
For those who have walked the Camino de Santiago, also known as “The Way of St. James,” and its numerous ancient pilgrimage routes that span throughout Europe, all ending at the same pivotal destination: the tomb of St. James in Santiago de Compostela in northwest Spain, will tell you that walking the Camino is not just a personal growth experience, but it’s also a spiritual, cultural, and religious one for many. It is one that has been walked by saints, kings, popes, and other notable figures, including St. Francis of Assisi, Queen Saint Isabel of Aragon, Ferdinand II of Aragon, Charlemagne, and Pope John Paul II. But it has also been walked by regular people, pilgrims if you will, from all over the world, with one goal in mind: to reach Santiago de Compostela, and along the way, freeing themselves of burden, grief, and the world’s outside noise. But did you know that roughly 3,600 miles (5,755 kilometers) east of Santiago de Compostela lies another Camino? And, not just any Camino; a 1,600-year-old magical pilgrimage that follows the footsteps of St. John the Baptist from Mount Nebo to Bethany Beyond the Jordan, which is ‘twinned’ with the famous Camino de Santiago but less traveled.