About WisePilgrim

August

13th,

2012

This website was started in the winter of 2007 as a way to learn something about web development, as a way to do something useful with the journals I had accumulated during the previous five summers, and as a way to pass the time during a particularly dark winter in Reykjavík. Each passing summer since then has brought more camino adventures, and more information to pass along.

Fast forward several years and several more caminos and it was time to do something more with the website. I enjoyed what I had created, but from a practical perspective it didn't really do much for the average pilgrim. For a long time I had been toying with the idea of writing a guide book that could be printed on demand from the website, and thus be always up to date. In trying to make that happen I managed to do one better by going entirely paperless. The first iPhone guide was released in June of 2012, and several more are in the pipeline after a Summer long research trip across the Camino Francés, the Camino Primitivo, the Caminos to Finisterre and Muxia, and the Camino Aragones. Because there has been little change along the Camino de Invierno and the Route to San Salvador, I will also be doing some app guides for those routes as well.

It is not a get rich scheme by any stretch of the imagination. Rather it is a way for me to give back to the community of pilgrims that have made my experiences as a pilgrim worthwhile. It is also a way for me to stay on the camino while regular life beckons.

I hope that you enjoy the website, and that you consider the app guides for your next tromp across Spain. If you have any questions, corrections, suggestions, or anything else you would like to share, feel free to drop me a line at michael@wisepilgrim.com.

Buen Camino,

Michael

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Hi Michael, I just purchased

Submitted by Anonymous on on Thursday the 16th of May, 2013.

Hi Michael, I just purchased the iPhone app for the Camino de Invierno. All I can see on it, however are the listings of stages. When I touch on one of them, Ponferrada to Puente de ... for example, I get a listing of the individual sites between Ponferrada and Puente de ... Then when I tap on a town, it takes me immediately to the profile. Can I get some help on how to navigate the app, please? Thanks in advance, Don.

Hi Michael, is this app

Submitted by Anonymous on on Sunday the 24th of March, 2013.

Hi Michael, is this app available for android phones.

Rgds.

Pat

Pat, I certainly want it to

Submitted by michael on on Wednesday the 27th of March, 2013.

Pat,

I certainly want it to be, but it is proving difficult to code. Unfortunately it is still a few months away.

Michael

Just finished the Camino

Submitted by Anonymous on on Sunday the 6th of January, 2013.

Just finished the Camino Frances and have lots of photos of albergues and their credential stamps. Do you need photos of anything in particular? If so, where would I send them.

Photos of the albergues would

Submitted by michael on on Thursday the 10th of January, 2013.

Photos of the albergues would be nice, if you have them. Some of mine got lost in transit.
As for the stamps, I prefer to get those myself. They are a sort of proof of presence, letting the user of the app know that I have actually set foot in the albergue to collect data.

Send whatever you like to michael@wisepilgrim.com

Buen Camino!

Hi, Michael ... I have a

Submitted by Anonymous on on Tuesday the 18th of September, 2012.

Hi, Michael ... I have a question and a comment.

My daughters, who are much more geeky than I am, are pushing me to upgrade to an iPhone before I go, but as I've never used one I don't understand how it works. I have tried to Google information but so far I've not found a clear answer.

Is there a GPS function in the phone that shows you where you are in your App, or is your location triangulated from cell towers? If the latter, is there complete coverage for mobile service/location function all along the walking route of the Camino?

On this page, http://www.wisepilgrim.com/camino_finisterre_muxia/finisterra_to_muxia ... you mention "but only the Xunta albergue can provide you with the official document, the Fisterrana" ... but there is not Albergue listed below by that name, and this comment is the only spot on this page that the word "Xunta" is used ... a definite confusion for this first time preparer.

I look forward to reading your advice.

¡Buen Camino!
Brian

Brian, Thank you for your

Submitted by michael on on Thursday the 20th of September, 2012.

Brian,

Thank you for your feedback. I hope I can clear some things up for you. First off, you are absolutely correct about the confusion in Finisterre. The Xunta Albergue that I was referring to was erroneously tagged as a Municipal albergue. It has been corrected. There isn't really much of a difference, as all Xunta albergues are Municipal. I describe the difference between the two in the app, but you don't yet have that. I call them out as Xunta, rather than Municipal, because in Galicia the municipal albergues are a slightly different beast than on the rest of the caminos. They are much more standardized affairs, with disposable sheets and pillow cases (though that is catching on in many other albergues, including the private ones), a lack of shower curtains, and a fixed price across the whole of Galicia. In every other region of Spain the municipal albergues are handled as the local government sees fit. In Galicia, the Xunta albergues are actually operated under contract by a private company. The hospitalero/a is the same, but the bureaucracy is different. Nothing to concern pilgrims really.

As for the iPhone or no iPhone debate, I am obviously on the side of getting one. They DO have a native GPS chip, so cell phone towers are not a problem. I should note that the iPod touch and the iPad DO NOT have a native GPS chip and instead rely on other means. Unless you are planning on making long distance calls from the phone, you can contact your carrier and make sure that overseas roaming is off. For many years I traveled with an old iPhone 3 that did not have a functioning SIM card. The wireless worked well enough to send emails, check the web, and make calls with Skype. With the invasion of wireless, staying in touch was mostly free. Regarding cell phone coverage, in case that is of concern, there is indeed coverage across 99% of the camino if you are roaming. You might at times have to hold your arm up to the sky, but a signal is to be found nearly everywhere.

BUT! Currently the map feature of the app is only usable while online. This makes it a feature mostly used by Europeans on a plan, and one ignored by others who have to pay to roam. I am afraid that there is no good way around this. I am working on offline maps, but just like a paper map they won't be able to tell you where on the map you are... you will have to follow along as you go. With or without a map, your chances of getting lost on the camino are very low indeed.

I hope that clears things up for you, send me an email if there is anything else I can do.

Michael