About Camino Now

Our Story

One evening in 2022, we sat at Bar Elvis, toasting the passing of one of our own. We talked about many things, shed a tear, but mostly laughed. In these moments, heavy with rock music, beer, and sadness, the discussion turned to the Camino itself. "Don't exploit the Camino, give back as you take, be kind and considerate, walk your way, but always with an eye on making others' ways better."

We wanted to cast those values into an app. An app written by the community, for the community. By pilgrims and hospitaler@s, for pilgrims and hospitaler@s. An app that would be free, non-commercial, and open source. An app that gave back to the community by syncing with OpenStreetMap, the source most Camino apps use to "seed" their lists. An app that helped pilgrims survey and share fountain data. An app, in short, we'd be happy to use ourselves.

Built by Volunteers

Our team consists entirely of volunteers - developers, designers, and Camino enthusiasts who believe in giving back to the pilgrim community. We work on Camino Now because we love the Camino, not because we're trying to monetize it. We work with hospitaler@s, in person, to ensure that the app meets the needs of the community and is always up to date.

Open Source Philosophy

While our code isn't fully open source yet (we're working on it!), our philosophy is. We believe in transparency, community contribution, and building in the open. Every decision we make is guided by what's best for pilgrims, not profits, and in the hands of that very community we serve. It's not about download counts or dominance in the affiliate booking market. It's just about creating an authentic, useful tool that pilgrims can rely on and that serves, not hurts, the Caminos.

Want to Help?

We're always looking for volunteers - developers, translators, content creators, or just enthusiastic pilgrims who want to help make Camino Now better.