it's a bit like having your first baby........

[Magwood]

.......planning for and walking your first camino, that is.

You read every resource available, many times over. You worry about whether you will cope with the disturbed nights, being woken way before you are ready for the day, and lack of sleep in general. Everyone tells you how painful it is, but nothing can prepare you for the real thing. Your life takes on a whole new routine, doing the same few things day after day. You are nurturing a desire and listening to your body and mind as never before.

And along with all the discomfort and disruption, comes a whole new exciting and fulfilling world, a whole new circle of friends, priorities change, things that seemed so important a few weeks earlier drift off into insignificance. You have endless patience for mundane tasks. You are delighted by tiny changes in a strengthening body. Small setbacks are followed by huge leaps forward. And the sense of joy and achievement in something only you are responsible for is immense.

But as with childbirth, immediately (only us women can truly appreciate this) you have given birth and the pain and effort are still fresh in your mind, you are likely to think that this is an experience you don't want to put your body through again. And miraculously, after only a day or two this wonderful thing that you have achieved eclipses any negative thoughts. And so, within days of reaching Santiago and exclaiming that you would never feel the need to repeat the experience, there creeps into your psyche, totally unbidden, this undeniable urge to stay in contact with the camino, to visit the forums day after day, and you very soon realise that there is nothing you want more than to walk that path again, be it the same one or a different route. And before you have even embarked upon your second camino, you are already thinking about which route to walk on your third!

And as with my second child, this year I am so much more relaxed about my second camino, not panicking about training, I know I can do it, I have put in some long practice walks but don't need to prove anything to myself. I'm a little anxious about walking alone this year, but I know that I will cope with whatever situation arises. And I will be kind to myself - if I am really struggling, then I will get transport to the nearest accommodation and return to my stopping point the next day, so that I can walk every step without over-taxing my body.

And just to take this whole train of thought full circle, the child that I gave birth to thirty years previously, introduced me to the camino last year, by inviting me to join her on her pilgrimage. Unfortunately she is not able to join me on my forthcoming camino Portuguese, commencing on 1 May, but who knows - maybe next year, on the Via de la Plata.......

(I wrote this piece for a local magazine before walking the camino Portuguese this year)

 

[C clearly]

So true! And well written.
-Clare

 

[Jabaldo]

.......planning for and walking your first camino, that is.

You read every resource available, many times over. You worry about whether you will cope with the disturbed nights, being woken way before you are ready for the day, and lack of sleep in general. Everyone tells you how painful it is, but nothing can prepare you for the real thing. Your life takes on a whole new routine, doing the same few things day after day. You are nurturing a desire and listening to your body and mind as never before.

And along with all the discomfort and disruption, comes a whole new exciting and fulfilling world, a whole new circle of friends, priorities change, things that seemed so important a few weeks earlier drift off into insignificance. You have endless patience for mundane tasks. You are delighted by tiny changes in a strengthening body. Small setbacks are followed by huge leaps forward. And the sense of joy and achievement in something only you are responsible for is immense.

But as with childbirth, immediately (only us women can truly appreciate this) you have given birth and the pain and effort are still fresh in your mind, you are likely to think that this is an experience you don't want to put your body through again. And miraculously, after only a day or two this wonderful thing that you have achieved eclipses any negative thoughts. And so, within days of reaching Santiago and exclaiming that you would never feel the need to repeat the experience, there creeps into your psyche, totally unbidden, this undeniable urge to stay in contact with the camino, to visit the forums day after day, and you very soon realise that there is nothing you want more than to walk that path again, be it the same one or a different route. And before you have even embarked upon your second camino, you are already thinking about which route to walk on your third!

And as with my second child, this year I am so much more relaxed about my second camino, not panicking about training, I know I can do it, I have put in some long practice walks but don't need to prove anything to myself. I'm a little anxious about walking alone this year, but I know that I will cope with whatever situation arises. And I will be kind to myself - if I am really struggling, then I will get transport to the nearest accommodation and return to my stopping point the next day, so that I can walk every step without over-taxing my body.

And just to take this whole train of thought full circle, the child that I gave birth to thirty years previously, introduced me to the camino last year, by inviting me to join her on her pilgrimage. Unfortunately she is not able to join me on my forthcoming camino Portuguese, commencing on 1 May, but who knows - maybe next year, on the Via de la Plata.......

(I wrote this piece for a local magazine before walking the camino Portuguese this year)

How inspiring to read your post. I can see why you are writing for a local magazine. Your writing is exceptional. I am about to start my first Camino. I have been preparing for a year reading this forum everyday ( this is what gets me out of bed) and I can not believe the post that have been written. They speak to me directly. I am sitting here on my computer thinking of my first Camino and mentally planning my 2nd and 3rd. My wife came to me and asked me to look up Camino around the world. We want to experience the world not like a tourist but like a local. We want to live like locals think like locals and become citizens of the world.
Thank you again for your help.

 

[volleyjanice]

Well put! As I began reading I was thinking "oh yes, and just like childbirth your perception of the intensity of the pain becomes downgraded with time." ...and then you said it! So true. We are planning for our second camino experience next August. A long gestation that will no doubt lead to more pain that is countered by all of the fantastic moments that we will experience!