March 19, 2026

Interview with Edie Littlefield Sundby, The Mission Walker

Edie Littlefield Sundby‘s story is nothing short of remarkable. Her memoir, The Mission Walker, gives a first-person account of her life-changing walk along the full Camino Real de las Californias—from Loreto, Baja California, to Sonoma, California—while living with stage-four cancer.

After being denied treatment and later finding aggressive care at Stanford, she lived through extensive surgeries and chemotherapy, before finding walking as a way to purge toxicity and rebuild her body and spirit. 

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Edie for the California Frontier Show. For me, it was hit close to home, as cancer has been very present the lives of friends and family members. But Edie’s story is incredibly hope-filled and courageous.

In part 1 of the interview, described walking from San Diego to Sonoma in 55 days by following the El Camino Real mission bells, a hiker’s guide and the hospitality of Franciscan missions.

In part 2, she goes into sometimes harrowing detail about extending the pilgrimage into Baja California’s remote Jesuit trail with mules and vaqueros amid scarce water, ruins, ranchos, and occasional narco danger near the border. 

For Edie, walking the mission trail has been a pathway to healing, faith, and connection with history, empathy, and trust. It is also a reminder of the deep connection between the two Californias, one that we on the northern side need to appreciate more. I got so much from this conversation, and I hope you will, too.

You can watch the full interview here. 

You can listen here.