American actor, Andrew McCarthy found that the recent 500-mile ride to Spain with his 19-year-old son strengthened the bond between them and helped him better understand who he is as a parent.

In his memoirs “Walking with Sam: A Father, a Son, and Five Hundred Miles Across Spain” the actor describes the journey on the Camino de Santiago (Way of James), which starts in the Pyrenees on the border of France and Spain and ends in Santiago de Compostela, in the northwestern part of Spain, in Galicia, and their candid conversations.

“Divorce, trauma at school, McCarthy’s rocky relationship with his father, fame took center stage and threatened to either derail their relationship or solidify it”, the summary states.

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The structure of the book follows the course of the Camino de Santiago with one chapter per day during the approximately five weeks of the journey. Along with the tour guide’s history lessons, it also creates a gradual sense of community and camaraderie among the other walkers they meet and paints a clear picture of McCarthy as someone who is too in touch with his emotions, says a New York Times review.

Andrew and Sam McCarthy learned to listen to each other more and found that less time on the phone actually led to more communication.

The actor with his son

Writing the book took “about a year” and was worth every step, the author explained in statements to US Weekly. “You kind of live your life first and make it up afterwards. That’s kind of what I did with the book“, he said.

“I think one of the most pleasant surprises was that there was a lot of enjoyment in the journey. There were constant fights, sure. But there was much enjoyment and laughter, which is… a relief to discover».

The book, a combination of travel memoirs and biography, was released by Grand Central Publishing.