Santiago, Canterbury, Rome: Lessons from the Trails (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781517795658)

The author's career spans more than 45 years of classroom and private teaching in the field of music, but he is also an addicted long-distance hiker. He's backpacked more than 7,000 miles over the past decade, mainly along the two main pilgrimage routes in Western Europe--El Camino de Santiago and the Via Francigena. One of his latest journeys was on the Francigena trail, walking north from Rome to Canterbury in the winter and spring of 2015. This volume journals the author's experiences and thoughts along this trek. As anyone who has made the journey to Santiago de Compostela or to Rome will tell you, a major pilgrimage can change your life in startling ways. Many who walk or bike one of the caminos find they must return again, as once is not enough. The value of such a walk to the one who completes it is undeniable, but putting into words the extent of that change, expressing that metamorphosis to someone who hasn't experienced it can be difficult. These stories and essays illuminate the stages of the walk and also make a case for using pilgrimage as a teaching tool.