Solo Camino: An Empowering Guide for Women

Are you dreaming of going on a walking adventure, like the Camino de Santiago in Spain? And do you want to do it alone?

Solo Camino: An Empowering Guide for Women is designed to help you prepare emotionally and physically for your big trip. From overcoming the fears that might be holding you back, to readying your body and packing your bag, this transformative guide will inspire curiosity, confidence, and courage.

Author Renée Hartleib has first-person experience as a Camino pilgrim and offers rich, insightful stories that bring the path to life. Solo Camino demystifies the journey, providing advice and tips to support you in creating a successful Camino that is truly your own.

"Solo Camino provides words of affirmation and confidence to get you out of the house and into an adventure."

—Jane Christmas, author of What The Psychic Told The Pilgrim

• Provides a first person account of a solo female who walked the Camino Frances from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port in France to Santiago de Compostela in Spain...around 800km or 500 miles!
• Contains over 70 full colour photos, all taken by the author
• Includes reflection and writing prompts (for before, during, and after your solo adventure!)
• Challenges the idea that women must always prioritize others and that solo travel is selfish.
• Reveals, and doesn't sugarcoat, the very real challenges of this kind of long walk through a foreign country: injuries, blisters, bedbugs, loneliness, decision fatigue, etc.
• Reminds you that there is no one right way to do the Camino: your journey will be uniquely yours
• Inspires you to set your own intentions, be present, listen to your body, practise patience, and celebrate yourself!

About the Camino:

The Camino de Santiago, also known as the Way of St. James (or simply The Way), is a network of ancient pilgrimage routes that lead to the shrine of Saint James in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in northwestern Spain. Legend has it that the remains of Saint James, one of Jesus's apostles, were miraculously discovered there in the 9th century. The Camino quickly became one of the most important Christian pilgrimages during the Middle Ages, drawing thousands of pilgrims who walked to Santiago de Compostela, serving penance or to secure a place in the afterlife.

Over time, the routes fell out of fashion, but in the late 20th century, thanks in part to renewed interest in spiritual journeys and the Camino's designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Camino pilgrimages became popular once more. There are dozens of pilgrimage routes to Santiago de Compostela, with the most popular being the Camino Francés, or French route. It begins in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port in France and crosses the Pyrenees into Spain and onward through Pamplona (think Hemingway and the running of the bulls!), Burgos (birthplace of the legendary knight El Cid), and Leon (featuring a gorgeous and light-filled Cathedral) to Santiago de Compostela (with its UNESCO World Heritage-listed Old Town).

Other main Camino routes include the Camino del Norte along the north coast or the Camino Portuguese from Lisbon through Portugal and Spain. There are other major routes in France, from Arles, Le Puy, and Paris, with other old routes being continually resurrected throughout Europe. Today, each year, tens of thousands of people from around the world walk a Camino route for religious, spiritual, personal, or recreational reasons.