The Journey Inward: A Path to Discovery, Determination, and the Value of Friendship

by Janet Charbonneau

Part memoir, part travelogue, The Journey Inward takes you on an exciting and life-changing journey across northern Spain. What started as a way to celebrate her 50th birthday suddenly became one of the most difficult challenges the author has ever faced. From the preparation for this incredible journey to the daily trek through ancient villages and over mountains, The Journey Inward captivates you with the magic that has called people to make this expedition for more than a thousand years. The Camino de Santiago, or The Way, has always been a personal and spiritual pilgrimage culminating at the magnificent Santiago de Compostela Cathedral. Having never hiked and armed with only her mental determination, the author artfully takes you through the daily ups and downs of the Camino as she faces the challenges of an injured knee, overcomes mental hurdles and celebrates emotional breakthroughs.The Journey Inward has something for everyone. Readers will cheer, cry and be inspired with every page as the author discovers the depths of her inner strength and experiences the magic of the Camino. This 440-mile walk changed her life. Her story is sure to touch yours, in unforgettable ways.

Genres: Nonfiction, Travel, Ebooks, Spain

239 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 10, 2018

About the author

Janet Charbonneau enjoys taking the road less traveled. She has spent her life chasing adventures and helping others. After leaving corporate America in her mid-30’s to chase dreams of blue water cruising, she climbed aboard her Harley Davidson motorcycle, spending 218 days traveling all lower 48 states, to help people living with disabilities. To make it interesting, she did the cross-country ride with her Golden Retriever, Bailey, tucked into her sidecar. Not long after those early adventures, Janet found herself walking the historic Camino de Santiago pilgrimage. In each case, she had zero experience until the day she decided to go. Always with purpose. Always with courage and determination.

For many years, she volunteered with Canines for Veterans as a board member, board chairman, and service-dog-in-training socializer and continues to support Assistance Dog organizations. She still enjoys volunteering and is currently the treasurer for the Military Appreciation Day - Charleston Chapter. She now resides in North Carolina with Holly, her Golden Retriever, working as an IT professional by day, writing books, and planning her next adventures in her spare time.

Reviews

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is an easy read about the author's pilgrimage along the Camino de Santiago in Spain. The author did the hike to celebrate her 50th birthday, to knock it off her bucket list and to find her footing after her divorce. Each chapter is a day on the pilgrimage. The author describes the hike, the people, towns and some of the magic of the trek. The author could have gone into more detail about her struggles on the trek, but over all an enjoyable book.

[Briana Moore · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful journey

Wonderful travel diary! I was expecting more of a guidebook style, delighted it wasn't. It's a great book for single women, especially those who need encouragement. I love hiking and camping, I've got back into it a bit an this reminded me of my short portages (minus all the people and social interactions) and desire to go on a longer trek. Thank you, Janet and Diane.

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book was an easy, enjoyable read and an exciting journey. As I read, I felt like I was walking the path along with the author on her inward and outward adventure on her month long hike across Spain. Very inspiring, particularly for older people who may be on the fence as to whether or not they are up for such a trek.

[Jeanne Haden · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to read a thoughtful, reflective book on the difficulties and triumphs of hiking the Camino. In my opinion, this book was not that. I kept waiting for the author to describe the lessons she learned on the trail, other than where the next bar was or how she kept running into fellow hikers along the trail - why would that be a surprise? I'd love to do a count of the exclamation points in the book...some paragraphs contained 3 or 4. !!!! I did finish reading the book because I wanted to give it a fair shot. It read more like a travel log of daily activities - not my cup of tea. Or Sangria.

[Janice Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Hiking Book

It was an interesting book about hiking and self discovery. As an avid hiker I enjoyed her description of the hikes each day. The people she met were interesting. The people on the trail meeting up with each other from time to time was similar to good I have read about hiking the Appalachian Trail.

[Ryanne Wolfe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok book. I guess if would be an basic guide book. Too many exclamation marks and too many short sentences. Could of used a little less description on bedding and price of wine and used a little more “meat”. Got repetitive after a while.

[Sandra Barker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is basically a journal of the author's pilgrimage along the Camino de Santiago, also called the Way of Saint James. She begins by giving her background leading up to this 440 mile trek through France and Spain that ends at the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in NW Spain. As she draws near to her 50th birthday, she wants to recharge her life and hits on the desire to walk the Way. Since she'd never been a hiker, she trained for several months, researched the proper gear, and made preparation. It's interesting to see how she prepared and then she gave a description of each of the 31 days of her trek, telling what they ate, where they stayed and a bit about the journey. At the end of the book, she tells how the experienced helped her to grow as a person. It's a straight-forward book and for what it is - a journal of a woman's experience - it's easy to read and interesting. I liked learning what it's like to walk the Camino.

[Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

Clearly, the author valued the friendships along the way, as well as the challenges of hiking the Camino, and one can surely appreciate the determination it took to complete the journey. I guess for me the book was ok, but it was less of a well-told story and more of a diary with day after day of the same routine: we woke, we ate this for breakfast, we hiked this and that, we had drinks and snack for lunch, we hiked some more, we arrived at our destination, found a place to stay, we had drinks, we showered, bathed, and changed, then had more drinks, ate dinner, came back, slept, and awoke. Repeat again and again. I was looking for more descriptions, insights, and depth, and did not find it in this book.

[Amanda Adams · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won this book in a Goodreads Giveaway and was excited to learn more about the Camino de Santiago, which I hadn't heard about before. This book was, aside from the intro and outro, structured as a daily travel journal and I really liked the format and found the repetition of daily activities to be soothing and enjoyable. The book follows a woman's experience walking the pilgrimage with a new-found friend and while I wouldn't want to walk that far on a daily basis I can certainly see the allure. Overall a good book but I would have liked more descriptive writing about the day to day activities and the environment they were in compared to the brief listing of sights and activities and the exhaustive description of their doing laundry and checking into hostels for the night.

[Connie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this here on Goodreads. Thank you so much.
I have not read many travel logs. This one is really good. It held my interest. The author is hiking a special pilgrimage across Spain. The people she meets, the food she eats, the places she sleeps I found interesting. The hike sounds gruesome at times. That she manages to finish says so much about her. She symbolically leaves issues that have been bogging her down along the way, ending at the Church of St. James. The Santiago de Compostela Cathedral .

[Jacques Ménard · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed following the trek and comparing my own 2019 experiences. I did not find that the significant impact a Camino can have on a person got across very well. It was much more of a printed travelogue without the sharing of any profound insights earned. I am glad for her that she finally reconciled old grudges regarding the finances of her separation but I was looking for more for the cost of purchasing it in print. Kudos to her marketing for succeeding in drawing those bills out of my pocket.

[Tracy Dishman · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you like reading books that excessively use exclamation points, this book is for you!!!!!

This book irritated me. This book takes place in Spain. And believe it or not, the native language for every country is NOT English.

If you're going to make all these plans to hike in another country the least you could do is not complain because no one speaks English. You're on their territory. Speak their language.

And creating a GoFundMe so you can sleep in decent rooms every night and spend your own money on wine and Sangrias. Gaaaaah!!!

[Louise · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won this in a Goodreads giveaway. More of a travel guide and I credit Janet finishing the trek for her 50th birthday. But too much surprise that she would keep on bumping into fellow pilgrims over the many days, charge for her glass of wine and meals. She shared with us as much depth as she put on her facebook for her friends to follow the journey. Clinical and needed more story instead of here are the facts. "How do you eat an elephant? one bite at a time"

[Deb · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having done part of the Camino myself I was interested to read the authors struggles and triumphs on her journey. It took me back. Reads more like a diary of her trip. I think you can get a feel for what the Pilgrimage is about by reading this.

[lynn stilley · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a trip!

Anyone who wants adventure should read this book!! The author’s honesty about how her adventure changed her is refreshing, as is her positivity.

[Lavender]

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I won this book via Goodreads Giveaways.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting read

[Mary A Purvis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perseverance pays off

The best part of the way is finding you are stronger than you think. Very well written and directed the the hearts that search

[Denise M · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eh, I was expecting something more inspiring. Writing was ok. I wouldn't recommend it as a must read book.