What if they just kept on walking?

[William Garza]

Ide like to imagine some pilgrim took to the Way..went out the door and never looked back and....
Just kept going.

Kinda like that Gump fellow.
Reached the "end" of that road, turned and went another way and somewhere...

Out there...

One day you meet eyes with a raisin of a Peregrino and smiles are tendered.

I wonder

 

[dick bird]

Raisin?

 

[Tassie Kaz]

Raisin?

Been out in the sun too long?...

 

[William Garza]

Been out in the sun too long?...

Exactly, i was going to say jerked meat as ive seen some folks who worked the fields for many years..but raisin seemed more generous

 

[David Tallan]

Ide like to imagine some pilgrim took to the Way..went out the door and never looked back and....
Just kept going.

Kinda like that Gump fellow.
Reached the "end" of that road, turned and went another way and somewhere...

Out there...

One day you meet eyes with a raisin of a Peregrino and smiles are tendered.

I wonder

I remember hearing lots of stories about pilgrims on the Camino who met a fellow who basically claimed to have done just that. He reportedly carried a binder with lots of news clippings of stories about his travels.

 

[t2andreo]

If you have the funds, and the permission to be in Spain, Portugal, France, etc. beyond 90 calendar days in any 180 days period, you could easily do this. But for most of us, it remains a Bucket List item or just a daydream.

 

[J Willhaus]

We met a few of these people (living on the camino) as hospitaleros and as pilgrims. Weathered, but not really raisins.

This summer met a man who started in Cadiz and was walking to the Holy Land...hope he isn't there right now though. I wish him safety and peace.

 

[yawl21]

I remember hearing lots of stories about pilgrims on the Camino who met a fellow who basically claimed to have done just that. He reportedly carried a binder with lots of news clippings of stories about his travels.

I met that guy man during my Camino Portuguese in June. His name is Jose with the claim of having walked 140,000 kilometers. He was a man of the Sea and the boat he was on went down leaving him the only survivor. Because of this event, he promised St. Nicholas the

 

[yawl21]

St Nicholas is the patron saint who protects sailors at sea. His promise was to walk Camino for the rest of his life in memory of the sailors who lost their life.

 

[David Harper]

I see repetitive posts on here, but have not seen this topic. This is something that I never would have considered to even interest me prior to doing the Camino. Surprisingly, on my first Camino I met several several people that had been walking for months and I found myself a little jealous. After walking several Camino's I would love to live life in a more basic/pure nature, not burdened by chasing hollow dreams. I clearly have to believe that I would be a completely different person, I believe more contented.

 

[William Garza]

Maybe very tanned by the sun,permanently tanned would be a more apt description.
When i dealt with farmers and outdoorsmen of many years,their skin took on a particular cast and texture hence the raisin...but that may not be apt .

David Harper thats what i imagined!

 

[lbrown498]

In the middle ages this used to be a thing. It's where the word sauntering comes from. It was a bit of a dodge. People would take to the road (or maybe the path) and whenever anyone they met asked where they were headed they would say they were on their way to the Holy Land (Saint Terre) and they would get a place to spend the night and a free meal. They were in no hurry.

 

[MtoM]

Both times I walked a camino there was a point (usually late in the trip) where I realised that, beautiful as the interlude to normal living was, it was the life back home that would ultimately be important, and I would start to think about what I could bring back to that life from the camino experience. That said, the idea of permanent wandering has always figured strongly in my fantasy life.

Lately I've been thinking that it's time to think about setting off on another beautiful camino journey, because, just living in my normal world, I can start to act like that is all there is, to become bogged in the familiar, and the idea of new places and people everyday and lots of room for the unexpected is so refreshing.

 

[OZAJ]

I have met two such people.

The first was a young Belgian man. He was on his way home after two years walking Camino routes. I met him on the Voie de Vezelay. He had been bitten by a snake a few days before and seemed to me to be f****d in the head. But I am no psych.

The second was an elderly Spaniard who I met on the VF. He had started from somewhere in Andalusia, made it to SdC and decided to continue to Rome and maybe beyond. He had very little money. People gave him food and clothing. His head appeared to me to be intact(ish)

Much as I enjoy long routes, I have found that 12 weeks (Rome to SdC) is slightly more than enough for me.

 

[dadaperegrino]

I met that guy man during my Camino Portuguese in June. His name is Jose with the claim of having walked 140,000 kilometers. He was a man of the Sea and the boat he was on went down leaving him the only survivor. Because of this event, he promised St. Nicholas the

I met him as well, 10 years ago in Finisterrae, on my first Camino!
Back then he had already walked so much and he had a book with all newspapers clipping of places where he walked.

 

[dadaperegrino]

I remember hearing lots of stories about pilgrims on the Camino who met a fellow who basically claimed to have done just that. He reportedly carried a binder with lots of news clippings of stories about his travels.

This might very well be Jose, the one who survived the shipwreck! You can find a bit of his story here:

 

[yawl21]

This might very well be Jose, the one who survived the shipwreck! You can find a bit of his story here:
View attachment 158114

Thos article describes the man (Jose) that I met this summer. He relied on the kindness of strangers and friends for food and a place to sleep. Jose is a positive, kind, gentle person, who bothers no one.

 

[High Endeavours]

I met Jose in 2016 while walking the Portuguese well before Porto. The owner of a small bar knew him well and had arranged a birthday cake for him and a small party. I sat with him and shared his cake and listened to his stories. After dinner he smoked a big cigar. It was a pretty good Camino memory! I’ve walked a good few kilometres myself, but couldn’t imagine walking like he does. That’s quite the commitment.

 

[yesshesaid]

It's been my experience that the Way is not a place but is walking, opening to the new around each bend, being and not looking back. I believe it can be done wherever I am; if only I have strength to do it. Your poem is a much better way of saying this

 

[muddy-mama]

In 2021 I met a guy in El Acebo de San Miguel who just kept walking. He had been on the road for a couple of years. He recognised my accent and asked where I was from I told him the nearest city and he said he came from a village near there. I ask him which village and he said the village I grew up in. He was a lot younger than me but I recognised the names of some of his relations. what a coincidence two people from a small village in the UK meeting in a small village in Spain

 

[Robo]

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry.
A great book and now a Movie........

 

[Robo]

In 2021 I met a guy in El Acebo de San Miguel who just kept walking. He had been on the road for a couple of years. He recognised my accent and asked where I was from I told him the nearest city and he said he came from a village near there. I ask him which village and he said the village I grew up in. He was a lot younger than me but I recognised the names of some of his relations. what a coincidence two people from a small village in the UK meeting in a small village in Spain

The Camino works in mysterious ways!

Earlier this year I was sitting with a couple of Amigos in the Plaza Mayor in Astorga.

I saw a woman on the other side of the square for a fleeting moment wearing a very specific bright article of clothing.

"I'm sure I know her I said"............

I send a DM to the Forum member who I thought I had just seen, though we had never met in real life........

"are you in Astorga Today"

"Yes" came back the reply the next morning. "see you in Rabanal"

And so we did. And stayed in the same place in El Acebo.
And walked a bit together the next day, and shared another meal, before we diverged onto different Caminos.

It seems we live about 10 kms apart!

Time to catch up for lunch I think.........