What happens when you stop moving at the speed of the world and begin walking at the speed of your soul?
In this episode of Live Your Jam, Ellen McGinnis sits down with Adam Peacocke, co-founder and guide of the Camino de Sonoma, a 75-mile pilgrimage stretching from Mission San Francisco Solano in Sonoma to the Russian Orthodox Chapel at Fort Ross.
Inspired by Spain’s Camino de Santiago, the Camino de Sonoma leads pilgrims across six stages of vineyards, redwood forests, fire-recovery landscapes, historic communities, and coastal headlands. But this is more than a beautiful hike. It is an intentional path where people can slow down, process grief, seek direction, reconnect with themselves, and experience the healing power of walking in community.
Adam shares how a period of personal transition, an unexpected trip to New Zealand, and a remarkable encounter with a street called Peacock Way planted the seed for the Camino. He also explains why the route was created as a volunteer-led, donation-based pilgrimage open to people of every faith and no faith.
Whether you are carrying a question, navigating a transition, mourning a loss, or simply longing to feel present again, the Camino de Sonoma offers a reminder: sometimes the path back to yourself begins by placing one foot in front of the other.
You will learn:
- What the Camino de Sonoma pilgrimage is and where the route leads
- How the Camino was inspired by Adam’s personal transition and journey to New Zealand
- The difference between an ordinary hike and an intentional pilgrimage
- Why walking at three miles per hour changes what you notice
- How distance and duration create space for reflection
- Why people walk pilgrimages while processing grief, questions, and life transitions
- How walking in nature can quiet the thinking mind and awaken the senses
- Why the Camino de Sonoma is open to people of all faiths and no faith
- How the route acknowledges the Indigenous history of Sonoma County
- Why the Camino was intentionally built as a volunteer-led organization
- How pilgrims can offer healing and connection even when they arrive feeling broken
- Why community can carry us when our own emotional or physical energy feels low
- What “deferred maintenance” can reveal about our relationships, health, and personal growth
- What first-time Camino walkers should bring and expect
- Why a familiar place can look entirely different when explored on foot
👉 Watch the full conversation and subscribe for more stories about intuition, purpose, and living your jam.
We talk about:
00:00 Welcome to Live Your Jam
00:53 What is the 75-mile Camino de Sonoma?
03:00 From pastor to community organizer
06:43 How a journey to New Zealand inspired the Camino
10:09 Building the pilgrimage with Tony McCormick
11:36 The difference between hiking and pilgrimage
13:00 Walking with intention at three miles per hour
16:16 How walking changes the way we process life
18:00 Why the Camino is volunteer-led and free to walk
21:04 Six stages across Sonoma County
22:00 Ellen’s lesson in gratitude on the Camino
24:39 How pilgrimage creates space for grief and healing
27:12 The encounter that left a stranger skipping
32:29 Walking with history, meaning, and reverence
37:31 What “deferred maintenance” reveals about our lives
39:29 How to prepare for your first Camino stage
43:26 Seeing your own community with new eyes
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