Maybe There Will Be Cupcakes

Ginny Bartolone's Blog of Many Years

Author: ginnybartolone

  • Why I Walk

    Pilgrim X is a nickname Claire and I gave a muscle-bound, chain-smoking hiker that we met on our Camino in 2009. She walked quickly, rarely stopped for lunch, and trekked ahead of the group with an angry, fevered gait of someone being chased. The last time we crossed her path, our current Camino family had…

  • My First Full Year of Freelancing

    This is more of a practical post for a change. I’ve had a few people reach out to see how freelance writing was going, so I’ve written a a rundown of my experience in the first full year. Also, if you’re one of the many people who found this blog over the holiday season by…

  • A Note on Belonging

    I had a pretty difficult time returning from both of my Caminos. The noise of American televisions, the lack of connection with people in your neighborhood as you walk down the street, the speed of everyday life. The biggest shock driving home from the airport was the rigid geometry of the streets in our suburban…

  • The Stories We Don’t Tell

    When I was a teenager, my mom and I used to sit on the front porch as she’d tell me–usually with a touch of our family’s famous dark sense of humor–about her many brushes with danger. There was the time, while living in late-1970’s NYC, that a man followed her off the subway. When realizing…

  • The Light at the End of an Obstacle-Filled, Obnoxiously Long Tunnel

    Whenever my stress hangs around for long enough, I start having Plainfield nightmares. Plainfield is the town where I grew up until I was 11. It was less than safe and far from pleasant. Last night I dreamt that that there were people outside the house, people I couldn’t see–I usually can’t–banging on the doors…

  • Viana to Burgos: 6 days of hiking and a glimpse into my journal

    Been a bit of a crazy week over here, and unfortunately, that means my Camino writing has been swept aside in the busyness of it all. But it’s still on my mind, and I still want to share. The details may just have to wait until I really get things sorted out with what this…

  • Villatuerta to Los Arcos y Los Arcos to Viana

    I’m off on a trip for the weekend, so I’m gonna keep this short and leave it at a little Camino hindsight. Many people have asked me why I feel the need to return–and keep returning–to the same trail. With some so many other places, other trails even, to explore all over the world–why this…

  • Uterga to Villatuerta

    I am still one day behind after splitting up the Pyrenees day, but I will find a chance to catch up soon. We left Uterga before the sun came up, buying a few snacks and a small cup of surprisingly acceptable coffee from a machine outside the albergue. I nostalgically nodded goodbye to the memory-packed hostel,…

  • Villava to Uterga

    Last night, I went to the Shambala Center in NYC, a Buddhist school with meditation instruction and mindfulness talks open to the public. Robert Chender, a senior meditation teacher of this lineage, lead the evening, centering his lesson around the “stories we tell ourselves” in order to deal with difficult emotion. He explained that one…

  • Zubiri to Villava

    My therapist recently told me that the Camino was easy living–an escape from it all–and that reality back home presents the true challenges. I’d like to disagree. As my roommates’ alarm clocks activated one by one, I delicately tested out my ankle which had spent the night throbbing and occasionally spasming depending on my position. Nope,…