A Maverick Pilgrim Way: Plan your European Trek / Mary Jane Walker

A Maverick Pilgrim Way is more than a travel guide. It’s a self-help guide to hiking, to overcome grief.

In her Maverick fashion, Mary Jane walked for years after her mother died. She trekked along the winding ancient roads of Old-World pilgrims, including parts of the Camino de Santiago or St James's Way, the West Highland Way, and climbed Mt Blanc, to name a few. Along the way she came to St Petersburg with its golden palaces, which is her favourite city in Europe.

Pilgrim ways aren’t just for the religious. People of all ages and walks of life come to hike them. She stayed with Russian Jews in Barcelona, so learnt no Spanish. She stayed on a commune just outside of San Sebastian run by a religious group called the Twelve Tribes of Israel, who tried to convert her. She loved Basque food and stayed in an Airbnb where the guy grew marijuana in his lounge.

She was amazed by the vineyards and weird hollow mountains of Cappadocia. In Russia, she got invited to a Pussy Riot punk rock party in St Petersburg and was followed around by internal security spies.

With 581 photos, maps and other images. 

BY THE AUTHOR OF A MAVERICK NEW ZEALAND WAY, FINALIST IN THE TRAVEL CATEGORY, INTERNATIONAL BOOK AWARDS, 2018.