Iriebabel
Veteran Member
- Time of past OR future Camino
- 2022
Moderators feel free to move to the correct subforum
Hello Camino family
It is notable to say I have been absent from this forum for months now since my last Camino (Camino del Norte 30 March -15 May). I’m thinking some are asking what happened to me. All I can say is that it’s been a epic journey. Although challenging in pieces, ex: too much concrete, a few challenging steep up and down hills, and of course weather and mud, it was certainly doable and mostly enjoyable. Brilliant views, vibrant people, lovely little towns made for an amazing experience however the heel spur was much worse that originally thought and now the object has turned to surgery on my right foot in January. As maybe most of you know the cyborg turtle has other obvious physical injury issues and this heel problem is just another complication errr.... I mean challenge.
The Norte left a big impression upon me and I must say that for me as compared with the Frances it was a different and solitary Camino. I was walking slowly with less Kms per day , broken leg brace, extreme pain and I took many alternatives in search of softer ground. I walked alone sometimes and did not stay many days in albergues. At first it was a bed race of sorts and since I was walking slow and more injured than normal I decided private accommodations were best for me. I booked in advance usually 1 to 2 days using booking.com and this worked for me. I spent more time in some of the small villages and even while in pain I explored more and saw more than if I had no injury. If fact the injury forced me to slow down and smell the roses, in fact this Camino was more about enjoying the journey and not just about walking and reaching a goal. I had no desire for a Compostela and I did not seek one. I walked from Irun and did eventually reach Santiago and Muxía but I had to modify my original plan somewhere close to Gijon. I think this was the best thing I could have done. My equipment worked perfectly the wise pilgrim app, new Hoka One One Tor with inserts and taping, Sombra warm cream for pain, stopping for physiotherapy once per week, sending my backpack forward after the first week , TENS unit, leg brace (exception broken straps near Gernika) and Leki antishock poles...preparation and mitigation always helps.
I know for many, the Camino is just another box to tick off, another endurance record, another personal challenge, for some it’s spiritual or religious...but how many people stopped to throw a ball to a dog on the beach? How many of you (if time permitted) stop to see and do some of what the locals do on their weekend stroll or how they tend to their fields? No judgement here but although forced due to injury, I think outside of daily walking I may have experienced perhaps more than the average pilgrim. After all isn’t this what pilgrimage is about? Is it about Finding what is new, connecting to what’s memorable in your life, find what is missing, what is unique and special to each of our lives? Is it working thru pain and angst and still finding time to enjoy the simple things like a local bean soup or some delicious pulpo in a non tourist town. I mean really stopping to taste and inhale all that is. Did you know there are some large waterfalls not far outside Santiago and Muxía..and another beautiful lighthouse not far from Muxía ? The Bufones near Llanes? The cliffs near Cobreces.? The stone formations at low tide near Deba on the alternate route, the Pecos Europa and monastery at Santo Toribio, It was all truly breathtaking. It’s always good to walk/hike , meander or cycle-the trail but I hope you also make time for slowing life down to a crawl, without the aid of injury of course.
I think this was a tough Camino for me because I felt jaded somehow by the tourist crowds especially in Santiago and the Camino bedlam to include bed races, daily limits of walking and all the tangible things. I really got turned off , it’s almost like I suffered a loss. After Camino I spent 3 weeks in San Maurice Switzerland with what I call Camino depression. I experienced the Abbey of St Maurice named after the martyred saint Mauritius located on the via Francigena Camino. I climbed a steep mountain with locals in Mex , went to Zermatt and the Matterhorn and Mount Blanc, hiked into an ice cave on a glacier, hiked up 500 steps to a hidden chapel built on a granite hillside, hiked into a fairy cave to a huge waterfall and spend so much time reflecting on what is is to be me , why walk a Camino and why I suffer so much physical pain.
In pain and at times angered, I retreated and went back into myself. Then after I was home I retreated completely from all things Camino. In all this I realize my life is a Camino of sorts...I must learn simplicity. Like Camino, the task to simply walk eat sleep....at time life is not this simple. At its core, life can be this simple, it is we who make it complicated.
I am ending this year after having a jaw surgery recently and now I look to a new year and it begins with foot surgery. I can be sad but I am not. I am hopeful, because of what the Camino brought to me... foresight that I am truly capable even thru severe injury. I don’t feel sorry for myself I just try to learn whatever life lesson is placed before me. I am still a traveler and adventurer at heart and I will turn the music up and dance when in severe pain but I think future walks if Camino with be more about seeing , exploring and doing not racing to 30 km. I will have no further expectations beyond just doing, seeing, having an adventurous spirit and walking... if I want to stop I stop, if I want to be a tourigrino for a day or two or four so be it but I will not put limits or conditions on myself . Yes this is a conditional box of sorts but it is a conditon to have no preconceived limits.
At the moment I write this I am a tourigrino. I Started in Amsterdam now I’m in Düsseldorf GE, working my way to Cologne, Hamburg to Salzburg Austria after New Years. The hills will be alive with reggae music of the cyborg turtle. Christmas time here is not much different from time spent at home except it’s just a bit of adventure and although not perfect it is exactly where I need to be on this life’s journey
I want to thank the Camino for breathing new life into me and wish @ivar and my Camino family a happy holiday season wherever you are
I have Had some problems with my blog but I hope to fix those soon.
I may not always post here on the forum but I’m never far. My advice to all, if I am allowed to offer one, is whatever path you choose in life always remember to live your best life, I mean really LIVE and don’t sweat the small stuff because life can be more cruel in other respects. Live your life as if you will never see tomorrow, hug your family and your friends often. Live your dreams to the fullest whenever you can And always hope for an even better tomorrow., a better Camino. Too-preachy.? I hope not . I say hi to you and bye for now. Happy holidaysand Buen Camino!
Hello Camino family
It is notable to say I have been absent from this forum for months now since my last Camino (Camino del Norte 30 March -15 May). I’m thinking some are asking what happened to me. All I can say is that it’s been a epic journey. Although challenging in pieces, ex: too much concrete, a few challenging steep up and down hills, and of course weather and mud, it was certainly doable and mostly enjoyable. Brilliant views, vibrant people, lovely little towns made for an amazing experience however the heel spur was much worse that originally thought and now the object has turned to surgery on my right foot in January. As maybe most of you know the cyborg turtle has other obvious physical injury issues and this heel problem is just another complication errr.... I mean challenge.
The Norte left a big impression upon me and I must say that for me as compared with the Frances it was a different and solitary Camino. I was walking slowly with less Kms per day , broken leg brace, extreme pain and I took many alternatives in search of softer ground. I walked alone sometimes and did not stay many days in albergues. At first it was a bed race of sorts and since I was walking slow and more injured than normal I decided private accommodations were best for me. I booked in advance usually 1 to 2 days using booking.com and this worked for me. I spent more time in some of the small villages and even while in pain I explored more and saw more than if I had no injury. If fact the injury forced me to slow down and smell the roses, in fact this Camino was more about enjoying the journey and not just about walking and reaching a goal. I had no desire for a Compostela and I did not seek one. I walked from Irun and did eventually reach Santiago and Muxía but I had to modify my original plan somewhere close to Gijon. I think this was the best thing I could have done. My equipment worked perfectly the wise pilgrim app, new Hoka One One Tor with inserts and taping, Sombra warm cream for pain, stopping for physiotherapy once per week, sending my backpack forward after the first week , TENS unit, leg brace (exception broken straps near Gernika) and Leki antishock poles...preparation and mitigation always helps.
I know for many, the Camino is just another box to tick off, another endurance record, another personal challenge, for some it’s spiritual or religious...but how many people stopped to throw a ball to a dog on the beach? How many of you (if time permitted) stop to see and do some of what the locals do on their weekend stroll or how they tend to their fields? No judgement here but although forced due to injury, I think outside of daily walking I may have experienced perhaps more than the average pilgrim. After all isn’t this what pilgrimage is about? Is it about Finding what is new, connecting to what’s memorable in your life, find what is missing, what is unique and special to each of our lives? Is it working thru pain and angst and still finding time to enjoy the simple things like a local bean soup or some delicious pulpo in a non tourist town. I mean really stopping to taste and inhale all that is. Did you know there are some large waterfalls not far outside Santiago and Muxía..and another beautiful lighthouse not far from Muxía ? The Bufones near Llanes? The cliffs near Cobreces.? The stone formations at low tide near Deba on the alternate route, the Pecos Europa and monastery at Santo Toribio, It was all truly breathtaking. It’s always good to walk/hike , meander or cycle-the trail but I hope you also make time for slowing life down to a crawl, without the aid of injury of course.
I think this was a tough Camino for me because I felt jaded somehow by the tourist crowds especially in Santiago and the Camino bedlam to include bed races, daily limits of walking and all the tangible things. I really got turned off , it’s almost like I suffered a loss. After Camino I spent 3 weeks in San Maurice Switzerland with what I call Camino depression. I experienced the Abbey of St Maurice named after the martyred saint Mauritius located on the via Francigena Camino. I climbed a steep mountain with locals in Mex , went to Zermatt and the Matterhorn and Mount Blanc, hiked into an ice cave on a glacier, hiked up 500 steps to a hidden chapel built on a granite hillside, hiked into a fairy cave to a huge waterfall and spend so much time reflecting on what is is to be me , why walk a Camino and why I suffer so much physical pain.
In pain and at times angered, I retreated and went back into myself. Then after I was home I retreated completely from all things Camino. In all this I realize my life is a Camino of sorts...I must learn simplicity. Like Camino, the task to simply walk eat sleep....at time life is not this simple. At its core, life can be this simple, it is we who make it complicated.
I am ending this year after having a jaw surgery recently and now I look to a new year and it begins with foot surgery. I can be sad but I am not. I am hopeful, because of what the Camino brought to me... foresight that I am truly capable even thru severe injury. I don’t feel sorry for myself I just try to learn whatever life lesson is placed before me. I am still a traveler and adventurer at heart and I will turn the music up and dance when in severe pain but I think future walks if Camino with be more about seeing , exploring and doing not racing to 30 km. I will have no further expectations beyond just doing, seeing, having an adventurous spirit and walking... if I want to stop I stop, if I want to be a tourigrino for a day or two or four so be it but I will not put limits or conditions on myself . Yes this is a conditional box of sorts but it is a conditon to have no preconceived limits.
At the moment I write this I am a tourigrino. I Started in Amsterdam now I’m in Düsseldorf GE, working my way to Cologne, Hamburg to Salzburg Austria after New Years. The hills will be alive with reggae music of the cyborg turtle. Christmas time here is not much different from time spent at home except it’s just a bit of adventure and although not perfect it is exactly where I need to be on this life’s journey
I want to thank the Camino for breathing new life into me and wish @ivar and my Camino family a happy holiday season wherever you are
I have Had some problems with my blog but I hope to fix those soon.
I may not always post here on the forum but I’m never far. My advice to all, if I am allowed to offer one, is whatever path you choose in life always remember to live your best life, I mean really LIVE and don’t sweat the small stuff because life can be more cruel in other respects. Live your life as if you will never see tomorrow, hug your family and your friends often. Live your dreams to the fullest whenever you can And always hope for an even better tomorrow., a better Camino. Too-preachy.? I hope not . I say hi to you and bye for now. Happy holidaysand Buen Camino!
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