A pilgrims plea

[Manita Vet]

My name is Manita and I live in Holland. I first heard about the Camino about a year a go. I understood it is a pilgrim's route and thought it took 6 months to complete. I felt an instand attraction to it and that it was ment for me to do. This feeling grew stronger with each piece of information that I found about the Camino.

I've always been some sort of a wonderer throughout my life. Searching for things I don't know, restless for unknown reasons. I'm spiritual but at the same time really down to earth. I see things as they are and try to keep life simple and my vision clear. That is why it surprised me that I had such strong feelings about this pilgrims route. At first I thought I wanted to do it in search of myself, to get to know myself better, for the beautiful landscapes or the sheer physical challenge. I can honestly say that I was dissapointed when I found out that it 'only' took 30 to 40 days average to walk the Camino. I looked forward to a half year of soul searching and seeing the world. But I also realised that it made the goal on it self more easy to realise and on a shorter term. Besides... if I like it I can always walk it again from another country or walk a different pilgrim route!

I'm now 1 month in serious preperation for the Camino. Meaning getting information, readings books and watching documentary's and movies about it. I bought my first real hikingshoes and have taken my first walks. I'm lucky enough that I can do this in a (holiday) country with similar landscapes as on the Camino. And here comes the reason why I'm writing this all: from the first steps I took in the 'Camino' spirit with my shoes, supplies and mindset I felt utterly happy and fullfilled. As if this is my calling. It's such a strong feeling that it (often) makes me cry from longing and happiness. This is what I am supposed to do.
And as the down to earth person that I am I wondered where this feeling is coming from. Am I making myself feel this way because I want a purpose, way out or adventure? Am I making myself 'crazy' by reading and watching so much about it?

But then this strange things began to happen. I started coming a cross 'signs', and quite a lot of them. When I told my stepmother about my Camino plans she remembered me that my father, who died 5 hears a go, used to hike as well, always alone and for hours at an end. On my walk the next day I saw sunflowers everywhere on my route, wich were my fathers favourite flowers and aren't custom in the region at all. I walked on a beautiful mountain and hold still to enjoy the scenery for a moment when all of a sudden I saw an unmistakable cross in the muddy road, filled with water and looking a lot like the Santiago cross symbol. I photographed it becaus I just couldn't believe it. When I got home my stepmother told me my father had a walkingstick which he himself got in a monastery in Slovenia which used to be a pilgrim sight as well. I couldn't believe what I was hearing and she showed it to me. It is beautiful and just feels perfect in my hands. She said I can take it with me on the Camino after I get my graduation (which is my personal goal and promise to myself). The next day I was at a swimmingpool in a totally different region in Slovenia when I saw 2 stickers on a lantern down an ordinary street: one with a yellow arrow and above that a yellow Jakobs shell with a bike in it. Again I was staggerd about this 'coincidence' and I took a picture just to be sure I wasn't hallucinating or something. At home I searched the internet for the origin and meaning of this symbol in the region but coulnd't find anything. Even the local touristguide had never seen it before. It's obviously put on there by someone, but why there? and why should I, at this moment, come a cross it?

I try to stay realistic and keep things simple but the signs are just too damn strange and obvious. The feeling that I need to do the Camino is turning into the feeling of a true calling and is getting so strong that I often need to cry when I think, see or read about it.......... Is this what some people experience when they say they are being 'called' to do something? Dare I even think that that is what is happening to me? And if so, should and CAN I wait a whole year in which my life will be very unsure (financial and stress wise) before, uhum, "answering" to this "calling"? Or are these signs finding me now to let me know that this is the path I should take and that this is the time for it?

All these happenings, feelings and questions made my head spinn and I needed to write them down. I want to share them with other (Camino) pilgrims and hope to get some, any, reactions on my story. Maybe somebody recognises him/herself in it and wants to share the experience with me?

 

[wayfarer]

It's your time, follow the signs.
Buen Camino.

 

[pilgrim b]

Each persons experience is a different one Manita and I think everyone is called to the camino for different reasons because of this ,this is your camino.
You have to think what work you need to achieve and as the down to earth person you are fit YOUR camino in where ever you possibly can.
Beun camino pilgrim friend.

 

[LesBrass]

Manita - I'm not walking for any specific religious calling and I like to think that I'm a down to earth kind of person.

Last year we took a camping/driving holiday in Northern Spain... we had no particular route but somewhere after Pamploma we kept following the Camino Frances. I had no idea that pilgrims carried shells... my husband explained it all to me. The more we drove westwards, the more I felt I wanted to walk. By the time we reached Fisterra my mind was made up... we stopped on a deserted sandy beach... I sat down and put my hand on something... when I looked it was a perfect scallop shell. There were no other shells around... just my shell in a sea of soft sand.

I still have the shell of course - my husband is looking after it for me... I've told him he can give it back to me when he collects me from Santiago

I can't explain why I am going to walk. I'm not particulary fit, I've never done anything like this before... most of my friends think I'm a little crazy... I think I'm a little crazy... and yet still I want to walk.

It's your time, follow the signs.
Buen Camino.

If I had read this 2 years ago I'm afraid I may have tutted (or rolled my eyes)... but now it makes perfect sense to me - it really is the only explanation

 

[Manita Vet]

Thank you for your reactions. It means a lot to me. It's a great relieve to read that I'm not alone in my new found pilgrim spirit and that I'm not, entirely, crazy ;-)

I can think a little clearer now and are going to trust on my instinct and feeling to know when I should start my Camino. Time will tell.

Thanks again and Buen Camino to all!

 

[xin loi]

Met a lot of people from Holland walking the Camino in May & June. Most said they had troubles with the hills since it was flat back home--but they all finished! It is a long walk, not a difficult walk. Take your time and take care of your feet.

 

[William Garza]

"I'm now 1 month in serious preperation for the Camino. Meaning getting information, readings books and watching documentary's and movies about it. I bought my first real hikingshoes and have taken my first walks. I'm lucky enough that I can do this in a (holiday) country with similar landscapes as on the Camino. And here comes the reason why I'm writing this all: from the first steps I took in the 'Camino' spirit with my shoes, supplies and mindset I felt utterly happy and fullfilled. As if this is my calling. It's such a strong feeling that it (often) makes me cry from longing and happiness. This is what I am supposed to do."

I have read here in these very forums, that the Camino starts at your front door..It seems that the Camino has already started and it is a right and good thing to do.
In my personal view and I mean to offend no one with this...
Sometimes things, people, and ideas are placed before us in a timely manner, to reinforce the idea of purpose.

Follow your heart on this, if the calling isn't answered, sometimes the call fades away to a distant bitter spark.
I had heard of the Camino-s in passing through the years, yet of a moment to the next the Longing intensified to a will to do so.

You will know the exact time, and place will tell you that its time to go. one moment to the next you will be absolutely sure of the purity of purpose and off your feet will take you , to follow your hearts desire.
the Road has already started for me, in walking training and gathering supplies slowly, my road will take me in two years, that will let me harden my body up to the point where the stress wont devastate an already worn out spine.
but make no mistake, the call is sure, steady and strong, even as the realities of time and distance, of the stress and strain,,, travel will surely take a vicious toll on me..but I don't fear the future, I will finish the trail put out before me in its proper and ordained time.

I hope the Road to Santiago fills the places that are parched... to the brim, I hope that you're heart continues to overflow with Joy at the thought of this and that all your travels bring you rest.
Peace

 

[Kathleen de Montreal]

Manita, I completely understand your experience.
I can’t remember when I first heard about the Camino, but it was probably either when I was in France in 2007-2008. The summer of 2009, which I spent in Germany, Hape Kerkeling’s book was all over the bookshops (where I escaped the stress of communicating in German all the time by leafing through English-language novels, and buying too many of them). The friend I was staying with talked about the Jakobsweg, a dream of hers, and I thought to myself “Walking across Spain? That sounds awful!”

At Christmas 2012, after the first semester of my master’s degree, the idea came to me…as though out of nowhere…I could walk the Camino once I was finished my degree. I spent the next couple of days trawling these very forums, learning as much as I could. When I returned to Montreal after the holidays, I found that a half-hour walk from my apartment there was a little store dedicated to the Camino de Santiago. This was the first sign.

This past spring, with my master’s degree going slower than expected and a bit of confusion over what to do next, I took job and school rejections with an uncharacteristic calmness. I realized that, if I worked all summer, I could go to Spain in September. Yet making concrete plans seemed…selfish. Foolhardy. On a walk one afternoon, soon after talking to a fellow history student who had walked to Santiago a year before, I saw another sign. In this city where most public signage is in French, I was walking on Sherbrooke past an English-language United Church. That coming Sunday’s sermon was to be called “The Way is Made by Walking”. As English is my first language, this seemed an unavoidable “voice” calling to me.

I talked to more people about my plans, took a trip to Burlington, VT to buy cheaper gear, and bought tickets from Montreal to London, where, I reasoned, I could spend a few days with a dear friend getting over jet lag as part of the final preparation for my trek. Yet even though everything was coming together, I still worried over my decision. I’m not going to be able to finish my thesis, and therefore my master's, before I leave (though I want to turn in a good draft so my supervisor can look it over while I’m away). My dad knew about my Camino plans but somehow thought that I was taking a tour bus along the route, rather than walking it. I could stay here and fill in for someone at my office, earning more money… The doubts grew. I’m not in good enough shape, physical or financial, to do this NOW, I told myself. Yet - the desire to do this, to challenge myself in this way, is a stronger force than just about anything else in my life right now.

I’m dog-sitting this week in a different neighbourhood from my own. Walking to work last Monday along a path that I don’t usually take, I found a little community garden and compost centre. The name of this public garden, as posted at the entrance, is “Villa Compostela”.

I booked my tickets from London to SJPDP the next day. In 47 days, I will be on the Camino! Now is the time for me to STOP saying “if all goes according to plan”. This is my plan, and I’m going to make it happen.

 

[Kiwi-family]

Maybe.....you have time to prepare, signs don't have to mean you must drop everything now.
Maybe....you might spend the time looking at options which incorporate the Camino de Santiago but will take six months to compleye(European long distance trails would be one place to start)
Just an idea

 

[Manita Vet]

Thank you all for these inspirational stories and thoughts!

I've come to realise that, indeed, my Camino has allready started It started in my mind a few months back and by stop saying "maybe I will" of "if all goes to plan" like Kathleen and activily started with my preperations I AM making this happening. And therefore I am allready on my journey!
This makes me feel very, very happy and even content with my current situation. I feel calm again and confident that I (and even something like destiny maybe?) will bring this to a good end, either way.

As for now I have my mind set on graduating first and really making this happen as well. But I also know that when I will not succeed or if this gets so difficult that it will make me unhappy, I will drop it an still go on my Camino. I know now that it IS my calling (and I m not afraid to say it anymore) and that this doesn't depend on wether or not I have a piece of paper of some school.

Thanks again and maybe, when the time is there, I will meet some of you on the Camino or on this forum to help with the preperations. As for now this will be either in September 2015 or May 2016. (That sound so far away...! But I will try to make peace with it hahahaha)

Buen Camino ánd journey to all you pilgrims!

 

[Manita Vet]

”.I booked my tickets from London to SJPDP the next day. In 47 days, I will be on the Camino! Now is the time for me to STOP saying “if all goes according to plan”. This is my plan, and I’m going to make it happen.

Kathleen, I really admire your decision. I think you can, already, be proud on yourself. You saw the signs and dare to follow them. To me, that means that this is your time.

Fun facts are hat I am reading Hape Kerkeling's book right now and that my own signs continue to show up. Everytime I come a cross one now I start smiling real big and see them as a confirmation that I am indeed on my journey and that it is going the right way!
We will both make it, I am sure of it ;-)

I wish you a very good Camino and hope to hear from you again. If you like, we can exchange emailadresses or something so we can keep track of each others journey.

Buen Camino my friend!

 

[jpflavin1]

My name is Manita and I live in Holland. I first heard about the Camino about a year a go. I understood it is a pilgrim's route and thought it took 6 months to complete. I felt an instand attraction to it and that it was ment for me to do. This feeling grew stronger with each piece of information that I found about the Camino.

I've always been some sort of a wonderer throughout my life. Searching for things I don't know, restless for unknown reasons. I'm spiritual but at the same time really down to earth. I see things as they are and try to keep life simple and my vision clear. That is why it surprised me that I had such strong feelings about this pilgrims route. At first I thought I wanted to do it in search of myself, to get to know myself better, for the beautiful landscapes or the sheer physical challenge. I can honestly say that I was dissapointed when I found out that it 'only' took 30 to 40 days average to walk the Camino. I looked forward to a half year of soul searching and seeing the world. But I also realised that it made the goal on it self more easy to realise and on a shorter term. Besides... if I like it I can always walk it again from another country or walk a different pilgrim route!

I'm now 1 month in serious preperation for the Camino. Meaning getting information, readings books and watching documentary's and movies about it. I bought my first real hikingshoes and have taken my first walks. I'm lucky enough that I can do this in a (holiday) country with similar landscapes as on the Camino. And here comes the reason why I'm writing this all: from the first steps I took in the 'Camino' spirit with my shoes, supplies and mindset I felt utterly happy and fullfilled. As if this is my calling. It's such a strong feeling that it (often) makes me cry from longing and happiness. This is what I am supposed to do.
And as the down to earth person that I am I wondered where this feeling is coming from. Am I making myself feel this way because I want a purpose, way out or adventure? Am I making myself 'crazy' by reading and watching so much about it?

But then this strange things began to happen. I started coming a cross 'signs', and quite a lot of them. When I told my stepmother about my Camino plans she remembered me that my father, who died 5 hears a go, used to hike as well, always alone and for hours at an end. On my walk the next day I saw sunflowers everywhere on my route, wich were my fathers favourite flowers and aren't custom in the region at all. I walked on a beautiful mountain and hold still to enjoy the scenery for a moment when all of a sudden I saw an unmistakable cross in the muddy road, filled with water and looking a lot like the Santiago cross symbol. I photographed it becaus I just couldn't believe it. When I got home my stepmother told me my father had a walkingstick which he himself got in a monastery in Slovenia which used to be a pilgrim sight as well. I couldn't believe what I was hearing and she showed it to me. It is beautiful and just feels perfect in my hands. She said I can take it with me on the Camino after I get my graduation (which is my personal goal and promise to myself). The next day I was at a swimmingpool in a totally different region in Slovenia when I saw 2 stickers on a lantern down an ordinary street: one with a yellow arrow and above that a yellow Jakobs shell with a bike in it. Again I was staggerd about this 'coincidence' and I took a picture just to be sure I wasn't hallucinating or something. At home I searched the internet for the origin and meaning of this symbol in the region but coulnd't find anything. Even the local touristguide had never seen it before. It's obviously put on there by someone, but why there? and why should I, at this moment, come a cross it?

I try to stay realistic and keep things simple but the signs are just too damn strange and obvious. The feeling that I need to do the Camino is turning into the feeling of a true calling and is getting so strong that I often need to cry when I think, see or read about it.......... Is this what some people experience when they say they are being 'called' to do something? Dare I even think that that is what is happening to me? And if so, should and CAN I wait a whole year in which my life will be very unsure (financial and stress wise) before, uhum, "answering" to this "calling"? Or are these signs finding me now to let me know that this is the path I should take and that this is the time for it?

All these happenings, feelings and questions made my head spinn and I needed to write them down. I want to share them with other (Camino) pilgrims and hope to get some, any, reactions on my story. Maybe somebody recognises him/herself in it and wants to share the experience with me?

Manita Vet:

Choosing to walk the Camino is a personal decision. While others and I can tell our stories as to why we walked, you must make this decision based on your motivations and other factors.

An new interest and knowledge of something unknown can trigger an awareness of related signs, previously ignored, because they had no relationship base. Sometimes verbalizing or writing out ones thoughts can help them reach a decision. You have done so on an open forum seeking guidance. While we can express our stories and views this decision ultimately is yours.I think your answer lies in your inquiry.

I once read a quote "There are many things in life that will catch your eye but few that catch your heart, pursue those" (unknown at least to me). I think that this is a great life philosophy but sometimes it must be tempered with other life factors.

Whatever decision you make will be the right one for you.

Ultreya,
Joe

 

[jpflavin1]

Manita, I completely understand your experience.
I can’t remember when I first heard about the Camino, but it was probably either when I was in France in 2007-2008. The summer of 2009, which I spent in Germany, Hape Kerkeling’s book was all over the bookshops (where I escaped the stress of communicating in German all the time by leafing through English-language novels, and buying too many of them). The friend I was staying with talked about the Jakobsweg, a dream of hers, and I thought to myself “Walking across Spain? That sounds awful!”

At Christmas 2012, after the first semester of my master’s degree, the idea came to me…as though out of nowhere…I could walk the Camino once I was finished my degree. I spent the next couple of days trawling these very forums, learning as much as I could. When I returned to Montreal after the holidays, I found that a half-hour walk from my apartment there was a little store dedicated to the Camino de Santiago. This was the first sign.

This past spring, with my master’s degree going slower than expected and a bit of confusion over what to do next, I took job and school rejections with an uncharacteristic calmness. I realized that, if I worked all summer, I could go to Spain in September. Yet making concrete plans seemed…selfish. Foolhardy. On a walk one afternoon, soon after talking to a fellow history student who had walked to Santiago a year before, I saw another sign. In this city where most public signage is in French, I was walking on Sherbrooke past an English-language United Church. That coming Sunday’s sermon was to be called “The Way is Made by Walking”. As English is my first language, this seemed an unavoidable “voice” calling to me.

I talked to more people about my plans, took a trip to Burlington, VT to buy cheaper gear, and bought tickets from Montreal to London, where, I reasoned, I could spend a few days with a dear friend getting over jet lag as part of the final preparation for my trek. Yet even though everything was coming together, I still worried over my decision. I’m not going to be able to finish my thesis, and therefore my master's, before I leave (though I want to turn in a good draft so my supervisor can look it over while I’m away). My dad knew about my Camino plans but somehow thought that I was taking a tour bus along the route, rather than walking it. I could stay here and fill in for someone at my office, earning more money… The doubts grew. I’m not in good enough shape, physical or financial, to do this NOW, I told myself. Yet - the desire to do this, to challenge myself in this way, is a stronger force than just about anything else in my life right now.

I’m dog-sitting this week in a different neighbourhood from my own. Walking to work last Monday along a path that I don’t usually take, I found a little community garden and compost centre. The name of this public garden, as posted at the entrance, is “Villa Compostela”.

I booked my tickets from London to SJPDP the next day. In 47 days, I will be on the Camino! Now is the time for me to STOP saying “if all goes according to plan”. This is my plan, and I’m going to make it happen.

Kathleen de Montreal:

Buen Camino. I am sure you have read many posts on this site. The only thing that concerns me in your post is the statement "Took a trip to Burlington Vt. to buy cheaper gear". Please make sure you have good walking shoes or boots and rain gear. As your feet go so goes your Camino. The only other advice I would offer is to Start slowly (recommend Orisson first night if starting in SJPdP). Listen to your feet and body. Pack as light as possible to your comfort level. Then just let the Camino be your guide.

Ultreya,
Joe

 

[Kathleen de Montreal]

Manita, such a pleasure to hear from you. You can direct message me for my email Enjoy your preparations...the anticipation and research will, I hope, help solidify your plans!

I hear you on the importance of good gear, Joe! Indeed, the two friends of mine who did Caminos last summer both highlighted the need for comfortable boots, very light packing and well-fitting backpacks My reference was more to the fact that sales tax is far lower (and prices are often cheaper) on the same goods south of the border - I did the calculations and what I saved on tax alone buying things in Vermont rather than Quebec more than paid for my bus ticket there and back ...and that's IF I'd been able to find these goods as cheaply here in Canada!
Unrelated: If you talk to Canadians I think you'll see that price-comparison on both sides of the border and cross-border shopping trips is a bit of a hobby - I've used my dad's place in Virginia as a "mailbox" for Canadian friends buying from American stores more than once. But for boots, packs, anything close fitting - I do believe in "trying before you buy".

 

[jpflavin1]

Manita, such a pleasure to hear from you. You can direct message me for my email Enjoy your preparations...the anticipation and research will, I hope, help solidify your plans!

I hear you on the importance of good gear, Joe! Indeed, the two friends of mine who did Caminos last summer both highlighted the need for comfortable boots, very light packing and well-fitting backpacks My reference was more to the fact that sales tax is far lower (and prices are often cheaper) on the same goods south of the border - I did the calculations and what I saved on tax alone buying things in Vermont rather than Quebec more than paid for my bus ticket there and back ...and that's IF I'd been able to find these goods as cheaply here in Canada!
Unrelated: If you talk to Canadians I think you'll see that price-comparison on both sides of the border and cross-border shopping trips is a bit of a hobby - I've used my dad's place in Virginia as a "mailbox" for Canadian friends buying from American stores more than once. But for boots, packs, anything close fitting - I do believe in "trying before you buy".

Kathleen:

Having worked and lived in Toronto for a year, I should have figured that out.

Ultreya,
Joe