Towards Compostela

Towards Compostela by Catharina van Bohemen recounts her pilgrimage on the Camino de Santiago in 1998. During this time, Jenny Shipley was New Zealand's prime minister, Bill Clinton's relationship with Monica Lewinsky was exposed, the Good Friday Agreement was signed in Northern Ireland, and the Russian rouble nearly collapsed. Catharina's own life mirrored this upheaval; her marriage had ended, and she had left her Auckland home where she had raised her children.

Despite the growing ubiquity of mobile phones, none of the fellow pilgrims she walked with had them. Her journal became her most cherished possession, serving as a record of her journey.

Pilgrims to Compostela embark on their journey simply by starting to walk. Along the way, they stay in refugios and carry a passport or credencial that is stamped throughout their travels. Walking is an intensely physical experience. It serves as a reminder of one's presence in the world—you hear your breath, the scrape of your boots on the track; the straps bite into your shoulders; you feel and hear your heart beat. It is a pace dictated only by your own capabilities, and the sights you encounter are interwoven with your memories.

The act of walking transforms into a journey through your inner landscape, as much as it is a movement through the physical world, guiding you towards a new way of seeing and acceptance.

Catharina's story is crafted with restraint, beauty, wit, and insight, and is enriched by the accompanying drawings of Gregory O'Brien.