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More about this trip-
Pride and Prejudice is the quintessential love story—a story about how love can improve our character and add fullness to our lives. It’s the basis of many of the modern romances we’ve come to love, and it probes themes of status, family, friendship, wit, loss, and love.
On this pilgrimage, we will focus our attention on the way love is demonstrated through the relationships across the novel, particularly those that are connected to the main characters of study, Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy. We will ask ourselves questions like: What does it mean for love to be unconditional? Is self-love necessary to find romantic love? What purpose does familial love serve as opposed to romantic love? Does love exist in a vacuum, or is it influenced by societal factors? Does true love mean accepting someone exactly as they are?
In Derbyshire, pilgrims will delve into the world and ideas of the novel while gathering at the charming boutique hotel Rutland Arms, one of the Peaks District’s most iconic hotels. There will be opportunities for pilgrims to enjoy superbly prepared cuisine and gracious hospitality.
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We expect to walk up to 8 miles per day, but most days will require less walking. The weather in England during May ranges from the low 50s to mid 70s Fahrenheit. We will walk/utilize the outdoors come rain or shine, and we recommend that pilgrims prepare for the possibility of warmer or colder temperatures than expected, and potential rain on our walks. We won’t rush our walks, but we expect to be tired at the end of each day.
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The full tuition of the trip is as follows:
Private Room $5,350
Shared Room $4,950 (tuition per person)
Shared Rooming: If you wish to share a room with another person, you will each purchase your own shared room item. This enables us to functionally receive one registration form per participant. Please do not purchase a private room if you prefer to share a room with another participant.
Meeting Up
We will meet in Chesterfield after lunch on May 24th and end programming before lunch on May 28th. Specific meeting time and location will be offered privately to pilgrims upon payment.
Scholarships
We occasionally offer partial scholarships for pilgrimages. If you are interested, please fill out our form here.
Trip Faculty
Dana Schwartz
Faculty Leader (she/her)
Dana is the creator and host of the history podcast Noble Blood, produced by iHeartRadio, in which she tells the lesser-known stories of royals throughout history. Dana is also a frequent co-host on the Crooked Media podcast, Hysteria, and the host of the iHeartRadio podcasts Haileywood and Stealing Superman. Dana is the author of five books, including the #1 New York Times and #1 Indie bestseller Anatomy: A Love Story and its sequel, Immortality: A Love Story. Her latest novel, The Arcane Arts, co-written as S.D. Coverly, released in May 2026. Her books have been published in over 20 countries and translated into more than a dozen languages. She lives in Los Angeles with her family.
Dana will serve as lead faculty for this trip.
Vanessa Zoltan
Chaplain + Logistics Coordinator (she/her)
Vanessa is the CEO of Not Sorry Productions. She hosts the podcast of Common Ground’s parent company Not Sorry, Hot & Bothered. She founded Common Ground Pilgrimages in order to travel with brilliant faculty to beautiful places and talk about books with amazing pilgrims. It was a great trick she pulled off. She is also the author of the book, Praying with Jane Eyre. Vanessa was trained as a non-denominational chaplain at Harvard Divinity School. She is a proud California girl who currently lives in MA with her beautiful kids and pup Rory.
Vanessa will serve as chaplain and logistics coordinator for this trip.
“You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.”
— jane austen