Maybe There Will Be Cupcakes

Ginny Bartolone's Blog of Many Years

Tag: Advice

  • Dear Pilgrim Letters

    Dear Pilgrim Letters

    Hello lovelies. I wrote these letters to any stranger considering walking the Camino de Santiago, specifically the most popular route from St. Jean Pied du Port to Santiago. I’ve walked those particular 500 miles at two very different times in my life, and I suspect I will do it one more time someday if I’m…

  • 14. On Arriving

    14. On Arriving

    To read more context for the letter below, check out this post here:)  Dear Pilgrim, When you arrive in the Plaza do Obradoiro, take a moment to sit on the ground. I recommend a spot by one of the pillars toward the back of the square. This is where you’ll get the best view of it…

  • 13. On Why You Came Here

    13. On Why You Came Here

    To read more context for the letter below, check out this post here:)  Dear Pilgrim, Three-quarters of the way through our walk, somewhere right before Galicia, we passed a mother and daughter having an aggressive conversation. While we’d never shared a table with them, gossip along the trail was abundant about these two. It turns out…

  • 11. On Not Being a Richard Peregrino

    11. On Not Being a Richard Peregrino

    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…

  • 10. On Making History

    10. On Making History

    To read more context for the letter below, check out this post here:) Dear Pilgrim, As you head onto the well-trodden road beyond Astorga, it will become even more apparent that you are a part of something larger than yourself. The footsteps of millions that came before you mark the way as you mark the way…

  • 9. Dear Pilgrim: On Rage

    9. Dear Pilgrim: On Rage

    To read more context for the letter below, check out this post here:) An extra note this week. This letter lived between chapters about when I finally let myself get really angry (about a whole bunch of stuff I talked about in the book) during my 2017 hike. It was one of the best things I…

  • 8. Dear Pilgrim: On the Meseta

    8. Dear Pilgrim: On the Meseta

    To read more context for the letter below, check out this post here:) Dear Pilgrim, The Meseta may look like a kind of purgatory when you stand on its outskirts or count its kilometers on a map. Its reputation for being too simple, empty, and stark is like saying the ocean is too blue. But, yes,…

  • 1. Dear Pilgrim: On Identity

    1. Dear Pilgrim: On Identity

    There is a footpath that slips its way through the Pyrenees, tiptoeing over the line where we stop calling it France and start calling it Spain.

  • Do Not Let Me Entertain You

    This is in response to today’s Daily Post, entitled “Invitation.” If you go to the theatre, turn on a movie, stand in front of a work of art, switch on the radio–do not let me entertain you.  If you do, you are being tricked, you are missing the point, you are closing off a part of…

  • Day 15: The Last Day of the Camino

    For the final 30 days of my twenties, I am writing one personal narrative a day that has impacted my life until now.  To read more about my challenge, feel free to check out the first post.   Also, this 30 Day challenge is also to support a wonderful charity, Zara Aina.  Please check out my fundraiser here and if…