What is a Pilgrimage?

“Maybe they just come for the fountain of wine…” Welcome back to the Off Trail Podcast and another wonderful informational episode with Christine Thuermer. Today we chat all things Pilgrimage Trails. We start off the show with finally pronouncing our guests name correctly and then diving into the intricacies of why all Americans hike the Camino De Santiago. We begin by going back in history as Christine walks us all through the start of pilgrimage trails. We begin in the medieval times and learn about Catholicism, veneration of saints, collecting relics and being cleansed of all your sins. We discuss how going on a pilgrimage used to be a punishment and the term “indulgence” in reference to a pilgrimage. We chat less time burning in purgatory, holy years, scenery not being a concern, and how the word hike and pilgrimage are not the same. We chat multiple “caminos” and the broad scope of these trails, we chat spiritual vs religious quests, and we chat convenience and big business. We chat the new age lifestyle on a pilgrimage trail. We chat hostels, friends, wine, crowds, and easy walking. We chat about connection to “God”, wild camping, legal drinking ages, and pilgrimage passports. We chat the history in each step, the spiritual significance and the special atmosphere on a pilgrimage trail. We discuss the popularity of creating new pilgrimage trails and how it has become a “blanket” term for many hikes in Europe. We chat the infrastructure, accessibility, and the reasons behind the creation and the user perspective. Christine then turns the tables on us and asks us a question we still have yet to answer: “Why are there no pilgrimage trails in the United States?” Disclaimer: We use our own opinion and reasoning to try and chew through this question, answering the why that we think, not necessarily the “actual why.” A great question to wrap up the show that leaves us wondering… To sum it up, if you want to go on a “thru-hike” a pilgrimage trail may not be for you. Sure the baseline activity of “hiking” is the same, but almost everything else is different. Thank you Christine for another wonderful and informational episode! To learn more about Christine go to: Instagram @Christine_Thuermer To learn more about who we are click below: Website: www.ElevenSkys.com