Nadia Osman

How I Got Here

I walked the Camino Françés in August 2009 with a backpack that was too heavy and boots I had not broken in. The first three days were blister after blister. By day 4 I had thrown away half my gear at a hostel in Pamplona. A Dutch pilgrim watched me stuff three shirts and a book into the donation bin and said "everyone does that." He was right.

I finished the Camino in 31 days and knew I had found my work. Not the walking itself — although I still walk - but the infrastructure around pilgrimage: the routes, the accommodations, the rituals, the people who show up at 4 AM to touch a wall or bathe in a river or sit under a tree because someone important sat there 2,500 years ago. I wanted to understand all of it.

I went back to university and did an MA in Comparative Religion at SOAS in London. The degree gave me the vocabulary. The years of walking gave me the instincts.

Three Things I Got Wrong

1. The Midday Western Wall (Jerusalem, March 2018)

I arrived at the Western Wall at noon on a Tuesday in March because that was when my tour group was going. The plaza was packed. The women's section was three rows deep. I could barely reach the wall, let alone spend any time there.

I came back the next morning at 4 AM on my own. The plaza was empty except for an old man wrapped in a tallit, rocking back and forth. The limestone was cold under my fingers. Paper prayers stuffed into every crack. The stars were still out. I am not Jewish, but I understood why this place matters.

The lesson: sacred sites have hours. The experience at 4 AM and the experience at noon are two different things. Every guide on this site lists the quiet hours for each destination.

2. The Wrong Month for Varanasi (May 2015)

I booked a trip to Varanasi in May because that was when I had time. The temperature hit 44°C every afternoon. The ghats were too hot to walk on barefoot. The boatmen doubled their prices because they knew tourists would pay anything to get on the water where there was a breeze. I lasted three days and spent most of them in my guesthouse room with the AC on full.

I went back the following December. Nighttime temperatures dropped to 8°C but the days were perfect — 22°C, clear skies, the Ganga Aarti at 5:30 PM with mist rising off the river. I have never gone to Varanasi in summer again.

The lesson: pilgrimage destinations have seasons. Booking the wrong month turns a spiritual experience into an endurance test.

3. The Vatican on a Free Sunday (Rome, February 2020)

The Vatican Museums are free on the last Sunday of every month. I thought this was a great deal. I arrived at 8:30 AM and the queue stretched around the walls of Vatican City — two hours to get in. The Sistine Chapel was shoulder-to-shoulder. The guard had given up on "no photos" and was just trying to keep people moving.

The following Tuesday I booked the 7:15 AM earliest entry ticket. Twenty people in the chapel. The guard whispered "no photos" — but nobody was trying. Everyone was too stunned to raise a phone. The ceiling is higher than you imagine.

The lesson: free entry at major pilgrimage sites means maximum crowds. Pay for the earliest entry slot. The experience is incomparable.

How I Work

I visit destinations as a regular traveler. I book tours through Viator under my own name. I do not accept press trips or comped tours. The experience of a guide who knows they are being evaluated is different from the experience you will get.

For each destination, I evaluate: the logistics (how do you get there?), the practical details (what time of day should you go? what should you wear? what will it cost?), and the intangible elements (what does it feel like to be there? what surprised me? what would I do differently?).

Faith Pilgrimage earns a commission when you book tours through our Viator links — at no extra cost to you. This is how the site stays running and how I can afford to keep traveling. I recommend tours based on quality, not commission rates.

Contact: nadia@faithpilgrimage.com. I read every message. I reply from wherever I am — sometimes that takes a few days if I am somewhere without cell service.