:-(

[MoniRose]

I booked my flight. Today it has hit me that I am leaving everyone and everything I know for seven weeks alone in a foreign land. I'm scared. :cry:

 

[tyrrek]

Absence makes the heart grow fonder. You won't be alone, and you'll be in a beautiful land.

 

[sulu]

You're not the first to feel scared, and won't be the last. Bear up, it will all be fine once you start. You certainly won't be alone and you'll have a wider circle of friends afterwards.
It has to be ok or there wouldn't be so many of us going back for 2nds, 3rds, 4ths etc
Keep smiling!
Buen Camino
Sue

 

[andy.d]

Feeling scared about going on the Camino is very natural. I made a promise before I went that I would only give up if told to by a doctor or if there was a family emergency. This got me started. You'll be fine and you'll enjoy it - it's a deep and wonderful thing,

prayers and buen camino

Andy

 

[tyrrek]

Monica will be fine. She's done her research and knows what to expect. This is the 'I've crossed the Rubicon' moment when you can't go back and tend to focus on what might go wrong. I've experienced it twice in the last 2 years - first booking a flight to Israel for a holiday not knowing what to expect, and then for my first Camino. Both trips were absolutely inspirational and I don't regret a minute of them (apart from the security trying to leave Tel Aviv!).

Buen Camino!

 

[David]

Scared is good. Fear of missing people is good. Being so honest about it is good.

All your feelings are quite nomal.

You will feel lost and scared, with many questions in your mind as you start .. can I do it, where do I sleep, how do I share bathrooms, how will I sleep, how will I find food, will I get lost, will I be alone etc etc etc ....

then, like us all, you will just fit into the whole thing, you will become strong and free.

All is well.

One tip: don't use your mobile all the time phoning home, it will take you away from the Camino and the inner experience. Before you leave let all know that you will switch your phone on once a day to check for emergency texts and for friends and family to only send texts and ONLY if they are really important.

Be alone from your home and you can then embrace where you are - on the Camino.

All is well Monirose :wink:

 

[Yallah]

You are definitely not alone in feeling this way! I felt very scared creeping into St-Jean-Pied-de-Port wondering what I'd gotten myself into. I felt better as soon as I went to the pilgrim office and met others who were also nervous. Sharing dinner with a few others bolstered my spirits.

The camino was an amazing experience of learning to rely on myself and on the camino's uncanny ability to provide what we need when we need it.

 

[MoniRose]

Thank you all! I know everything you say is true, but fear is not rational. I am mostly humbled by my call to the Camino. Humbled.....and blessed by you. My life has already changed. :arrow:

 

[Abbeydore]

Thank you all! I know everything you say is true, but fear is not rational. I am mostly humbled by my call to the Camino. Humbled.....and blessed by you. My life has already changed. :arrow:

Prayers to you MoniRose :arrow:
Great start to New Year
David

 

[Whalleyranger]

You mustn't be scared. The Camino will provide.

Let us know how you get on.

 

[Lydia Gillen]

Hi Monirose,

It seems that the unknown always causes fear. You can say quite logically that your fear is irrational, but you still feel the fear. It does not respond to logic. Most of us have felt that fear and it is the fear that encourages one to prepare well.

So pack light, get fit, learn a little Spanish and look forward to the most exciting and blessed thing that you have ever done.

Buen Camino,

Lydia

 

[KiwiNomad06]

Moni-Rose, you're allowed to be afraid. I have already 'been there done that', but I am nervous about the enormity of my upcoming venture. I know that when I finally step out on that first hill though, the nerves will drop away, and it'll become 'one step at a time'. All the best!
Margaret

 

[tyrrek]

I was so scared that when I was clear in my mind that I wanted to do the Camino I posted it on Facebook. Thereafter I knew that if I dared to back out I would be ridiculed by all my friends. I was 40 years old, for goodness sake! *Sigh*

 

[Maya2]

Can't wait to hear how much fun you had, the insights you picked up along The Way, and the friends you'll keep for life. Accept the fear and do it anyway.

 

[vagabondette]

This is normal. I've been traveling full-time for many years and I still get a tingle in my belly when starting a new adventure. It's the expectation of the unknown and that's what makes life grand! Good luck!

 

[Pieces]

I am going back for seconds this year, and this time starting at SJPDP (last year i did the middle) and even when i know what i am doing, i am wondering why i bought a ticket this weekend and what was i thinking...

I think that is just the way it is supposed to be even when i wonder ave i gone mad...

 

[Pyotr_Miley]

Monirose,

I'm 46, have scoliosis, flat feet, am blind in one eye and am currently recovering from a work injury, torn cartilage in my hip which has left me overweight, out-of-shape and with a possibly permanent limp. I know noone in Spain and haven't hiked a mountain range in the last ten years. (To be fair that hike was a long, 70 pound pack through the Grand Tetons). I leave for the camino in April of 2013, just weeks before my 48th birthday. I'll be leaving behind all of my electronic devices, quitting my job, leaving no established home behind me to come back to and abandoning myself to a pilgrimage. At this point, I'm terrifed.

But my advantages will overcome any adversity. I love adventure, enjoy meeting new people, am very happily Catholic and adore seeing the inside of churches that I've never been to before. My impaired vision leaves me astonished at every new thing that I see. And I really enjoy just ambling along, taking in the sights. I have a year and the will to get me back into walking shape, limp or no.

You, too, must have some sort of 'will to adventure' or 'will to peace' or you wouldn't have made the plans. Fear keeps us careful and appreciative for every small success along our route. In each great success, overcoming and understanding the fear that accompanied you into it will leave you ecstatic. If you weren't at least a little trepidatious, that's when I'd recommend being nervous.

I look forward to hearing all about it when you return. Peace and joy be with you, P

 

[David]

About that fear thing - it is not irrational you know. To not be anxious about an unknown future is irrational ... so, treat it as part of the geography of your mind as it approaches the unknown.

The thing is - and this is exactly one of the things that makes it a pilgrimage - it is a leap, a leap into the unknown and the fear or anxiety is part of the experience ... and really, it is only a fear about not being able to cope alone - but you won't be alone, you will just not be with the people you know... and you can cope, you always have, you always will - and you are no less than the millions who have walked before you.

Anyway, you already know who is walking beside you all the way, don't you.

So, be not afraid, all is well :wink:

 

[sandygale]

It is a kind of wonderful fear I feel - all the doubts my mind can conjure (family emergency and physical injury are my favourites) are just the spin off from what I hope will be a great pilgrimage - we can do it

 

[vagabondette]

For those worried about family emergencies, i strongly suggest you come up with a response plan and discuss it with your family. Figure out what you will do in varoius situations so if the worst happens you dont have to agonize about it while on the camino. My family knows to tell me what is going on but that i will not return unless my mom is seriously injured or dead. My uncle died last year ehile i was traveling and while i was sad to miss his funeral i was glad i got to say goodnye to him before i left. Also, make sure your own affairs are in order before you go just in case.

 

[glennb]

By leaving what you know you know, you may find what you didn't know you know. Buon camino and bon courage.

And then you'll turn that frown upside down.

 

[Juliec55]

I too am starting to wonder what I have gotten myself into. I leave on April 29th. It isn't the fear of being on the Camino, it is the fear of leaving my family and my home for 7 weeks too! I go from feeling excited to feeling really anxious. I am still going but please tell me this is normal!

 

[efdoucette]

I too am starting to wonder what I have gotten myself into. I leave on April 29th. It isn't the fear of being on the Camino, it is the fear of leaving my family and my home for 7 weeks too! I go from feeling excited to feeling really anxious. I am still going but please tell me this is normal!

Absolutely normal. As the distance to walk is daunting until you break it down into one day at a time, so is the amount of time daunting, until you break in down into one day at a time. Don't get overwhelmed.

I walked Camino Frances and was away last year for 38 days and left behind my wife and 5 children, adult ages and on their own for the most part but still hard to leave them. But we are all individuals and need to be good to ourselves too. The time does go by and the goodness of home will be there when you return. Hope this helps!
Eric