Savoring the Camino de Santiago: It's the Pilgrimage, Not the Hike focuses on the Camino de Santiago, an ancient pilgrimage trail that began around 820 AD and that traverses Spain, ending in Santiago de Compostela, the burial place of St. James the apostle. A resurrection of interest in the Camino since the 1980s has meant that more than 300,000 individuals are nowadays undertaking the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela each year. The author made the pilgrimage in 2016 via the French route from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port in France to Santiago de Compostela in Spain, a journey of some 500 miles. Her book incorporates a blog and travel journal she kept during that pilgrimage, with an illustration accompanying each of the 49 days of the journey.
The book is also a memoir, with Ms. Connor explaining how and why she decided to make the pilgrimage.
Savoring the Camino de Santiago offers practical advice for those interested in traveling the Camino. While the prevailing culture of the Camino is to walk the route, Ms. Connor believes that walking is not the only way to undertake the Camino. Taking buses, taxis, or even driving
are also valid ways to experience the Camino, in her opinion. She advocates for pilgrims to slow down and savor the pilgrimage by stopping in churches, cathedrals, museums, and interesting towns and cities along the route. Not everyone experiences spiritual or personal growth through the act of walking; Ms. Connor urges pilgrims to take the trip in the manner that will most connect them with their spiritual, religious, and transcendent well springs.
After completing the pilgrimage, the author journeyed on to Madrid and Toledo, and there are chapters in the book covering those visits. Ms. Connor also recounts activities following the journey related to the Camino, such as writing an open letter to relevant governmental authorities in Spain and hosting a thank-you dinner in Houston for those who helped her plan and organize her pilgrimage.
The book includes a useful chapter on resources and an index. A blog about the trip, Camino for Boomers (https: //caminoforboomers.com/author/caminoforboomers/), complements the book by offering many additional color photos as well as updates about
events relating to the trip.
Savoring the Camino de Santiago is the first book by author Julie Gianelloni Connor. It is available via IngramSpark or the Bayou City Press website, BayouCityPress.com.
Connor, Julie Gianelloni: - After a 33-year career in the U.S. Foreign Service working overseas in U.S. embassies and in Washington, DC, at the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Information Agency, Julie Connor returned to her first love-writing. In 2019 she founded Bayou City Press, LLC, and published her first book, "Savoring the Camino de Santiago: It's the Pilgrimage, Not the Hike." Her book recently won a silver medal in the annual eLit competition. Julie wrote throughout her career, but for professional purposes-memoranda, briefing papers, and the like. Julie regularly publishes columns on her website and also posts entries on her blog, Camino for Boomers. Her new company, Bayou City Press, focuses on three areas: Houston, travel, and international affairs. Columns about travel and Houston are regularly published on her website, and Julie's blog, Camino for Boomers, serves as a supplement for her book on the Camino de Santiago. As a U.S. diplomat, Julie completed nine tours overseas (Israel twice, Paraguay, Guatemala, Indonesia, Colombia twice, Malaysia, Chile). In Chile, she was Acting Chief of Mission at the time a letter bomb was delivered to the embassy. In her last overseas assignment, she was the Director of Narcotics Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Bogota, where she managed a budget of $460 million and a fleet of 200 aircraft, including helicopters and spray planes. During her tenure, the section achieved its all-time high in the eradication of coca and poppy, as well as record levels of narcotics interdiction. In Washington, Julie was the Office Director for the State Department's office that focuses on multilateral affairs. As the office director, she oversaw the U.S. missions in Geneva, Vienna, Nairobi, and Montreal, coordinating the U.S. policy positions for numerous international organizations. Julie was the recipient of numerous awards over her career, including four Superior Honor awards, and both USIA's and the State Department's annual awards for promotion of Equal Opportunity. She was the founder and first president of Executive Women at State, an organization focused on advocating for, mentoring, and training women at the Department of State. Julie has one son, James, and two cats, Halloween and Mimi.
