I am in the process of writing a book about the interesting women I met while trekking over 500 miles on the Camino de Santiago in northern Spain. I started walking the Camino with a climb over the Pyrenees, headed west over mountains, plateaus, rises and dips, rocky and smooth trails, until reaching my destination at the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela. All along the Way, I met interesting women who spoke candidly about their camino, the reasons for undertaking this adventure, their discoveries, insights, obstacles, etc.
This blog will chronicle my progress in writing the book, Women of the Way, a new journey for me, since this is my first. As with the Camino, I face many challenges in this new venture.
One of the first obstacles was mastering the art of interviewing women while hiking. For more than two years, I had been the talk show host for Women Matters, a weekly feminist radio program on WSLR (96.5 FM) in Sarasota FL. I knew interviewing techniques, but these techniques needed honing when done while hiking.
I decided to interview women during a conversation with Josette, a French women with whom I walked on the 4th day of my hike. We had a wonderful chat in French and I was delighted with her openness and articulation. That night, trying to write my recollections of our conversation, I realized that I needed a better way to document what was said. Not only did I have difficulty recalling what was said, I did not have her complete name nor contact information. (I was lucky enough to meet up again with Josette and record a conversation.)
I then tried to record a conversation using a digital recorder. Since I had not mastered the technology, I failed to turn on the recorder, but I did get the woman’s full name and contact info. I was learning from my mistakes.
As time went on, I become more comfortable with interviewing and recording. I now have more than 30 conversations to transcribe. As I review my notes and listen to the conversations I have had with other women pilgrims, I am keeping the spirit of the Camino alive…it is with much pleasure that I am writing this book.
