stratophile
Active Member
Everyone has different reasons for doing the Camino. What are yours?
Specifically:
1. If you aren't regularly a long-distance walker, what made you want to walk 800km now...?
2. How did you learn about the Camino de Santiago?
3. What prompted you to go from "Hmmm, sounds interesting" to actually *doing it*? (finding it interesting and actually doing it are two very, very different things! LOL)
4. If you've completed your Camino, did it live up to your expectations?
For me, I am a long-distance walker / cyclist - it is my passion. I learned about the Camino from some friends who did it with their church group. We were sharing adventures and they told me about their Camino. I was intrigued (I had heard of it before but the little I knew didn't actually sound all that interesting). The more I looked into it, the better it sounded (mainly thanks to this forum!).
As for what pushed me into actually doing it, that was easy. I was actively looking for somewhere to walk and had the time available, so it was just a matter of picking a date and going.
It definitely lived up to my overall expectations, though not always in the ways I originally expected. By that, I mean that the Camino was amazing and I absolutely loved it every bit as much as I had hoped (more, frankly) but the things that I enjoyed the most were different than what I had anticipated. For example, I was expecting the Camino to be more pretty than it was. Of course, it *is* very pretty in many places but overall it is just 'nice'.
On the other hand, I enjoyed the company of the other pilgrims I met along the way far more than I had expected. I'm used to 'trail friendships' that crop up when you meet others on a long-distance hike but usually they are very casual 'one day friendships'. That wasn't the case on the Camino. I met lots of great, really interesting people of all ages and backgrounds. And I've stayed in regular contact with an unusually large percentage of those people. That was a very pleasant surprise.
On the other other hand (yes, I have three hands...), the friendliness of the Spanish people did not surprise me at all. I've been to Spain many times (on business and for fun) and I've always liked the Spanish people - especially in smaller communities. They lived entirely up to expectations and I'm glad of that! You'd think the Spanish would be jaded by hundreds of years of pilgrims passing through and would be focused only on hustling them for money (especially given the tough economic times in Spain recently). And there *are* some locals who will cynically exploit pilgrims (where there are people...) but overall they are friendly and very welcoming. Most of those running businesses along the Camino (cafés, private albergues, etc.) are certainly looking to make a profit but they also seem to genuinely care about the pilgrims as well. That was very nice to see.
So, how about you?
Specifically:
1. If you aren't regularly a long-distance walker, what made you want to walk 800km now...?
2. How did you learn about the Camino de Santiago?
3. What prompted you to go from "Hmmm, sounds interesting" to actually *doing it*? (finding it interesting and actually doing it are two very, very different things! LOL)
4. If you've completed your Camino, did it live up to your expectations?
For me, I am a long-distance walker / cyclist - it is my passion. I learned about the Camino from some friends who did it with their church group. We were sharing adventures and they told me about their Camino. I was intrigued (I had heard of it before but the little I knew didn't actually sound all that interesting). The more I looked into it, the better it sounded (mainly thanks to this forum!).
As for what pushed me into actually doing it, that was easy. I was actively looking for somewhere to walk and had the time available, so it was just a matter of picking a date and going.
It definitely lived up to my overall expectations, though not always in the ways I originally expected. By that, I mean that the Camino was amazing and I absolutely loved it every bit as much as I had hoped (more, frankly) but the things that I enjoyed the most were different than what I had anticipated. For example, I was expecting the Camino to be more pretty than it was. Of course, it *is* very pretty in many places but overall it is just 'nice'.
On the other hand, I enjoyed the company of the other pilgrims I met along the way far more than I had expected. I'm used to 'trail friendships' that crop up when you meet others on a long-distance hike but usually they are very casual 'one day friendships'. That wasn't the case on the Camino. I met lots of great, really interesting people of all ages and backgrounds. And I've stayed in regular contact with an unusually large percentage of those people. That was a very pleasant surprise.
On the other other hand (yes, I have three hands...), the friendliness of the Spanish people did not surprise me at all. I've been to Spain many times (on business and for fun) and I've always liked the Spanish people - especially in smaller communities. They lived entirely up to expectations and I'm glad of that! You'd think the Spanish would be jaded by hundreds of years of pilgrims passing through and would be focused only on hustling them for money (especially given the tough economic times in Spain recently). And there *are* some locals who will cynically exploit pilgrims (where there are people...) but overall they are friendly and very welcoming. Most of those running businesses along the Camino (cafés, private albergues, etc.) are certainly looking to make a profit but they also seem to genuinely care about the pilgrims as well. That was very nice to see.
So, how about you?