2021 Independent Publisher (IPPY) Book Awards, Silver Medal Winner (Travel) - 2022 Catholic Media Association (CMA), Second Place (Backlist Beauty) The Camino de Santiago is both quest and pilgrimage, goal and process. It is not a journey for the faint of heart or the soft of foot. People embark on the five-hundred mile, thirty-one day trek from the Pyrenees Mountains in France to the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Spain for all sorts of reasons--religious, spiritual, physical, and personal. For author Kenneth R. Strange Jr. and his wife, Aurora, walking the Camino is about adventure and a lifelong love of Spain, both of which shine through in the Award-winning It's Your Camino. "Reliving their journey in It's Your Camino is an inspiration, a joy and a must read!" --Martin Sheen, actor in the movie "The Way" "Walking the Camino is one of the highlights of my life. Ken Strange's book "It's Your Camino" captures the lived experience, but the title of his book captures the essence of the experience. I loved this book from beginning to end." --Bishop Edward Clark "I read this book in one day, something I rarely do. Thanks to the author I can now imagine what it's like to bunk in a roomful of exhausted, snoring travelers, how sore knees can feel after a brutal uphill climb, the joy of finally reaching a long-held goal. 5 thumbs up, way up, for It's Your Camino!" --Sue McGinty Mysteries "This book is a reminder that our earthly life is not about the destination but the journey along the way. Ken Strange's Camino pilgrimage illustrates this with honor and heart. Inspiring and life affirming!" --Irene B. Book Shares Highs and Lows Experienced Along Camino de Santiago THE SOUTHERN CROSS * NOVEMBER 2019 Reviewed by Father Charles Fuld If you are thinking of going on a month-long retreat sometime in the coming year, here is an idea to consider: Hike the 500-mile Camino de Santiago, a pilgrimage route also known as the Way of St. James that leads to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, Spain. But beware! As California couple Kenneth and Aurora Strange, two of the 5,000 pilgrims who walked the Camino last year, warn: "It is not a journey for the faint of heart or the soft of foot." You get a sense of this experience through Kenneth Strange's new book, It's Your Camino: One Couple's 500-Mile Pilgrimage Across Spain. This is no tourist booklet, filled with dry facts and schedules. Rather, it's a detailed travelogue, recounting the couple's 31-day walk -- day-by-day, mile- for-mile -- from the town of Saint-Jean- Pied-de-Port in the Pyrenees mountains between France and Spain, through Spain's Basque country, to the city of Santiago de Compostela in the northwest corner of Spain. It includes stops at churches, cathedrals, shops, restaurants and sleepover spots, a survey of the countryside and encounters with many fellow pilgrims. It showcases the highs and lows, the joys and frustrations that they encountered along the Way. Pilgrims have been walking the Camino de Santiago for more than 1,000 years. Its destination is the burial place of St. James the Greater, one of the Apostles. As Strange's book reveals, the pilgrimage route attracts all kinds of people, different but very much alike in their goal. Strange recalls encountering a blind couple hiking the trail, both young and old couples, and pilgrims who got lost or injured along the way and decided to take a bus or a taxi for the remainder of the journey. Some do the trek one segment at a time over a span of three to five years. That's where Strange gets the title of his book, It's Your Camino. How you do the trail is your choice. And the manner in which it will impact your life is just as unique. As pilgrims, the Stranges' priorities changed. Their focus was on the Navarran landscape, the medieval villages through which they passed, the churches or inns where they sought shelter, and all their fellow travelers. Every day was a challenge and an inspiration. How you do the trail is your choice. And the manner in which it will impact your life is just as unique. Chris Kellerman, of Resurrection Parish in Escondido, who recently made the trip with her daughter Lauren, agrees. She says that she will always remember each day, each step and all the faith-filled people she encountered along the way -- and hopes to return someday. It's Your Camino is available at Amazon.com. The price is $6.99 for the Kindle version and $14.95 for the paperback. Visit the author's website at kennethstrange.com. The Southern Cross Father Charles L. Fuld is managing editor of The Southern Cross. Kenneth R. Strange Jr. (1955- ) was born in Brooklyn, New York. He spent a Junior Year abroad in Spain studying at the University of Madrid, Facultad de Letras y Filosofia. Ken later taught high school Spanish and English as a Second Language in New York and the Middle East.   Following in the law enforcement career shoes of his father, a high ranking officer of the NYPD, Ken serve