These Holy Bones: Walking the Camino de Santiago
These Holy Bones is a podcast about the Camino de Santiago, the ancient pilgrimage route to the Cathedral of Santiago. Each podcast seeks to provide insights into the significance of the pilgrim's experience by interviewing pilgrims on the Way of St. James.
Episodes
31 episodes
These Holy Bones: Vol. 2-Episode 17: Camino 2025 in Review with Father Jerome
At the very end of Camino 2025, Father Jerome and I spent time discussing his pilgrimage from Burgos to Leon, and then from Sarria to Santiago--a total of 200 miles on the Camino Frances. Our discussion took place on the patio of Camino Curry, ...
These Holy Bones: Vol. 2-Episode 16: Camino Massages with Danny
In this episode, I interview Danny, the owner and massage therapist of Camino Massages located in Santiago a few doors down from Camino Curry. Danny walked the Camino Norte in 2014 and knows the challenges that pilgrims face when walking day in...
These Holy Bones: Vol. 2-Episode 15: 400,000 Steps Alone
400,000 steps with almost no conversation is a different kind of loud. From the plaza in front of the Santiago Cathedral, we sit down with Ron from Oregon right after he finishes a solo walk from Porto to Santiago, largely in silence, giving hi...
These Holy Bones: Vol. 2-Episode 14: Planning for a Future Camino with Steve Lighty
In this episode, my good friend, Steven Lighty, and I discuss the many different facets of the Camino and what it takes to prepare for the long trek across Spain. Steve and his wife, Maryann, plan on walking the pilgrimage in a few years. Their...
These Holy Bones: Vol. 2-Episode 13: A Short Reflection on Camino #10
I recorded this short episode in the Praza de Obradoiro, the plaza facing the western facade of the cathedral. I speak of some of the blessings attached to my tenth Camino. Each of the ten have deepened my understanding of what it means to be p...
These Holy Bones: Vol. 2-Episode 12: Tips for a Successful Pilgrimage-Sven from Berlin
Sven is a German journalist who has traveled the Camino de Santiago five times, twice on the Norte and three times on the Camino Frances. In this interview, Sven shares his love for Spain and the outdoors. He also shares simple but important ad...
These Holy Bones: Vol. 2 Episode 11: Back to Nature with Constantine from Germany
In this episode, Constantine, a pilgrim from Germany, spends time telling me about his most recent pilgrimage following the original route to Santiago, the Primitivo. We met in an albergue in Santiago at the end of our treks into the holy city....
These Holy Bones: Vol. 2 Episode 10: Gabriel's Quest
I met Gabriel outside of the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela. He was sitting on the steps that lead down to the back entrance to the church. Although I felt self-conscious tapping him on the shoulder and asking him if he would like to be in...
These Holy Bones: Vol. 2-Episode 9: Called to Serve-Kamal's Journey
This episode is a wonderful tale of Kamal's call to walk the Camino Frances and to feed the fellow pilgrims he met at the albergues he stayed. Kamal is from the UK and had never heard of the pilgrimage. He tells of how it began to haunt his dre...
These Holy Bones: Vol. 2 Episode 8: A Bed, A Sheet, and A Shower-An Irish Perspective on the Camino
I met Marie and Giselle on the road to Santiago. It was a hot day on the Camino, and everyone was feeling the drain. We were only a few days away from the cathedral, and they agreed to be guests on the podcast once the pilgrimage was complete. ...
These Holy Bones: Vol. 2 Episode 7 - John Paul from Argentina
I took a chance asking Juan Pablo to be a guest on the podcast. He was sitting in a park in the town of Portomarin writing in his journal, and I didn't want to bother him. I'm glad I did. He is originally from Argentina, but moved to Spain to s...
These Holy Bones: Vol. 2-Episode 6: The Boys from Belgium
This episode of These Holy Bones is a conversation with two young men from Belgium, Yelle and Laurens, who are childhood friends. I met them in a crowded restaurant the night before this interview. They graciously invited me to sit wit...
These Holy Bones: Vol. 2-Episode 5: Encountering Yourself on the Camino de Santiago
In this episode, Simon, a young Italian, speaks about his desire to encounter himself on the Camino Frances. Simon suggests walking without distractions--no music, no conversations--just the sound of your feet on the path and the thoughts in yo...
These Holy Bones: Vol. 2-Episode 4: Encountering Your Camino Family
In this fourth episode of season two, I interview Claude from Paris, France. She explains how she was told that her Camino family would consist of the people with whom she began her journey--she would see them all along the way: in albergues, i...
These Holy Bones: Vol. 2-Episode 3 - Julie, the Danish Pilgrim
This past August, I spent the first night of my tenth pilgrimage in Hornillos del Camino. I met Julie, a twenty-three-year-old pilgrim from Denmark, who was on her second Camino traveling from Burgos to Santiago. Two years previous, she had wal...
Vol. 2-Episode 2: Sharing the Road with Two Dominican Friars
In this episode, Father John Baptist and Father Jerome, two Dominican Friars from the Province of Saint Joseph in the United States, share their expectations of the road before we actually begin our trek across the Meseta. The interview was con...
These Holy Bones: Volume 2 - Episode 1: A Debrief of My Latest Camino or An Introduction to Season 2
This is the first episode of volume two of the podcast. In this episode, my wife, Karen, helps me to debrief after my tenth Camino, a walk of two hundred miles that included the Meseta-my favorite section of the Camino Frances. This was by far ...
These Holy Bones: Vol. 1 Episode 14 - Off The Road by Jack Hitt - A Book Review
Jack Hitt's 1991 account of his Camino journey is a tale filled with quirky yet unforgettable characters. Hitt leaves a New York editing career to venture across Spain for a second time; his first pilgrimage was in 1981 after graduating from co...
These Holy Bones: Vol. 1 Episode 13: Traveling Light and Living Simply with James O'Connor
In this episode, a fellow Rhode Island pilgrim, James O'Connor, shares insights from his pilgrimage on the Frances in 2012 and his travels on the Portuguese Camino in 2024. His passion for the outdoors and his enthusiasm for his fellow pilgrim ...
These Holy Bones: Episode 12 - The Packing List
In this episode, my wife Karen and I work through a packing list identifying what we deem necessary for the pilgrimage. Are most of these items essential? If I had to listen to only one podcast before leaving for the Camino, it would be "The Pa...
These Holy Bones: Episode 11 - Pace and Price
In this episode, my wife Karen and I discuss a daily approach to walking the Camino along with an approach to spending money on the road. Your pace is a very important aspect of the pilgrimage and should be considered before you take your first...
These Holy Bones: Episode 10 - Pilgrims of Hope
In this episode, my pastor, Father Stephen Battey, speaks about the Jubilee Year, and how we are to make sense of it. He touches on the essence of pilgrimage and how a pilgrim can approach the trek. His insights are invaluable. Have a listen, a...
These Holy Bones - Episode 9: To The Field of Stars by Father Kevin Codd - A Book Review
Hello, and welcome to another episode of These Holy Bones, a podcast about the ancient pilgrimage to the Cathedral of Santiago, where the bones of St. James are interred beneath the high altar. I'm your host, Robert Nerny, and on today's epis...
These Holy Bones: Episode 8 - What's In Your Pack?
This episode is devoted to the pack on your back. My wife, Karen, speaks about her packing experiences with specific recommendations on what to take and what to leave home. What you carry in your pack while on the Camino is an essential part of...
Vol. 1 Episode 7: No Accidental Pilgrims
In this episode, I go into some detail about how my wife and I ended up on the Camino de Santiago back during the summer of 2015 and how our pilgrimage was affirmed by a sign from God--no kidding! Well, at least that's my interpretation of the ...