for American women 46+ — and honestly, anyone else Not Too Old, Not Too Weak — Just Crazy Enough for the Camino: book coverthe book →

Not too old.Not too weak.Just crazy enough.

A funny, honest survival guide for the Camino de Santiago — the ancient pilgrimage across Spain. A week, a month, five hundred miles or more — exactly as far as you choose. Before, during, and after the walk.

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← your couch will object. Chapter 2 handles it.
530,987pilgrims in 2025
71%US pilgrims are 46+
31chapters inside
Two pilgrims walking the Camino trail
the exact moment
this book begins
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look inside

Word for word, straight from the book

Illustrated book page: what the trail actually looks like
a real page from the book — the trail, drawn honestly
CHAPTER 1

Not Too Old

How old are you, really — as a pilgrim?

Let's start with a confession.

Somewhere around forty — or fifty, or sixty, it genuinely doesn't matter — there is a moment. You are sitting down in the evening. Maybe with a glass of wine, maybe with tea, maybe with something stronger and a perfectly good reason for it. You are not looking for anything. And then a photograph turns up on the screen.

A trail through mountains. Stone waymarkers worn smooth by weather and hands. One person with poles walking toward the horizon, pack on their back, the sun behind them like the closing shot of a film nobody ever bothered to make about your life.

And something inside says: I want that.

A second later the other half of your head answers. The sensible half. The one that keeps the calendar, remembers the appointment with the orthopedist, and has definitely not forgotten that the last time you ran for a bus was three years ago and your calf held a grudge about it for a week.

Don't be ridiculous. That's for young people.

Well. No.

And I have numbers for it — the kind the sensible half of your head should print out and tape above the bed.

— straight from Chapter 1 · one of 31 —

Illustrated page: the museum of unnecessary things
Illustrated page: packing
...and 200 more pages — same ink, same humor, same honesty →
31 chapters — before, on the road, and after

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Kindle
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The book on a Kindle

Ebook — read it tonight, on any device. Free with Kindle Unlimited.

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Paperback
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The paperback

Fully illustrated in color, 206 pages, ships worldwide.

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The Camino Journal
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The four editions of The Camino Journal

Four ways to keep the Camino — Planner, Sketcher, Storyteller, Pilgrim. 76 pages each.

Buy on AmazonPlanner · Storyteller · Pilgrim · Sketcher

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high-fives at the cathedral included at no extra charge
personality quiz

Which pilgrim are you?

The Planner. The Explorer. The Soul Searcher. The Speed Walker. The Social Pilgrim. Take the quiz from Chapter 6 and find out — then read what your dark side looks like at kilometer nineteen.

Take the Quiz →
Five pilgrim personality types
gear we recommend

The Shelf: gear for the Camino, and what buyers really say about it

We picked the gear. Buyers did the talking: we read their reviews on Amazon, every star, so you don’t have to.

what buyers love, and what to know firstOpen the Shelf →
chapter 18's MVP
from the blog

Short reads, same trail

The three newest. There are more where these came from.

A stick-figure pilgrim with an orange backpack stands at a wooden signpost with five arrows pointing in different directions, hand on her chin
Which way, and when?

Which Camino should you walk first?

Francés, Portugués, Inglés, Primitivo or Norte? What the Pilgrim's Office numbers say, what each road is really like, and a simple way to choose your first one.
A stick-figure pilgrim with an orange backpack sits on the step of a small Romanesque stone church with a round-arched doorway, trekking poles leaning on the wall, a yellow path winding down the green hill behind her
Trail Tales

The door built for the pilgrims who couldn't finish

In Villafranca del Bierzo, about 115 miles before Santiago, a Romanesque church has a door that opens only in Holy Years, for pilgrims who cannot go on. What it is, what it does, what it doesn't do, and why it matters to anyone who is afraid of not finishing.
A stick-figure pilgrim with a big orange backpack on her back stands on a bathroom scale, looking worried, one drop of sweat on her forehead
Getting ready

How heavy should my Camino backpack be?

The 10% rule for a Camino backpack is a rumor with no author, and most pilgrims obey it anyway. Here is the home test that beats the rule, and the Spanish post office plan B.
all the answers, in one placeRead the whole blog →
The Holy Door opening in Santiago
chapter 4

Why 2027 isn't just another year

When July 25th falls on a Sunday, the Cathedral's Holy Door opens — and stays open for exactly one year. Spain calls it the Año Santo Jacobeo; in Galicia, where the road ends, it's the Xacobeo — you'll see XACOBEO 2027 on posters all along the trail. Last time, in 2010, Compostelas jumped 87% in twelve months.

The next one after 2027 is 2032. If you're 50 today, that's a real, countable difference.

Doors open Dec 31, 2026
Phone showing the emergency number 112
DON'T SKIP THIS ONE

112 — the number you never want to dial

The European emergency number — works in Spain, France, and Portugal, from any phone, even without a SIM. One of the shortest chapters in the book, and one of the most important.

chapter 7

How to actually get there

There's no direct flight from the US to Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port. That's normal — here's exactly how pilgrims from Ohio, Texas, and Toronto make the connection work.

Read the guide →
Open-jaw flight route to the Camino
the shop

Wear it. Carry it. Walk in it.

Merch made for people who've read the book — or are about to.

coming soon
She Can Do It tee — the heroine jumping with trekking poles

"She Can Do It." Tee

The whole book on one shirt. Back of the tee: a shell, "Buen Camino!", and footprints down your spine.

coming soon
So Can HE (probably) tee — a pilgrim running with a baguette in his backpack

"So Can HE. (probably.)" Tee

For the man who's walking with you. The pair makes a gift; the small print makes the joke.

coming soon
Not too old, not too weak — just crazy enough sweatshirt

"Just Crazy Enough" Sweatshirt

Not too old. Not too weak. The title, on a warm crewneck, for training walks, airports and the cold albergue morning.

The shop opens after the book has walked a little. Newsletter readers hear first.

Friends made on the Camino
camino karma

The people you'll meet

The Camino Guru. The Quiet One. The strangers who become family over one dinner. Chapter 20 is about all of them — and why being the person others speak well of at dinner is the most effective survival advice in the whole book.

Pilgrims sharing dinner ← family,
two hours in
Applying a wellness patch
AS FEATURED IN CHAPTER 23

The Quiet Helpers

The light-therapy patches I walk with — non-invasive, weightless, and honestly explained in the book: what each one is designed to do, and what that means at kilometer nineteen. If you're curious, they're here:

My honest patch guide →

Short, personal, no miracles — with ready-made carts if you decide they're your thing.

A pilgrim walking toward the sunrise

"That discomfort — the light, not-unpleasant tightness in your stomach — is the first kilometer of your walk. You've already covered it, without leaving the house."

no spam — pilgrims
hate extra weight
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