I’m raising support to help bring My Canadian Camino into the world — a memoir about walking, survival, reinvention, and the pathways and history of Edmonton.

After years of loss, escalating student debt, hidden homelessness, and feeling trapped in what her professor calls a “first story,” Robyn reached a breaking point. “Nothing I was doing was working, and nothing in my life was changing.” So she made a radical choice: she would stop trying to force her old life to work and instead transform herself, one step at a time.

What followed was an 800-kilometre journey through Edmonton’s vast river valley and trail system over more than 40 days — a made-in-Canada pilgrimage inspired by the Camino de Santiago, but rooted right here in one of North America’s most expansive urban pathway networks. Edmonton became the setting, the witness, and in many ways the co-author of this story.

The emotional heart of the book is fierce and simple. “I would walk until I was no longer me,” she writes. “I would walk until this current version of Robyn no longer existed.... I would walk and write myself into a new story.”

This is not just a memoir about hardship. It is a book about what happens when a woman refuses to disappear. It is about starting over at midlife, about writing and walking as acts of survival, and about the overlooked beauty and power of Edmonton’s landscape to hold history, struggle, and transformation all at once.

"They are my second story."

Why This Matters Now

Your contribution helps move this manuscript toward publication—through editing, design, formatting, printing, and launch—so it can reach the readers it’s meant for.

The goal of this Gofundme campaign is to fund the final stages of the process, along with a first run of 500 books to place in local shops across Edmonton. There’s something powerful about a story rooted in a place finding its way back into that same community.

This isn’t just about publishing a book. It’s about sharing a journey—one that invites others to slow down, reflect, and reconnect—with themselves, and with the land around them.

How your support helps:

$20 – The First Step

Every journey begins somewhere. Your support helps bring the manuscript into its final form—ready for the world.

$35 – The Refining Step

Like pausing along the trail to take it all in, this supports an hour of professional editing—shaping the words into something clear and meaningful.

$50 – The Footprints Forward

Your contribution helps print the first copies of the book—turning steps into something tangible that can be shared and held.

$100 – The Steady Path

A deeper level of support that helps carry the project forward—covering editing, preparation, and the first printed copies of the journey.

$250 – The Milestone Marker

Every long walk has moments that mark how far you’ve come. This tier helps bring a larger portion of the book into print—moving the vision closer to reality.

$400 – The Edmonton Legacy Circle

This story begins in Edmonton’s river valley—and your support helps carry it beyond. By contributing at this level, you become part of the foundation that brings this local journey into the wider world.

Includes recognition as a key supporter of the book.

We are also excited to share that this journey through Edmonton's trails network won’t stop here!

Robyn has plans to walk another 900 kilometres over the summer of 2026, this time as a thru-hike rather than a section-hike, including the Iron Horse Trail.

We hope some of you might take a day or more to join her on her next pilgrimage, starting June/July 2026.

You can find information about Robyn’s ongoing Edmonton pilgrimage project here: Robyn's Website

Thank You for your support.

Carrie & Robyn