Monday, December 15, 2014

A Million Steps by Kurt Koontz

I finished reading A Million Steps by Kurt Koontz. As I have mentioned before, Sharon and I are interested doing the Way of St. James pilgrimage. A Million Steps is one of the many books available chronicling personal journeys hiking the Way of St. James. Following Liz's journey, reading her emails and having dinner with her after she got back only deepened by desire to take this pilgrimage.

I enjoyed the book, but the author's approach to the pilgrimage was very different than mine would be. Koontz got up very early in the morning; he would travel by headlamp in the dark. Koontz maintained a breakneck pace. I don't think he paused for more than two or three days over the entire trip.

I am more interested in seeing the country. We will probably spent a couple of days in each of the major cities and take some side trips along the way.

There were a couple of interesting technical observations. First, Koontz shopped places to stay when he reached his destination each night. He would tour the albergues (pilgrim hostels) before picking one of them. Second, Koontz broke up the trip by staying in a hotel every few days; this sounds like a great idea!

The book got more and more philosophical as it went along. I appreciated his musing and found some personal insights. I do need to find a book that focuses more on the practical and technical aspects of the pilgrimage.

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