Since before the year 1,000 AD millions of pilgrims have walked to Santiago de Compostela, in Northern Spain, believed to be the burial place of the Apostle James. Since the 1980’s there has been a modern resurgence in the ancient pathway, with over 300,000 completing the pilgrimage annually.

Trekking 500 miles on the ancient Camino de Santiago was not just an item for Russ Eanes to check off his bucket list. It was a journey he had dreamed of taking for decades.

At age 61, with his children grown, he was too young to retire but wise enough to know that he needed to reorient the hurried pace of his life. He left his work and took a sabbatical to “reset” himself and the first step was to head to the Camino.

With everything he needed in a 16-pound pack and, equipped with a set of seven simple principles, he took off from St. Jean Pied de Port, France, to walk, as pilgrims have for twelve centuries, across Spain, to realize his dream. It was the Walk of a Lifetime.

In a style that is part personal memoir and part travel memoir, he combines history, spirituality, coffee, culture and humor into an engaging journey of personal rediscovery.

Writer, walker and cyclist Russ Eanes lives in Harrisonburg, VA, with his wife, Jane, several of his adult children and his five grandchildren.