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So, why?

  • Thread starter Former member 49149
  • Start date
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Former member 49149

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Summer 2019.

A few days in Pamplona, a week in Zabaldika, some days walking from Puente la Reina to Estella, a few days in Soria, and then: Santiago and on to Ferrol, and back to Santiago via Camino Ingles , and after that to Ribeira Sacra, circling around (by car) the names of places I have seen that are on the Invierno, and the Playa de las Catedrales on the North Coast, and back (home) to Pamplona... and finally, back home to Dublin.

Zabaldika: a week of welcoming pilgrims, being available at the church, and at the evening prayer. As ever a joy to greet those who wanted such. A wide berth for those who strode across the grass, apparently seeing nothing, hearing nothing, leaving them to their journey. Always, always, time to be aware of the deep impression of so many feet, so many hearts, so many prayers, so many songs, the hungry heart...

Camino Frances:
warm, walking from Puente la Reina. Too warm. Casa Magica, indeed it was. Stopped for two nights in Estella, helped out in parochial albergue as Janet had to go early to help at home.

Sta Maria de Huerta, Soria. Dry, hot. in the shadow of a railway line, and of a Cistercian Monastery. Who and how and why? Not today, it would not be built today.

Santiago: Ah! Santiago! the end, the beginning, the springboard. Mixed memories.

The first time: an esoteric Albergue, such excitement, I walked all the way. Me! Imagine.
The second time, a luxurious albergue (El Ultimo Sello), a kitchen big enough to cook in, and invite pilgrims with whom we had walked to share a meal....
Previous camino, Leon to Oviedo, no Santiago then.
This time, opening and closing the Camino, Santiago.

So, what’s it all about?
Text Box:

I could list the stages, where we stayed, what was hard, what was magic.
You are right: I am not going to do that. You can find all that information online very easily.
As I walked along, I asked myself: why are you doing this, Sandra? why are you getting up and slinging on your (little) backpack, and heading out to cover kilometres of walking, day after day?

This time, yes, my little backpack was a blessing. First time to send on my real rucksack. That made it possible for me to walk without complaining, without visible damage to my damaged knee. Also, my companion took advantage to lighten her load. It meant we had to use accommodation from a list approved for collection of rucksacks/luggage by Correos.
(By the way, did I tell you about Angela? My new rucksack is called Angela, in memory of a dear friend who died suddenly just before I left to go to Spain. My Compostela is dedicated in Vicarie pro in her name. For her family.)
1566305169158.jpeg

What difference did it make to pre-book? It meant I could leave in the morning without a care in the world about two things: being assured of a bed, and of a bed on the flat, not an upper bunk. Sometimes we were in private rooms with ensuite bathroom, sometimes we were in shared dormitories with shared bathrooms. Sometimes, we felt the care and concern of the owners for pilgrims, sometimes that was not so evident. Every day we met pilgrims and had more or less contact with them. Over the six days, we kept on meeting the same pilgrims, striking up conversations, or not. One particularly wet day, we met a couple who had left at 5.30am, to assure themselves of a bed in an albergue. They didn’t make it, so had to come to the hostal where we were lodged.
The infrastructure on the Ingles is at an in between point: the pilgrim numbers are swelling, but the possibility of albergues as on the Frances, that will take a good while to be put in place.

As usual, I imagine the behind the scenes includes balancing the current economy of hotels, hostals, and private albergues, and the needs of pilgrims who will increasingly be looking to be fed before 9pm… that was something that we did find awkward.

So, back to the question: why? (you can fill in your own answer)

We took three words, given by @JJinWI: gratitude, will-power, rejuvenation.

Each day there was fluidity, movement back and forward among the three words, as the demands of the terrain, or of interior processes called for awareness of the moment we were in.

The rejuvenation matched another word from a previous experience of reflection and discovery: re-soulation. I am still not sure if the person who wrote that word made a little spelling mistake, as it could have been resolution…. But re-soul-ation fitted just as well!

Text Box:  We also had three questions at the end:

What did you need from the Camino?

What did you bring to the Camino?

What will you keep/take away from the Camino?

A couple of small changes in my life as a pilgrim: I will no longer wear liner socks, and I will use sheep’s wool as my buffer to avoid hot spots.

I have never hugged any statue, so that was not on my list of things to do.
There was a visit to the Portico, reminding me indeed of arriving in 2006… and then a wonderful celebration of mass in San Agustin parish, followed by some energetic conversation with a number of people over lunch…

Later that same day… off to begin a two day whirlwind tour of the Ribeira Sacra. Untold ermitas, impossibly steep and narrow roads, paths… and again: why? how? How did those intrepid or mad souls manage to construct the basilicas of their deepest longings? It would not be done today… but it is a testament to the enduring search, the hungry heart, that is visible, even faintly, in the never ending stream of people seeking out these places that speak so eloquently of things beyond telling.

For now, that is my accounting of my summer, with Camino Ingles, 2019. A gift, a blessing. Many more things happened but this is enough. Buen camino, folks.
 

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Why ever not?

What a wondrous journey. So many experiences and feelings only just beginning to unfold and much still unknown and unknowable... early years yet to make any sense of it all if we ever truly can... Rilke's advice resonates strongly throughout my journeys - and afterwards - reminding me to love and live the questions now, perhaps one distant day into the answers...

Ah, you mention the enduring search, the hungry heart...

Not Yet There

The tree is intricate, a lattice
with many moving parts: sparrows,
robins, a blackbird’s creak.

The ox in the sky pulls the plow.
The archer strings his one good
arrow across the bow. The dipper’s

hinged against the lip of the grassy well.
And I have only my hungry heart, my
wobbly heart: I cart it everywhere I go.


Luisa A. Igloria
Via Negativa
 
Thank you for your 2019 Camino story. Very interesting!

About your 3 questions? Strangely I have the same questions too, but I am unable too answer them.

I imagine that it is a question of time
You are absolutely correct, a question of time, and giving space to ask and ponder. Thanks for your comments, Jean Ti!
 
Kirkie, what a blessing to read this interesting account of your summer and I am left to to digest some of your words. You have a unique way of putting your thoughts "on paper" and I always enjoy reading what you share on the forum. Thank you!
Chris, thanks. I love your enthusiasm and the way you are so faithful in commenting on everyone's posts! my love to all on the not a serious thread, by the way. Some day, I will be back!
 
Get a spanish phone number with Airalo. eSim, so no physical SIM card. Easy to use app to add more funds if needed.
Why ever not?

What a wondrous journey. So many experiences and feelings only just beginning to unfold and much still unknown and unknowable... early years yet to make any sense of it all if we ever truly can... Rilke's advice resonates strongly throughout my journeys - and afterwards - reminding me to love and live the questions now, perhaps one distant day into the answers...

Ah, you mention the enduring search, the hungry heart...
And I have only my hungry heart, my
wobbly heart: I cart it everywhere I go.
What else is there, pray tell?
 
Get a spanish phone number with Airalo. eSim, so no physical SIM card. Easy to use app to add more funds if needed.
Summer 2019.

A few days in Pamplona, a week in Zabaldika, some days walking from Puente la Reina to Estella, a few days in Soria, and then: Santiago and on to Ferrol, and back to Santiago via Camino Ingles , and after that to Ribeira Sacra, circling around (by car) the names of places I have seen that are on the Invierno, and the Playa de las Catedrales on the North Coast, and back (home) to Pamplona... and finally, back home to Dublin.

Zabaldika: a week of welcoming pilgrims, being available at the church, and at the evening prayer. As ever a joy to greet those who wanted such. A wide berth for those who strode across the grass, apparently seeing nothing, hearing nothing, leaving them to their journey. Always, always, time to be aware of the deep impression of so many feet, so many hearts, so many prayers, so many songs, the hungry heart...

Camino Frances:
warm, walking from Puente la Reina. Too warm. Casa Magica, indeed it was. Stopped for two nights in Estella, helped out in parochial albergue as Janet had to go early to help at home.

Sta Maria de Huerta, Soria. Dry, hot. in the shadow of a railway line, and of a Cistercian Monastery. Who and how and why? Not today, it would not be built today.

Santiago: Ah! Santiago! the end, the beginning, the springboard. Mixed memories.

The first time: an esoteric Albergue, such excitement, I walked all the way. Me! Imagine.
The second time, a luxurious albergue (El Ultimo Sello), a kitchen big enough to cook in, and invite pilgrims with whom we had walked to share a meal....
Previous camino, Leon to Oviedo, no Santiago then.
This time, opening and closing the Camino, Santiago.

So, what’s it all about?
View attachment 63570

I could list the stages, where we stayed, what was hard, what was magic.
You are right: I am not going to do that. You can find all that information online very easily.
As I walked along, I asked myself: why are you doing this, Sandra? why are you getting up and slinging on your (little) backpack, and heading out to cover kilometres of walking, day after day?

This time, yes, my little backpack was a blessing. First time to send on my real rucksack. That made it possible for me to walk without complaining, without visible damage to my damaged knee. Also, my companion took advantage to lighten her load. It meant we had to use accommodation from a list approved for collection of rucksacks/luggage by Correos.
(By the way, did I tell you about Angela? My new rucksack is called Angela, in memory of a dear friend who died suddenly just before I left to go to Spain. My Compostela is dedicated in Vicarie pro in her name. For her family.)
View attachment 63577

What difference did it make to pre-book? It meant I could leave in the morning without a care in the world about two things: being assured of a bed, and of a bed on the flat, not an upper bunk. Sometimes we were in private rooms with ensuite bathroom, sometimes we were in shared dormitories with shared bathrooms. Sometimes, we felt the care and concern of the owners for pilgrims, sometimes that was not so evident. Every day we met pilgrims and had more or less contact with them. Over the six days, we kept on meeting the same pilgrims, striking up conversations, or not. One particularly wet day, we met a couple who had left at 5.30am, to assure themselves of a bed in an albergue. They didn’t make it, so had to come to the hostal where we were lodged.
The infrastructure on the Ingles is at an in between point: the pilgrim numbers are swelling, but the possibility of albergues as on the Frances, that will take a good while to be put in place.

As usual, I imagine the behind the scenes includes balancing the current economy of hotels, hostals, and private albergues, and the needs of pilgrims who will increasingly be looking to be fed before 9pm… that was something that we did find awkward.

So, back to the question: why? (you can fill in your own answer)

We took three words, given by @JJinWI: gratitude, will-power, rejuvenation.

Each day there was fluidity, movement back and forward among the three words, as the demands of the terrain, or of interior processes called for awareness of the moment we were in.

The rejuvenation matched another word from a previous experience of reflection and discovery: re-soulation. I am still not sure if the person who wrote that word made a little spelling mistake, as it could have been resolution…. But re-soul-ation fitted just as well!

View attachment 63571We also had three questions at the end:

What did you need from the Camino?

What did you bring to the Camino?

What will you keep/take away from the Camino?

A couple of small changes in my life as a pilgrim: I will no longer wear liner socks, and I will use sheep’s wool as my buffer to avoid hot spots.

I have never hugged any statue, so that was not on my list of things to do.
There was a visit to the Portico, reminding me indeed of arriving in 2006… and then a wonderful celebration of mass in San Agustin parish, followed by some energetic conversation with a number of people over lunch…

Later that same day… off to begin a two day whirlwind tour of the Ribeira Sacra. Untold ermitas, impossibly steep and narrow roads, paths… and again: why? how? How did those intrepid or mad souls manage to construct the basilicas of their deepest longings? It would not be done today… but it is a testament to the enduring search, the hungry heart, that is visible, even faintly, in the never ending stream of people seeking out these places that speak so eloquently of things beyond telling.

For now, that is my accounting of my summer, with Camino Ingles, 2019. A gift, a blessing. Many more things happened but this is enough. Buen camino, folks.
Kirkie,
What a wonderful report from a great journey
I loved reading this ..exhausted me!!

You have "the gift of the gab" in a most elequent way
See what living in Dublin for so long does to a Scottish lady!!!
 
We took three words, given by @JJinWI: gratitude, will-power, rejuvenation.
Hi @kirkie. You're missed on the Not Serious thread. In an attempt to lure you back I took the three words you took and, remembering the recent thread thread on What3Words, I plugged them into it to locate your word location. I hope you have a warm jacket and a life raft.
Screenshot_20190820-124754.png
 
€2,-/day will present your project to thousands of visitors each day. All interested in the Camino de Santiago.
Hi @kirkie. You're missed on the Not Serious thread. In an attempt to lure you back I took the three words you took and, remembering the recent thread thread on What3Words, I plugged them into it to locate your word location. I hope you have a warm jacket and a life raft.
View attachment 63586
Oh Rick, This reminds me of the banter on the Not Serious thread when BB took the Uber that ended up in the ocean and he was stranded on a beach. 😅
 
@kirke...your post is a blessing, thank you.
Ah, the hungry heart. Thank you for so beautifully sharing where yours has gone.
Untold ermitas, impossibly steep and narrow roads, paths… and again: why? how? How did those intrepid or mad souls manage to construct the basilicas of their deepest longings? It would not be done today… but it is a testament to the enduring search, the hungry heart, that is visible, even faintly, in the never ending stream of people seeking out these places that speak so eloquently of things beyond telling.
Oh, yes, exactly. You have described what I felt but couldn't articulate at the time....it is a very moving place.

And this morning's response springing from your questions:
 
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Kirkie, glad to hear of your successful Camino! Nice to read your report!

Cynthia Bourgeault, a modern contemplative, says that living the spiritual life is learning to live with the constant yearning. Interesting, isn't it? Kind of sums up the Camino don't you think?
Thanks for reference, Elle. I will look her up. For those who are into a spiritual life, yes. Not all who walk “the camino” would agree, perhaps. Yes, again, thinking a bit more, feeling a bit more: living with the constant yearning. A life’s task!
 
I missed your post when you first wrote, I think I was still in Europe on post-Camino travels. I feel grateful to have crossed paths with you (twice) while we were on the Ingles, and glad that you joined us for dinner on that very rainy day in Meson do Vento. I agree that there is always more to learn and to absorb from The Way (the Camino, not Emilio Estevez's movie) and am looking to go back again. My husband, however, after 1000 km in one summer (Frances, Muxia, and Ingles) announces he has had enough. :( Maybe it'll be his turn to stay home with the dogs so I can walk...😌
 
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About your 3 questions? Strangely I have the same questions too, but I am unable too answer them.
I feel the same way (after 4 Camino's and planning a next one), but have given up on finding answers.
Like they say: it's about the way, not reaching the destination.

And, very personally (!!!), I feel that for me, it's not about finding answers, but about raising questions (to myself). It helps me to put things into perspective, to not take the way I do things or the way I think about things for granted, to not take myself too seriously and keep an open mind and heart.
 

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