to them by people who are not making the walk. You give the pilgrim your intention and they carry it the whole way.

That is all this is. Kim and Mark are the ones who show up for everybody else. For once we get to send something with them.

Mailing one instead

If you would rather write it on paper and send the actual page, mail it to me and I will add it to the book without reading it.

Kevin Philip5122 North 41st StreetPhoenix, Arizona 85018

Needs to arrive by September 6.

Questions

Will you read it?
No. The site is built so that I cannot. The page I use to check the count shows names and dates only. Your words go into a sealed file and come back out as a printed book.
I already typed it in Word.
Upload it. Word, Pages, PDF, a photo, or plain text all work.
How long should it be?
Four sentences to a page.
Can I send more than one?
Yes. Send one to each of them if you would rather.
Can my kids draw something?
Yes. Take a picture of it and upload it.
I missed the deadline.
Email me at kevinphilip.az@gmail.com. They are gone for 10 days, so a late one can still reach them.