à la carte spirit by ilona fried
Finisterre
The Price of Finishing
“Where are you heading?” asked the man seated next to me in the scenic car as Amtrak‘s California Zephyr rumbled across Illinois. I was multitasking — peering out the window while reviewing photos on my laptop — and glanced over. With his worn sweater, baggy pants and bug-shaped eyeglasses that harkened from the 1980s, he … Continue reading
To Hang On or Let Go?
There is an end-of-Camino ritual at Finisterre, to burn something from the trip (or toss it into the sea). The symbolism is personal: for some, it could be a form of spiritual completion, a break with the past and/or the promise of a new beginning. A few days before arriving to the coast, I walked … Continue reading
Endings as Beginnings
I´m nearing the end of my walk; in less than two days, I´ll arrive at Finisterre (the end of the earth). In some ways, it is much like the beginning. Then, I started up a mountain in the midst of the Basque country, a region straddling France and Spain that, thanks to its remote location, … Continue reading
à la carte spirit by ilona fried 
Recent comments