? what is it about this site

[+@^^]

it is now a year and a bit since i finished my walk from Seville to Santiago
i will in all likelyhood not walk another camino
and before the walk i spent about 10 months on the site planning reading preparing
.
but if its over why am i still so attached
why do i still come back to this site
why do i still get invloved in discussions
why do i get excited for a new pilgrim just starting out in researching stuff
why do i still compare my sleeping bag to yours
why do i say, shite thats i good idea, must remember it for next time
.
? what is it about this site
Tam

 

[grayland]

it is now a year and a bit since i finished my walk from Seville to Santiago
i will in all likelyhood not walk another camino....SNIP..
? what is it about this site
Tam

Tam..I think is is because it is very likely that you will be walking another Camino.... :shock:

 

[sunsurf]

Hi +@^^, whatever it is about this (stunning) site, please don't leave it - sometimes I print your "poetry", read it to my family and friends and then file it in my special Camino file.
(I am starting in Le Puy on Sunday 10 June - my first Camino - and got almost all my info from just reading this forum daily...)

 

[Deleted member 3000]

Where past pilgrims share and future pilgrims learn

 

[Arn]

Tam,

The Camino is just like everything else in life that you start...it has an ending. Until you start it again.

Each day I log on I search for the newbees...then realize I'm reading the same questions and giving the same answers, but for the newbee it may be the first question they've ever asked from a total stranger and they're likely to act on that answer.

Your suggestions, insights and poetry are as new and refreshing as the Camino is old and enduring.

We are all better for the experience.

Arn

 

[Abbeydore]

Tam,

Love your honesty, & your helping us to be honest & allow us to make our own pilgrimage with honesty, what ever that is.

I personally, am v. greatful for your thoughts, which I will take on April 1st to Santiago.
My Camino will be be 'richer too', thank you Tam.

David

 

[BlackDog]

Where past pilgrims share and future pilgrims learn

As a newbie I'll second that thought. I've certainly learnt a lot that will benefit my Camino and I thank everyone who has passed on their thoughts, experiences and wisdom :!:

 

[mmm042]

Any why is it that I'm here in Jerusalem, the holiest of cities, and I keep going back to the Old City (three days in a row now) to try and find some kind of Camino spirit? I'm not getting the vibe, the feeling, the spirituality I instantly found on the VDLP. It's Jerusalem! And yet all I can think of is walking the Camino again. When our tour bus is driving through the countryside, I keep looking for dirt paths along the road that could be a Camino. I don't understand what's happening. Anyone else been to Jerusalem after the Camino, too, and been a bit disappointed?

Melanie

 

[grilly]

I come back to this site, Tam, to whet my appetite to resume the VDLP later this year.
Good to read your comments and the answers they got.
It feels really good to be here

 

[renegadepilgrim]

Any why is it that I'm here in Jerusalem, the holiest of cities, and I keep going back to the Old City (three days in a row now) to try and find some kind of Camino spirit? I'm not getting the vibe, the feeling, the spirituality I instantly found on the VDLP. It's Jerusalem! And yet all I can think of is walking the Camino again. When our tour bus is driving through the countryside, I keep looking for dirt paths along the road that could be a Camino. I don't understand what's happening. Anyone else been to Jerusalem after the Camino, too, and been a bit disappointed?

Melanie

Yes I was in Israel about a month after my Camino...but then again, I had been there before (it's what started my obsession with the Camino 17 years ago!)...why don't you go walk the Jesus Trail? Or the Nativity Trail? If I had known about either of these before I went to Israel I would have done them.

 

[tyrrek]

Any why is it that I'm here in Jerusalem, the holiest of cities, and I keep going back to the Old City (three days in a row now) to try and find some kind of Camino spirit? I'm not getting the vibe, the feeling, the spirituality I instantly found on the VDLP. It's Jerusalem! And yet all I can think of is walking the Camino again. When our tour bus is driving through the countryside, I keep looking for dirt paths along the road that could be a Camino. I don't understand what's happening. Anyone else been to Jerusalem after the Camino, too, and been a bit disappointed?

Melanie

Hi Melanie.

You've touched on my main regret from the Camino Ingles last Autumn. I met 2 Brazilian brothers, one of whom had lost a young daughter in Spring and was walking for her. He was considering going on to Jerusalem after reaching Santiago (by air and just for a couple of days) to make his pilgrimage more complete.

I had been in Jerusalem the year before and was able to advise about some of the practicalities. However with hindsight I wish I had suggested a mini pilgrimage from Bethlehem to Jerusalem. I didn't actually do it myself (or even think about it at the time), but it's certainly not far to walk for anyone who has done a Camino. I know there is the wall and checkpoints with all their ugliness to go through, but as far as I know it is perfectly possible for foreigners. I thought it would have been a lovely thing for him to have done in the short time he was there. Walking into Jerusalem through the Mount of Olives and Via Dolorosa and arriving in the evening when the sun was reflecting on the Dome would be magical!

I hope my Brazilian friend got there and worked it out for himself!

Buen Camino!

Keith

 

[Lydia Gillen]

Tam,

Maybe your heart knows something that your head does not know yet Please keep posting. we love to hear from you.

Melanie, I went to the Holy Land last year. As a child of seven in 1951 I had promised myself that once in my lifetime I would go. So after sixty years I had both the money and found the right group to go with.

I found it very hard to connect with Jesus in the sights that had been open to the public for almost 2000 years where there were lamps etc etc.

The pit underneath the house of Chaipas the high priest where Jesus was imprisoned I found awesome

When we went north to Gallilee where Jesus had his ministry for three years, there I really connected with him, esp. at Caparnaum where we could see the foundations of the old synagogue and the narrow little streets between the houses. Jesus made Caparnaum the center of his ministry. I felt I was walking on 'His turf'. We also celebrated holy Mass right on the lake shore. One day we went out on the lake and owner stopped the engines for about 20 minutes in the center of the lake so that we could pray quietly.

To look at the Golan heights and realise that this was exactly what Jesus saw with his own eyes was so wonderful for me. The words of bible have become alive in a new way.

Yet I feel now "I have been there and done that" and really cannot see myself going back again.

It is the Camino that calls me to return and to make every step a prayer.

If I were young and had the means to walk the whole way to Jerusalem it might be a different story. But I try to only dream dreams that I can realistically hope to make come true

Lydia

 

[ksam]

Maybe your heart knows something that your head does not know yet Please keep posting. we love to hear from you.

I think Lydia has something here!! I'd like to second (or third or whatever!) her opinion...please keep posting!! Your humor has added a lot to me recovery/reentry to my "real" life!!

Gracias,
Karin

 

[tallrobert]

Maybe your heart knows something that your head does not know yet Please keep posting. we love to hear from you.

I think Lydia has something here!! I'd like to second (or third or whatever!) her opinion...please keep posting!! Your humor has added a lot to me recovery/reentry to my "real" life!!

Gracias,
Karin

I agree too! I have only been a forum member for a few weeks (seems like months already with all I have learned!) and I really enjoy your posts ... they are heart-felt and sometimes rather personal (a special thank you for that) and quite often humorous. You have contributed unknowingly to raising my spirits along the way.