• Get your Camino Frances Guidebook here.
  • For 2024 Pilgrims: €50,- donation = 1 year with no ads on the forum + 90% off any 2024 Guide. More here.
    (Discount code sent to you by Private Message after your donation)
  • ⚠️ Emergency contact in Spain - Dial 112 and AlertCops app. More on this here.
This is a mobile optimized page that loads fast, if you want to load the real page, click this text.

"The Great Westward Walk" - A must-read!

alexwalker

Forever Pilgrim
Donating Member
Time of past OR future Camino
2009-2022: CFx6, CP, VdlPx2, Mozarabe, more later.
I am filled with joy tonight: I have just completed the book "The Great Westward Walk".

If you are thinking about walking the Camino: Read this first. This is, when you consider the end outcome, a heartbreaking story: The author is now dead due to ALS, a terrible disease, that I have experienced firsthand. But before he died, he managed to produce this remarkable book.

Pilgrims, firsttimers as well as us old-timers, should read this adventure before embarking on the Camino: This book is written by a young man of exceptional insight, strength, sufferings, joy, and understanding of a meaningful life, packed with both practical as well as spiritual guidances for the Camino.

Newbies will cherish all advice and stories; Oldtimers will love the familiarity of all places on the French Camino, as well as the deeper meaning/history of the places on the Camino Frances.

It has been a big success in Spain, and it has now been translated into English by one of the Dames of this forum : @Rebekah Scott Thank you for your efforts!

I urge you to get a copy of this incredible insight into the Camino Frances from a young man that is unfortunately no longer with us.

Here is some info on the young and insightful man (It is in Spanish; use Google translate):

http://www.blogseitb.com/rogeblasco/2013/08/14/antxon-gonzalez-gabarain-el-gran-caminante/

And you can buy it here (English version): Possibly the best preparation for your next Camino, whether firsttime or veterano:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/8461792874/?tag=casaivar02-20

I should also state that I have no economic interests in this whatsoever: I just want both future and experienced pilgrims to be better educated and understand more about what an exceptional voyage we embark upon. This book is exceptional. I feel sorry for his daughters who lost such a father.

Edit: Moderators, IMHO, this post/resource should be a sticky: It gives so much of the Camino spirit.
 
Last edited:
Altus 24 Liters daypack (DENON 24 H30)
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,-
EXPRESS BOURRICOT - Transport
Transport luggage-passengers.
From airports to SJPP
Luggage from SJPP to Roncevalles
Hola Alex - small question - do I buy a hard copy or is the e_book format sufficient. I read nearly all books on my iPad these days. Cheers
 
Camino Ready, Backpacks, Boots etc
3rd Edition. More content, training & pack guides avoid common mistakes, bed bugs etc
Camino Way markers in Bronze
The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
Alex:

I just ordered it from Amazon US. Yes, it is offered as a Kindle download for USD 5.95, or in large paperback for $15.95.

I too, prefer an analog book, unless it is to be carried on Camino. So, I oprted for the hard copy.

Thanks for the lead.

Kudos to Rebekah. She is named as co-author on Amazon. That cannot hurt.

Tom
 
Hi Tom,

I know you will love this one. It is shere poetry and tons of all things Camino-related. When you get the book, find your best chair and a bottle of Rioja, "return" to the Camino and leave this world for some time

PS: Setting out again in 4 days: You know how it is...

Edit:
t2andreo said:
Kudos to Rebekah. She is named as co-author on Amazon. That cannot hurt.
Click to expand...
@Rebekah Scott is named as translator on Amazon, which is correct, and that is all good. You can read her intro if you pre-read the first pages on Amazon (Click on the cover).

The book may need a revision due to some grammar/misspellling errors (say I, a Norwegian!), but this version is brilliant as is. She has done a great job of it.
 
Last edited:
It sounds wonderful. Thanks for the recommendation, and congrats to the author and also to Reb.
 
Promote your Camino Project on the forum
€2,-/day will present your project to thousands of visitors each day. All interested in the Camino de Santiago.
I've just spent the better part of the afternoon and evening totally absorbed in this book.
It's more than the usual tiresome Camino memoir, no doubt about it.

@Rebekah Scott , for someone who claims to have a mediocre level of skill in Spanish...well, of course what can I tell about the accuracy of the translation? But that's not your voice in those words, it's Bolitx's - loud and clear. This is a wonderful read, and I kept forgetting it was not originally written in English. Well done, and thank you for bringing this to light for the rest of us!
 
Interesting to see this thread today, the anniversary of Bolitx's passing.

well gee, you guys. It was an honor to be asked to do the translating job. It took a lot longer than I thought it would, and I ended up working without a final edit, which is why there are typos... those are MY mistakes, yes. But I was working without a net!

It is an exceptional book, a real standout in what's often a pretty soggy genre.

If enough people discover the book, we can afford another, cleaner edition!
 
Thanks for the reminder. I bought the ebook when I first heard about it and then forgot it. It will be my next read ... as soon as I finish the one I'm on.
 
Camino Preparation Guide
The focus is on reducing the risk of failure through being well prepared. 2nd ed.
Rebekah Scott said:
Interesting to see this thread today, the anniversary of Bolitx's passing.
Click to expand...
Coincidences are God's way of staying anonymous. (Mahatma Gandhi)

Hopefully, many will read your very good translation. I thoroughly enjoyed it: It was difficult to put it down.
 
Where/How can I buy it in Spanish? I get the page you link to in this post, but I don't think it's set up for international sales.
 
Altus BALI Sleeping bag liner
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.

€46,-
I just downloaded the book to read on my flight to Spain. We start walking on September 10
 
Camino Preparation Guide
The focus is on reducing the risk of failure through being well prepared. 2nd ed.
I heard some time ago in a Spanish pilgrims forum about Bolitx and read any of his older posts. Last year, when voluntering in Irun´s municipal albergue, went to Zumaia and bougt a hard copy of this book. One month later, knew his dad, how is trying to keep his son´s memory alive.
I never knew Bolitx before his dead. I dont know if he would honour me with his friendship, but I can say now, after reading his book that I feel him like the closest of my friends.
The benefits of this book will be used to pay the education of Bolitx´s daugther.
Please don´t think twice and give yourselves a great gift: The joy, the pain, the laugths, the thougths, the hope, the courage of a man, who for sure, you will never forget. The leading of a man who, for sure, will became your friend too.
Buen Camino a toda la gente honrada. ¡Que Dios os sostenga en la palma de su mano!
 
Camino Preparation Guide
The focus is on reducing the risk of failure through being well prepared. 2nd ed.
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest Camino Photo

Most read last week in this forum

Similar threads

LIVE from the Camino CF day 1, off to a great start!
Replies
11
Views
1K
Annw
L
  • Tags landmarks
    • Must see or favorite sites
    Replies
    20
    Views
    2K
    Kiwi-family
  • Tags sjpp to roncesvalles
    • Is the Albergue in Roncesvalles a “must”?
    Replies
    98
    Views
    8K
    Ianinam
    Menu
    Log in
    Register