Into the Thin: A Pilgrimage Walk Across Northern Spain

by Stephen Drew

It felt like an emotional crucifixion—a dark year in which a father figure passed, a friend and mentor suffered a terminal illness, one child entered psychosis, another child took his life, and a 14 year marriage ended. As a new life began, an ancient pilgrimage called from across an ocean. Would it hold any answers? Were there any answers to be had? Questions are always temporal, but it seems pilgrimage follows the designs of the eternal. Join in a transcendent journey of the body, heart, mind, and spirit from the French Pyrenees Mountains, crossing northern Spain for 500 miles to the city of Santiago de Compostela, and beyond to the coastal town of Finisterre. Share the experience of walking a thousand year old road, the Camino de Santiago, the Way of Saint James, and its miraculous, mysterious ways. This is a story told in the language of the soul. Suffused with resilience, it is a dialogue between humanity and its spirit. It calls.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction

361 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 15, 2020

About the author

Stephen Drew lives in the town of Morris, Connecticut. He recently published a memoir, Into the Thin, A Pilgrimage Walk Across Northern Spain, and is currently preparing his next book, a creative non-fiction titled, Around the Forever Bend, Remembrances of Wondering What Lies Beyond Death expected 5/23/23 from Homebound Publications.

Stephen practices a minimalist lifestyle which includes daily walking, mostly on the roads and paths around Bantam Lake. Hiking here and elsewhere serves as a centerpiece of contemplative living.

Reviews

[Mizloo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quite possibly the best book about walking the Camino, the pilgrimage path in Northern Spain, that I have yet read. (Given that the Camino is a passion of mine, I'd estimate 40-50 books across the past 10 years.) Stephen Drew hits a sweet spot that includes information about the physical places, his body's effort (his was considerably less than many others), his spiritual epiphanies, emotional experiences, intellectual analyses, personal background, and pilgrim/peregrino comrades.

His writing is elegantly limber, simple and clear; his depiction of his spiritual and emotional life is engaging and understated. His thoughtful reflections on his past and present life in the context of his pilgrimage are insightful, open, and honest. There is a modesty and humility about his reflections on his life, which has been difficult, with considerable tragedy. It was only when I was more than halfway through the book that I realized he was praying every morning before setting off.

A book to be savored, not rushed through. I allowed myself one or 2 chapters every night before sleeping, and so I spent a pleasant couple of weeks in Stephen Drew's company. I commend him to you.

[C.M. Rivers · Rating 5 out of 5]

An intimate and inspiring memoir of two journeys undertaken simultaneously: an external walk along a thousand-year-old pilgrimage route, serving as the catalyst for a deeply personal pilgrimage, an inward search, a reckoning with emotional trauma, and attentive listening to the voice within. Pain and healing, resistance and surrender, the individual and the collective - they're all here, as Stephen Drew takes you on the road with him for a walk you won't soon forget, bravely exploring his own experience with two powerful forces at work in all of us - holding on and letting go.

[Terri · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s been my intention to walk the Camino de Santiago for about 8 years now. Other things have taken priority, or more likely I simply wasn’t ready. All along I’ve enjoyed reading and discussing all things Camino, and when I came across and read this book it leapt to the top of my list of recommendations.

There is something so clear and casual about his writing that brings us into the moment to moment details as though we’ve a birds eye view of the entire experience. He begins brilliantly in the books Introduction to give great context and structure to the flow of his story.

It begins, as many stories do, with endings. The loss of a dear friend, a mentor, a marriage, his only son…all levels of life and love deconstructed. He decides to walk the Camino. Taking the traditional French Way he made his way across the entire span of northern Spain. And he shares with his readers what it means to turn toward that which cracks us open.

I was fully entertained by the connections he made with other pilgrims from around the world. Even the days of solitude held precious gems along the trail – maybe some of the most precious. And the lively social times around café con leches, the meals, the ice cream cones…all full of meaningful conversation, humor, introspection, and confession.

This is a well written and beautiful book. My thanks to author Stephen Drew for fueling my Camino de Santiago desire…as well as a few insights, tips, and helpful information along the WAY.

Buen Camino indeed…

[Martha · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is some lovely writing in this book. “I sit on the sand…and listen to the many voices in the waves as they pound ashore. Each has a word of its own, unique and violent and said only once. It is incapable of repetition, so it’s important to pay close attention…”

I appreciated Stephen’s humility and honesty, his descriptions of the road and villages and chapels and new friendships. I am planning to walk the Camino in a few months, so I have read a number of walking memoirs in the past year. This was one of the sweetest and most genuine.

[Thomas Qualls · Rating 5 out of 5]

In his beautiful and thought-provoking memoir, Stephen Drew takes us with him on an intimate and honest journey of the heart. At once personally revealing and spiritually engaging, Drews detailed account leads us not just along the Camino itself, but into his internal hero's journey that all pilgrimages necessarily include. Highly recommended.