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Well Told Tales from A SdeC Pilgrim Center Volunteer

Time of past OR future Camino
First one in 1977 by train. Many since then by foot. Next one ASAP.
Get a spanish phone number with Airalo. eSim, so no physical SIM card. Easy to use app to add more funds if needed.
Ideal sleeping bag liner whether we want to add a thermal plus to our bag, or if we want to use it alone to sleep in shelters or hostels. Thanks to its mummy shape, it adapts perfectly to our body.

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Thank you for the link to t2andreo's book :) I didn't know that he has written a book. Maybe that's why he has not been on the Forum, I have missed his posts.
 
Hola @rappahannock_rev
Thanks for the advice about Tom's book. I often enjoyed his posts - especially his stories about volunteering at the Pilgrim Office in Santiago. Unfortunately due to a number of reasons (most I am not aware of) Tom is no longer on the forum. Had Covid19 not stuffed the world I would have spent the first 2 weeks of Oct volunteering in the Office. When I will get another opportunity heaven only knows. Cheers for now.
 
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I'm definitely going to order the paperback thanks for sharing!
 
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Having had the pleasure of speaking with Tom for the podcast, it's clear indeed that this is his book! It reads as though one were bellied up to the bar with Tom, being regaled with his tales from the road. The short vignettes fly by and his voice is quite distinctive. Hope he makes it back here sometime.

It's free on Kindle Unlimited--for the moment, at least!
 
I met up with Tom this past March in Florida for a chat on the beach at a cafe before covid closed them down.
I am really enjoying his book and his personality shines through in his writing style. You can pick it up or put it down as needed without losing focus as each story is it's own little mini chapter.
 
What is Amazon Whispernet? Do you need to be signed up to anything to use it?
 
€2,-/day will present your project to thousands of visitors each day. All interested in the Camino de Santiago.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08CPBJ3M1/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Enjoyed.... But it didn't convince me to volunteer -- I just don't have the patience that those volunteers have to have!
I read Tom's (aka Don Thomas) book and LOVED it, (enough that I write a short review on Amazon). As I said in the review, it really captures the feel of the Camino that I experienced, the simplicity, the difficulties, the unexpected good things, and most of all, the wonderful people. I identified with many of the people, I laughed at some of the stories, and I teared up at some of the kindnesses.

He told me in an e-mail:
I never intended Finding Santiago to be a "how to" book, a guide book, a mediation guide, a help book for broken people, or a retelling of my one of my Caminos. It is what it is, a collection of stories I accumulated along the way. Some are funny, some are sad, others are just interesting.

And that is what resulted - a collection of Camino stories.
Buen Camino!
--james--
 
What is Amazon Whispernet? Do you need to be signed up to anything to use it?

It's the technology that synchronizes how far you've read a book between Kindle, phone, tablet, web browser, desktop application, etc. All you need is an Amazon account and either a Kindle or the free Kindle app on any device.
 

Enjoyed.... But it didn't convince me to volunteer -- I just don't have the patience that those volunteers have to have!

Available in paperback and Kindle.
Hi @rappahannock_rev - thanks so much for alerting me to Tom’s book which I’ve just downloaded.
If the book is anything like his past posts here on the Forum it’s going to be a cracker of a read!
While writing I’d like to let you know how much I love your ‘signature’ - I know completely how you feel - I think about the Camino every day too.
Best wishes from Oz -
Jenny
 
A selection of Camino Jewellery
Hi @rappahannock_rev - thanks so much for alerting me to Tom’s book which I’ve just downloaded.
If the book is anything like his past posts here on the Forum it’s going to be a cracker of a read!
While writing I’d like to let you know how much I love your ‘signature’ - I know completely how you feel - I think about the Camino every day too.
Best wishes from Oz -
Jenny
I think about the Camino every day, too, Jenny.
I have loved Tom's book. It's just like talking to him in person which we both have done...he seems to almost literally jump off the pages!
 
The book is also available from Amazon UK with much lower shipping costs (If you live in the UK).
 
Ordered the paperback version today. Looking forward to reading it.
 
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I think about the Camino every day, too, Jenny.
I have loved Tom's book. It's just like talking to him in person which we both have done...he seems to almost literally jump off the pages!
Hi Chrissy - I’m feeling a lot of what you’re feeling about the Camino - what you’ve shared here on the Forum in recent months has really resonated with me. ❤🚶‍♀️🚶‍♀️
I’m loving Tom’s book ... ‘stayed reading it way too late last night! His wonderful personality really shines out in the book and yes - just as I expected - it IS a cracker of a read!
Camino hugs from Oz -
Jenny
 
Whenever I long for the Camino, reading books about the Camino has always been the best antidote. So thanks for the head’s up, I have downloaded it on my KIndle:)
 
Hola Everyone, especially Don Thomas. I recently finished reading his book "Finding Santiago". Despite his failure to count/include Australia in a list of inhabited continents and a few other errors I give this book four stars (🌟🌟🌟🌟). Now some will find the book not as interesting or funny as I found it, but that's your choice. I fully recommend it. Cheers
PS. I did advise Don T that I would be positing this review, but he has had no control over my review!!
 
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€83,-
I finished Tom's book "Finding Santiago", under the pen name, Don Thomas, (available on Amazon) awhile ago.
It is an account of many of the unique pilgrims he has met along the way on his numerous caminos and the stories of his interactions with them.
I have always walked with family members and although we meet other walkers and have befriended a few, I can see how walking alone, combined with a genuine interest in helping others, has opened doors for Tom that I have not been able to experience.
I was blessed to learn of his many kindnesses towards others and also how those relationships have enriched him as well. His deep love for Spain, the Camino, and the city of Santiago is brought to life in the interesting and often unique stories he shares.
Well done, Tom!
 
I read it online with Kindle and enjoyed every bit of it. I remembered many of the stories from when author Tom was volunteering in Santiago and offering his insights and advice in real time, which as a soon-to-be novice pilgrim I found extremely helpful. Enjoy!
 
Technical backpack for day trips with backpack cover and internal compartment for the hydration bladder. Ideal daypack for excursions where we need a medium capacity backpack. The back with Air Flow System creates large air channels that will keep our back as cool as possible.

€83,-
Just a note to everyone to let you know that a revised edition of Finding Santiago is in editing now. When the first edition was published on Amazon / Kindle in July 2020, I was aware that there were some errors in the manuscript.

Several persons have charitably pointed out the errors in the text. They include spelling, grammar and punctuation errors both in English and Spanish.

Despite this, the book is very readable. The reviews I have garnered, to date, have all been positive.

I very much regret the "oopsies" but I was focused on getting the book published before I lost my motivation. It took some years for me to find the motivation to write the book - the COVID lockdown helped push me in that regard. But, the product was not my best possible effort. I am seeking to correct that.

I am pointing this out to let everyone know that the revised edition ought to be posted to Amazon / Kindle by the end of August 2021.

Thank you for understanding.

Tom
 
Tom

I have been rather deprecating in the past of the number of pilgrims who feel the need to publish their unique experience. The majority are vanity-published and add nothing I can perceive to the canon of Camino literature.

Once in a while there’s an exception. unusually yours is a Camino memoir which will now stay in my library and not join the majority which go to the local charity shop.
 
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Hola (or G'Day) Tom. Glad to know that you are still motivated in your writings. COVID has a lot to answer for, but there are occasionally a pearl or two that we can keep. Cheers
 
The 2024 Camino guides will be coming out little by little. Here is a collection of the ones that are out so far.
Thank you, @t2andreo , for everything you've done for pilgrims and the Camino! I don't remember the last time I purchased anything this way, but I'm really looking forward to the end of August!
 
Just bought it.

If its as good as your posts I shall enjoy it very much 👍 (Too impatient to wait until August just to get a few spelling errors corrected)
 
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UPDATE - It is 26 August. I depart for Santiago on 1 September. My editor has not yet completed her very thorough scrub of the original manuscript for Finding Santiago. As a result, the revised version will not be posted to Amazon / Kindle before I depart for Spain.

I regret this. But I will jump on it again on my return - or at least after I unpack.

Sorry for the delay,

Tom
 
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Our Atmospheric H30 poncho offers lightness and waterproofness. Easily compressible and made with our Waterproof fabric, its heat-sealed interior seams guarantee its waterproofness. Includes carrying bag.

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Still waiting for my editor to finish the scrub of the revised / edited version. I have neither forgotten, or changed my mind about publishing a cleaned up version.

Patience is a pilgrim virtue.

Thank you all for your continued indulgence.

Tom
 
I read it last weekend in the Kindle version. One does tend to collect stories both as a pilgrim and in volunteer capacity so I enjoyed the book. It also reminded me of listening to my husband telling and retelling his stories to newbie pilgrims at American Pilgrims and other meetings. It seems that Tom is both patient and helpful and I'm glad he's there both on the Camino and in the Pilgrim office.
 

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