Maybe There Will Be Cupcakes

Ginny Bartolone's Blog of Many Years

Tag: Hiking

  • 4. Dear Pilgrim: On Finding Your Way Back

    4. Dear Pilgrim: On Finding Your Way Back

    To read more context for the letter below, check out this post here:) Dear Pilgrim, Logistics can be a comfortable hiding spot: how to get to the airport, how to pack, and how much money to budget. Off the Camino, it’s easy to lose yourself in the safety of planning. Disney lovers, cruise-takers, and big-city tourists…

  • 3. Dear Pilgrim: On the Pyrenees

    3. Dear Pilgrim: On the Pyrenees

    There is an invisible threshold between a challenge and a terrible idea. Before crossing the Pyrenees, be honest with yourself about the whereabouts of that line.

  • 2. Dear Pilgrim: On Wild Boars & Other Dangers

    2. Dear Pilgrim: On Wild Boars & Other Dangers

    I’m fascinated by the brand of terror that engulfs people when I tell them about the Camino de Santiago.

  • 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.

  • The Fourth Camino: Part 13

    The Fourth Camino: Part 13

    There are two battling forces in my mind on the final day of a Camino. The first one wants the day to move slowly–to savor all the greatest hits of hiking. A long second breakfast, another cup of coffee, photos of every field, pretty tree, and flock of sheep. The second one dreams of the…

  • The Fourth Camino: Part 12

    The Fourth Camino: Part 12

    We packed up before sunrise. It was my 90th day walking the Camino. The tiled hallway reverberated every swish of our backpack straps and squeak of our hiking boots, so we moved slowly. The last thing I wanted to do was wake anyone up after making the wrong impression the day before. Without the sun,…

  • The Fourth Camino: Part 11

    The Fourth Camino: Part 11

    There were three hiking days left in the trip. Years of planning and we were just an hour’s drive and a three day’s hike to Santiago. No matter the length of each Camino I’ve walked, the questions, “What comes next?” and “What was the point of all this?” start to creep in and distract you…

  • The Fourth Camino: Part 10

    It’s been a minute since I’ve written here. Ben and I had an incredible trip to Iceland last week so I’ve been slowly coming out of vacation mode. But after starting this blogging project more than three months ago now (!!), it’s time to get us to the end. And so…here’s the fourth-to-last Camino day.…

  • The Fourth Camino: Part 9

    The Fourth Camino: Part 9

    Hello! For those just joining, here is part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, and part 6, and part 7, and part 8! I want to start this post with a note about burnout. We’ve all been posting and talking about it recently, especially at this incredibly confusing and exhausting phase of the pandemic. I’ve been finding that I’ve been living…

  • Answering a Few Camino FAQs

    Answering a Few Camino FAQs

    Last week, I posted a question on Facebook and Instagram for a new writing project. Outside of these weekly blog posts, I’m outlining a book that attempts to pull off two things: tell the story of my 2017 Camino and directly address the reader as if they are on the verge of their own hike—even…