I haven't been everywhere, but it's on my list

A 14-year-old and his aunt find there is no fixed path on the Camino, or in life, on a walk from Santiago to Finisterre Bronagh and Kyle on their Camino 14-year-old Kyle O’Neill was expecting to walk the Camino. What he wasn’t expecting was the envelope I handed him. Inside it was a sheet of paper. On that, were three instructions. First, Kyle would be responsible for managing his own money during the trip. He had a daily budget of €30 and had to make decisions such as where to stay and where to eat along the route. Second, he had to talk to people from ten different countries and learn at least two interesting things about these countries. Third, he had to practice Spanish, which he is learning at school, by talking to local people while ordering food or booking into accommodation along the way. Kyle was intrigued. Reading every line carefully, he looked up at me, smiled and said: “Wow Bronagh, I was not expecting this but... Bring It On! ...

How pilgrims benefit rural communities  The last World Trails Conference took place in Santiago de Compostela in September 2018. There were many lessons learnt during the three day event but only one that inspired the article you are    about to read. Why should we promote active walking holidays such as  The Camino de Santiago?   The Camino is growing more popular as it helps you reconnect with nature and rural areas which we have distanced ourselves from over the last fifty years due to our busy city lives and the advancement of technology. This separation from our natural way of living a thousand years ago is causing a crave for nature and we are embracing the idea of exploring our inner selves while enjoying an active walking holiday. This is the Slow Tourism model, a form of responsible travel that has deeper economic implications that you may think. Let’s explore them! Promoting this type of holiday over traditional beach holidays (Mass Tour...

Are you fed up of tourist traps? Ibiza, Cancún, Venice, Barcelona or Benidorm are synonymous of summer holidays. These places have been so successful attracting tourists that locals are starting to suffer the consequences in the form of higher rents and disruptive levels of noise. Mass media marketing is very efficient in convincing people where they should go and spend their cash. So efficient that some places have reached a point of overcrowding, making the holidays less special than they previously were. For this reason, people are starting to look for alternative holiday locations where their friends have never been. You may have never heard of a hidden gem in northern Spain called Asturias. This northern coastal region of Spain is stunning. The beauty of its landscapes, as green as southern Ireland, grasslands filled with cows next to paradise beaches and the Picos de Europa mountains, one of the most beautiful places for mountaineers to hike. Asturianos are descendan...