- Time of past OR future Camino
- Frances 15,16,18
VdlP 23, Invierno 23, Fisterra 23
For 2024 Pilgrims: ā¬50,- donation = 1 year with no ads on the forum + 90% off any 2024 Guide. More here. (Discount code sent to you by Private Message after your donation) |
---|
I have just seen this. I have to do some work but I so look forward to continuing to watch it. Thanks for posting, and congrats on a really timely piece.
@Robo : Thank you so much for your time! Very wise words from @Rebekah Scott .
This thread should be a sticky.
A very interesting interview, @Robo ! Thank you!
You made a confession about not staying in donativo albergues, with the excuse of being a snorer.
My wife and I walked 2178km from Switzerland to SdC in 2018 (in Spain it was on the Norte), 133 days walking. We stayed once in an albergue on the Norte (Izarbide), and we had one donativo in France (what they call "accueil jacquaire").
Our excuse for not staying in a shared dormitory, or a donativo albergue, is for health reasons. I think that when we talk to purists about the Spirit (with a capital S) of the Camino, we often get judged, because, by that standard, we didn't walk in the Spirit of the Camino by not staying in donativo albergues.
Yet those who judge us do not consider the spiritual side of our Camino, and @Rebekah Scott touched on that aspect in the interview. We are religious, and although we found that there was a lack of priests in France, which meant that we could often not attend a service even on a Sunday, we could still pray in churches when we stopped during the day. We found a different experience in Spain. Getting a blessing from a priest in Bolibar all in Basque language is quite something!
It's the prayers that we have given for all those involved in the Camino that made our Spirit of the Camino, not the type of accommodation we stayed in.
Another part of our Camino is the amazing experience of meeting other pilgrims, even if we did not stay in albergues. Not sharing a dormitory with other pilgrims didn't take away from our sharing our journey with wonderful people walking on the same path.
Thank you again for this thought provoking interview.
Buen Camino!
Even before Covid-19 there were discussions over whether the donativo system was viable, mainly because costs exceed income in most cases. Therefore, donativos exist because of altruism on the part of whoever runs them. As hospitaleros, we would solemnly remind our guests that the reason we were giving them breakfast was because somebody the day before had given us the money for it, and that while we were donativo, the electricity company and the gas company and the water company were not. Some people gave over the odds, some under. That's the way it works, but we heard some quite shocking stories about how little some people paid and I have to say some of the approaches taken by an hospitalero or two about how to remedy the situation. It is worth bearing in mind that all municipal albergues are to some extent donativo in the sense that pilgrims are benefiting from the generosity of others: a Voz de Galicia article last year reported that while most munis charged 5 euros a night, costs averaged out at 8 euros. I think the camino will survive. It has been there about 1200 years and is robust enough to withstand the onslaught of a few 21st century freeloaders. It will change, so does everything, and when you think about it, the number of good people on and around the camino vastly outnumber the bad. Anyway, thank you Rebekah and I wish you well.
Rob, so enjoyed āmeetingā you and Rebekah via your blog. Great fun to really get to see, hear, and learn from the faces behind the avatars! You both have always imparted balanced and thoughtful perspectives in writing, so it was especially nice to hear what you had to say and how you said it! Personally, I have always considered the experience at a donativo every bit as special as a Casa Rural, etc. At the end of any day, I do feel an obligation to pay the price of a āroom for oneā even if I am sharing a room with twenty. I am being sheltered, fed, showered, and laundered. I find the company and interaction with others to be the treat at the end of the day. Admittedly, Robo, I too have been known to zzzzzzzSNORE! So, I too secure a room where I can to āsaw woodā in peace on occasion! Many thanks for sharing you two! Continued good health and contentment to you and yours!I have about 10-12 video 'chats' with a range of people, some of whom you will know very well.
I'll drip feed them out over the coming weeks.
One Gentlemen's 'chat' lasted over an hour!
So it will be a series of 5 or 6 shorter conversations........
You made a confession about not staying in donativo albergues, with the excuse of being a snorer.
My reasons for not staying in shared bedrooms are probably varied and screwed up I admit.
I have stayed in Albergues, but in a private room.
Sure I snore and I worry about annoying others.
I also like my privacy.
And I can afford to stay in private accomodation.
I thought I should leave the cheaper accomodation for those who need it, like I would be some kind of 'fraud' using Albergues.
Thank you so much for this post about donativo. I have taught online yoga on a donativo basis for the last 3 months. I shared the Zoom link for free (still do actually). It took some time to make people understand what donativo actually is. I called it 'equal access to services for all, regardless of your wealth'. If you can afford a bit more, you pay a bit more. If you don't have any money, you don't have to pay. it worked like a dream. I earned a decent hourly rate, I never had to send out invoices, or reminders, just an email to announce the next session, and people got into the habit of paying and then doing yoga. And some paid more and others less. Donativo is my utopian ideal of how the world economy should work. Rebekah calls it the 'economy of grace'. Beautiful.
As a Buddhist monastic, I live this way. And I have to say that I am usually astonished at people's generosity. What has begun to happen in the last several years, though, is it there has been an increased number of backpackers coming to the monastery because they perceive it as a free place to stay ā which is of course not what it's meant to be. So we offer them food and shelter for as long as they stay, as well as meditation instruction, and maybe they leave the equivalent of 10 euros after a month. Sometimes this is a genuine inability to offer more, which is totally fine. Other times, though, they can afford it but are just being cheapskates. Staying balanced with that is a practice of patience. And of faith.Donativo is my utopian ideal of how the world economy should work. Rebekah calls it the 'economy of grace'. Beautiful.