Customer Reviews

Hiking the Camino: 500 Miles with Jesus

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People of all faith backgrounds or even those with none at all will appreciate Fr. Dave's description of his 500 mile hike to the church Santiago De Compestela in Spain. There is a refreshing honesty throughout as the author considers, decides and ultimately takes the journey through the Spanish countryside with people from all over the world. Walking up to 23 miles a day, but usually less, the story moves along from stop to stop as Fr. Dave, his fellow priest, and the others along the trail share meals, lodging, and a small slice of their lives with each other.

The author describes the humble accomodations, the simple meals and the surprising fellowship among those on the journey. There is also Fr. Dave's reflections on his life as a priest in the Catholic Church, along with his doubts and struggles in his vocation. The book details both a physical as well as a spiritual journey. Those interested in reading about the physical journey will be surprisingly move by teh spiritual reflections while those interested in the spiritual side will likewise be entertained by the details of the journey itself. It's not a day-by-day diary so it's a fairly quick read and an enjoyable one.

I have been reading and collecting books on the subject of the pilgrimage to the shrine of St. James in Santiago de Campostela, Galicia, Spain for a number of years.
I first went to Spain 36 years ago and have been back once. I hope to go again and walk at least part of the pilgrims' way across the north of Spain. It is what was called "the great pilgrimage of the Middle Ages."

This book, written by a priest who is a professor of theology is a wonderful example of the universality of human experience and the very special experiences of the individuals who walk the Way.

I just loved the personal testimony of this holy priest. It made me want to hike the camino as he did. It was a spiritual journey filled with poignent and comic situations.

Very inspiring with helpful guidance! This book is a good companion for the
movie The Way starring Charlie Sheen and Emilio Estevez.

Father Pivonka recalls an amazing trip with wisdom, insight and a great sense of humor. He entertainingly shares how the physical and mental challenges of this particular 500-mile walk tested his own personal beliefs, his faith and his assumptions about his relationships with others. In recalling his experience as a pilgrim along the historic Camino de Compostela de Santiago, Father Pivonka's reflections encourage me to examine some of my preconceived assumptions about relationships, perspective and reality in my life.

I walked the camino two years ago. For me it was both a fun trip and a religious experience and I think the priest had the same experience. Meeting people was one of the highlights of the Camino and he described some of his encounters with fellow pilgrims. The book presented in an excellent manner some of the difficulties and challenges that you will encounter during the 500 miles. It was not a guide book; it more expressed the priests feelings, particularly from a religious perspective. I would highly recommend the book but it is a quick read and will not be necessarily helpful if you want a detailed planning book.

Though I'm not really much of an outdoorsy person, I knew I wanted to read Hiking the Camino: 500 Miles with Jesus as soon as my brother in Christ told me he was reading this book about a priest who goes on a walking pilgrimage across Spain as a way of thanking the Lord for his vocation as a priest.

I expected there to be some deep spiritual insights gleaned from more quiet time in nature than the average person usually has, and there are indeed plenty of those included which Fr. Dave Pivonka, T.O.R. had along the way. What I didn't expect but absolutely love is that the tone and writing are so down-to-earth and genuine. More than once while reading Fr. Pivonka's escapades and his subsequent reflections on them I was laughing right out loud, always something I appreciate in a book and in life.

The author's very limited Spanish makes for some very amusing interactions with some of the locals he meets along the way. Plus, I loved the juxtaposition of really macho-sounding feats like running with the bulls alongside the stark reality that he was merely just walking with the cows. He also has some amusing epiphanies regarding the differences between men and women while he and Fr. Joe are on the trail and sharing rooms in albergues along the route with other pilgrims.

Reading this made me think of A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail not only because it's another autobiographical book about a long hike made by someone who isn't the professional mountain-climber type, but also due to the fact that in many ways the emotional highs and lows, mixed in with plenty of sarcasm and humility, and a smattering of meticulous detail was evident in Hiking the Camino: 500 Miles with Jesus.

Of course, adding the spiritual element made this book much more interesting to me. His quest for a closer relationship with Christ, his sincere desire to thank the Lord for his vocation as a priest, and his desire to grow in personal holiness are evident throughout the book in large and small observations about life, faith, people, and nature. The parallels to Scripture all flow quite naturally instead of being forced into the text at predetermined intervals whether they fit or not.

The conversational tone and steam-of-consciousness approach are perfect with someone who seems as friendly, funny, and humble as Fr. Pivonka does.