I'm excited to introduce this week's guest, J. F. Penn. Joanna is a friend of mine, and I’ve been listening to her fantastic podcast for over a decade now, The Creative Penn. Like me, Jo is a fan of solo walking, and she’s recently written a book on pilgrimage. While I’ve done various long-distance trails in England, I’ve never done a pilgrimage. The Camino de Santiago has been on my list of things to do since 1996 when I first read Paulo Coelho’s book about it, so it’s definitely something I’ve been wanting to do. In this episode, we talk about what pilgrimage is and why you might want to do one. You certainly don’t have to be religious—you can use a pilgrimage to explore your own inner journey or simply to visit ancient sites or sacred places. I hope this episode inspires you to start thinking about pilgrimage!    About J.F. Penn J.F. Penn is the Award-nominated, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of thrillers, dark fantasy, and crime. She also writes non-fiction for writers as Joanna Penn, and is an award-winning podcaster, international speaker, and creative entrepreneur.   Jo's Links Author website Publishing + podcast website Travel website Kickstarter   Listen To This Episode        What You'll Learn What is a pilgrimage and how it differs from other types of long-distance routes Why you don’t have to be religious to do a pilgrimage The three stages of a pilgrimage Jo’s top tips for someone who is considering a pilgrimage   Things We Discussed The Pilgrims’ Way to Canterbury  St Cuthbert’s Way to Lindisfarne  Camino Portugués  Macs Adventure  Shikoku pilgrimage in Japan  Milford Track in New Zealand  Via Francigena  Cicerone guidebooks  The Art of Pilgrimage: The Seeker's Guide to Making Travel Sacred (The Spiritual Traveler’s Travel Guide), by Phil Cousineau    Related Episodes 437 Shawn Anderson ~ Adventures on the Camino Primitivo in Spain 407 Keith Foskett ~ Through Hiking Long-Distance Trails in the USA and Spain (now with downloadable transcript!) 403 Susan Jagannath ~ Adventures on the Camino Inglés (now with downloadable transcript!) 359 Adam Wells ~ How To Prepare For Your First Long Distance Trail (now with downloadable transcript!) 354 Stephen Marriott ~ The Life-changing Magic of Walking a Long-Distance Trail (now with downloadable transcript!)   Connect With Holly Website Facebook Instagram Twitter Pinterest Google+ LinkedIn   How to Subscribe Click here to subscribe via iTunes Click here to subscribe via RSS Click here to subscribe via Stitcher   Help Spread the Word If you enjoyed this episode, please head on over to iTunes and kindly leave us a rating and a review! You can also subscribe, so you'll never miss an episode.   Connect With Holly Website Facebook Instagram Twitter Pinterest Google+ LinkedIn   How to Subscribe Click here to subscribe via iTunes Click here to subscribe via RSS Click here to subscribe via Stitcher   Help Spread the Word If you enjoyed this episode, please head on over to iTunes and kindly leave us a rating and a review! You can also subscribe, so you'll never miss an episode.