Questions I have been asking

As I mentioned in the very first post, apart from living my own pilgrimage during the realisation of the project, I have been also investigating what does a pilgrimage mean for other people. Given the varied situations in which I could find myself during the expedition, it resulted impossible to follow a structured and organised pattern in terms of the questions I was asking. Because of this, I have decided to adopt a different approach. During the research process conversations, observations and reflections on what I had heard or experienced each day were guided by a set of questions presented below. In this way, it is believed, the coherence and academic quality of the findings of the project could have both been ensured. At the same time, every effort has been made not to unduly distort the research by the assumptions made beforehand, something considered an equally vital task. Also, the possibility of the additional issues to be considered has been taken into account. Overall, the question about the meaning of a pilgrimage in the 21st century has been tackled in this way.

Questions guiding the investigation:

• Why do you make a pilgrimage / hiking trip?

• Why this particular type of a pilgrimage / hiking trip?

• How did you come up with the idea of making a pilgrimage / hiking trip?

• In what situation did you decide to do a pilgrimage / hiking trip you are doing now?

• Do you have any expectations regarding your pilgrimage / hiking trip?

• If yes, what are the expectations? If no, why you do not have any expectations?

• For who, if anyone, are you doing a pilgrimage / hiking trip?

• What unites different types of pilgrimages / hiking trips?

• What differentiates different types of pilgrimages / hiking trips?

• How similar are different types of pilgrimages / hiking trips?

• How different are different types of pilgrimages / hiking trips?

• What have you experienced so far?

• Does it differ from what you have been expecting before the pilgrimage / hiking trip?

• Are the expectations of different people somehow connected with the types of pilgrimages?

PS. A short video / trailer presenting the results of the academic part of the project will be posted soon. ;)