by Gabriele Castagnoli and Sesto Giovanni Castagnoli

 In February 2016, we started out on a pilgrimage—one with no time limit. Beforehand, we had given away all our possessions except the contents of our two rucksacks. The wish to do so came up when we were planning our first pilgrimage from October to December 2015 from our home in Switzerland to the World Climate Conference in Paris.

 There’s no single motivation for what we’re doing. Each of us has his or her own motives, aspirations, and vision. What binds us, however, is our belief in the common sense of this new stage in our joint life journey. The name we have chosen for our website, the green pilgrims, fits the manifold topics we stand for and want to move…

 On this pilgrimage into society, walking no longer has priority. We want to meet people to swap ideas and inspire each other. In the simplest form, we do this under the title ‘green thoughts’—an exchange of one to two hours with a few or many interested people. We ask strangers in the street, in a café, or in front of their homes if we can stay with them. Some people ask their friends and network if somebody wants to host us for a while. People we hardly know will ask us if we want to live in their house for a few weeks while they are away…

For Kosmos Journal, we have asked each other some questions to reflect on our pilgrimage into society so far.

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About the Authors

Gabriele Castagnoli founded ‘oralab—develop mutually’ to pursue her passion for individual and collective development between the poles of cosmos, man, and culture. www.oralab.ch/english, www.thegreenpilgrims.ch/english

Sesto Giovanni Castagnoli is an evolutant, entrepreneur, and the founding president of the World Spirit Forum. He supports companies and organizations in developing international markets. www.evolutant.com, www.thegreenpilgrims.ch/english