To read more context for the letter below, check out this post here:) An extra note this week. In the context of my book, the term “Richard Peregrino” developed as a joke with my fellow hikers about not being a d*ck pilgrim. You wish that none of this would need to be said, but we all (including myself) need a reminder of how to hold up in the stress of the road sometimes. If all of these sound bonkers to you, congrats, you are not a Richard Peregrino.

The Camino welcomes more and more people every year, hundreds of thousands even. What a wonderful thing—a world returning to the slow art of pilgrimage. And yet, as you carry on your journey, several camps of pilgrims will form. If you’re not careful, you could end up in the camp that has forgotten the compassionate ways of the road.

There are the die-hard pilgrims—the ones who are very vocal about never going too fast or too slow, about never reading a book or listening to music, and by no circumstances, ever skipping a section by taxi, train, or bus.

Next, you have the vacationing pilgrims. The ones who ask why the food is taking so long, or why the beds don’t have nicer sheets, or who bail on their albergue reservations without telling the owners.

And then you have those trying to live in the middle. The ones who want to have as genuine and simple an experience as possible without being a drain on the world around them. The go-with-the-flow pilgrims, the learn-as-you-go pilgrims, the live-and-let-live pilgrims.

Each one of these groups—even the last one—can be a Richard Peregrino. While the first group relies on judgment and the second on entitlement, the third can fall into a sense of riotousness. Just like at home, it is easy to convince yourself that you are always in the right.

Here are a few things all three groups could agree on if they stepped back and looked at their behavior from afar.

• Welcome all new pilgrims who join the road as you would have in St. Jean. Every journey is the “full Camino.”
• Allow fellow pilgrims to make choices right for their own bodies, minds, and levels of patience.
• Celebrate your religious, spiritual, or personal traditions while leaving just as much space for those around you to celebrate theirs.
• Don’t put your boots in the dryer.
• Try to leave clothespins for fellow pilgrims on the clothing lines.
• Keep your feelings about food to yourself unless you love it. Otherwise, hush. You are a guest.
• Meet each albergue owner with gratitude for the space they provide.
• Never comment on another pilgrim’s body shape or ability.
• If you leave early in the morning, quietly bring your stuff into the lobby to pack up.
• Take your hair out of the drain catcher.
• Don’t clip your toenails at dinner.
• Say please and thank you.
• Attempt to learn and speak Spanish. Again, you are a guest.
• Be mindful of unofficial nap time.
• Do not draw, write, or stick things anywhere on the road, kilometer markers, poles, or buildings, even encouraging graffiti.
• Do not steal the kilometer markers (The fact that I have to say that…)
• Be grateful for the plate in front of you.
• Ask your bed neighbors if it’s okay to close or open the windows.
• Bathe regularly.
• Respect traffic laws.
• Do not play music out loud as you walk.
• Don’t be a drunken mess.
• Refrain from being a D*ck Pilgrim.

The way may be easy to romanticize at home, but when you are covered in blisters and heat rash on a hot road without lunch, it is harder to remain diligent. Remember, by participating in an ancient journey, you are adding to its traditions. Choose your actions wisely.