Douglas Christel
Member
- Time of past OR future Camino
- Camino Frances (May 2019)
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I've read many posts about how pilgrims can plan ahead, map out a trekking schedule, and make reservations a day or two in advance. Do you have any other advice to help me adjust for/cope with my natural tendencies?
This describe some me to a T and the reason I'm doing the Camino in 2018 is to get out of my comfort zone and 'wing it' for a bit. I'm interested in other people's experiences of this too.Hello everyone,
I'm saving up vacation time to do the Camino Frances in the spring of 2019 (wow, that seems so far away when I type it). In my preparation, I've been thinking a lot about challenges I may face. I know that I'm a typical "Type A" personality who likes order, plans, schedules, etc. When I worked on tall ships after college, I tried to be a boat bum and go with the flow, but found it very challenging to let go and accept that some things are out of my control.
I've read many posts about how pilgrims can plan ahead, map out a trekking schedule, and make reservations a day or two in advance. Do you have any other advice to help me adjust for/cope with my natural tendencies?
Many thanks in advance! This is a great forum. I'm learning so much from your experiences.
Doug
Doug (welcome to the forum)... all I know is that all my plans for my 1st Camino (planned at least my 1st 4 days to a T) simply did not come to fruition and cost me a pretty penny to "stay on track". Once I decided to just walk to where my heart told me to stop for the day... everything flowed! Trust the Camino and give yourself the gift of "letting go"... and what a gift it was to me. Buen Camino!Hello everyone,
I'm saving up vacation time to do the Camino Frances in the spring of 2019 (wow, that seems so far away when I type it). In my preparation, I've been thinking a lot about challenges I may face. I know that I'm a typical "Type A" personality who likes order, plans, schedules, etc. When I worked on tall ships after college, I tried to be a boat bum and go with the flow, but found it very challenging to let go and accept that some things are out of my control.
I've read many posts about how pilgrims can plan ahead, map out a trekking schedule, and make reservations a day or two in advance. Do you have any other advice to help me adjust for/cope with my natural tendencies?
Many thanks in advance! This is a great forum. I'm learning so much from your experiences.
Doug
When the topic of perfectionism on the Camino comes up, I like to re-share this story.
On my second Camino, I met a surgeon from the United States who was a perfectionist. In planning his Camino, he read hundreds of books, consulted maps, elevation charts, and historical weather data. He left nothing to chance. The invasion of Normandy in 1944 took less planning. He was so precise that he booked a room for every night along the way to Santiago--some 40 carefully planned out reservations. In all, he spent almost a thousand hours doing research and planning out the perfect Camino. The most absolutely glorious, never been done before, perfect Camino. It was a piece of art work that rivaled the David or the Mona Lisa.
Then his Camino started.
On the first day he fell into a Camino family. He loved his Camino family and they loved him. But there was only one problem. His Camino family was being spontaneous on where to stop for the night. Rarely did his Camino family stop where he already had a reservation. His solution? He would stop where they stopped, have a beer with them, grab a taxi, rush forward/backward to the village where he had a room, check in, shower, change clothes, grab a taxi back to his Camino family, have dinner with them, grab a taxi back to his room, sleep, get up, grab a taxi back to his Camino family, and resume walking with them. I observed this behavior all the way from SJPP to Leon.
Finally one day I asked him, "Why don't you just cancel the remainder of your reservations and stay in the same town as your Camino family?" Before he responded, he look left, then right, and then said in a hushed voice, "I don't want to admit that being a perfectionist about my Camino was a complete and total waste of my time."
Hello everyone,
I'm saving up vacation time to do the Camino Frances in the spring of 2019 (wow, that seems so far away when I type it). In my preparation, I've been thinking a lot about challenges I may face. I know that I'm a typical "Type A" personality who likes order, plans, schedules, etc. When I worked on tall ships after college, I tried to be a boat bum and go with the flow, but found it very challenging to let go and accept that some things are out of my control.
I've read many posts about how pilgrims can plan ahead, map out a trekking schedule, and make reservations a day or two in advance. Do you have any other advice to help me adjust for/cope with my natural tendencies?
Many thanks in advance! This is a great forum. I'm learning so much from your experiences.
Doug
Doug, I was not inclined to reply because I have read so many replies that say exactly what I would say. Apparently forum readers are like you! We like to plan, to be organized, to research and be informed, and to be prepared. And then the camino teaches us is to accept and "let the camino provide." By choosing to walk, carry my pack, and not make reservations, I think I subconsciously acknowledged I would let go of control before I actually began. Since I see you are also from Massachusetts, feel free to contact me for more pre-camino organizing! And, to plan ahead, if you are going to the special showing of the new camino documentary "I'll Push You" at the Revere cinema on November 2, I am going... I already bought my ticket!!!Hello everyone,
I'm saving up vacation time to do the Camino Frances in the spring of 2019 (wow, that seems so far away when I type it). In my preparation, I've been thinking a lot about challenges I may face. I know that I'm a typical "Type A" personality who likes order, plans, schedules, etc. When I worked on tall ships after college, I tried to be a boat bum and go with the flow, but found it very challenging to let go and accept that some things are out of my control.
I've read many posts about how pilgrims can plan ahead, map out a trekking schedule, and make reservations a day or two in advance. Do you have any other advice to help me adjust for/cope with my natural tendencies?
Many thanks in advance! This is a great forum. I'm learning so much from your experiences.
Doug
Unless you are traveling with someone else, your personality type won't factor in that much. You can (and probably should) make good plans through research before you arrive but once you are there and start walking you are free to Type A yourself across the whole country if you want!
However, planning keeps me excited about the journey until I save up enough vacation time to hit the trail. It also gives me something to look forward to each day when I check my email and read your posts.
You can flip this tendency on its head, especially in your early days by setting a different set of goals that will encourage you to slow down. These might be goals / objectives / rules like:
1) Stop every 60 to 90 minutes to take off your shoes and let your feet breathe
2) While stopping, pull out your notebook and answer the following questions:
a) What do I feel right now
b) What do I see right now (feel free to sketch something)
c) What do I smell right now
d) What do I hear right now
e) What else do I want to remember about this moment/What else do I want to write down?
All I have to add is that I'm glad that surgeon is a perfectionist in his normal life or I wouldn't want to trust him if I was "going under the knife" if he was just "going with the flow".When the topic of perfectionism on the Camino comes up, I like to re-share this story.
On my second Camino, I met a surgeon from the United States who was a perfectionist. In planning his Camino, he read hundreds of books, consulted maps, elevation charts, and historical weather data. He left nothing to chance. The invasion of Normandy in 1944 took less planning. He was so precise that he booked a room for every night along the way to Santiago--some 40 carefully planned out reservations. In all, he spent almost a thousand hours doing research and planning out the perfect Camino. The most absolutely glorious, never been done before, perfect Camino. It was a piece of art work that rivaled the David or the Mona Lisa.
Then his Camino started.
On the first day he fell into a Camino family. He loved his Camino family and they loved him. But there was only one problem. His Camino family was being spontaneous on where to stop for the night. Rarely did his Camino family stop where he already had a reservation. His solution? He would stop where they stopped, have a beer with them, grab a taxi, rush forward/backward to the village where he had a room, check in, shower, change clothes, grab a taxi back to his Camino family, have dinner with them, grab a taxi back to his room, sleep, get up, grab a taxi back to his Camino family, and resume walking with them. I observed this behavior all the way from SJPP to Leon.
Finally one day I asked him, "Why don't you just cancel the remainder of your reservations and stay in the same town as your Camino family?" Before he responded, he look left, then right, and then said in a hushed voice, "I don't want to admit that being a perfectionist about my Camino was a complete and total waste of my time."
Wouldn’t this be due to expert training and experience? Then one is well eqipped to go with a flow...All I have to add is that I'm glad that surgeon is a perfectionist in his normal life or I wouldn't want to trust him if I was "going under the knife" if he was just "going with the flow".
Just think for a second, if you like planning, schedules and order, what will be your reaction when things start to go wrong ( I use the word "when" and not"if"carefully) because, sure as eggs, a few things will go wrong!! I was walking with an elderly French couple who planned everything, only to arrive at their stop-over for the night to find the room had been given to someone else,French couple were not best pleased!!! so who were in the best position? me who just walked to the next vacant bed or the French couple whose plans were totally wrecked not just for that night but for the rest of their Camino! I personally like the feeling of stopping where and when I want to, there are a load of lovely places that pilgrims would love to stay at, but don't, just because it's not on their plan! some of the most memorable evenings came to me only because I stopped at places where I chose and not some ridged plan! but that is the reality and beauty of the Way, like life itself, you really do not know what's around the next corner! Buen CaminoHello everyone,
I'm saving up vacation time to do the Camino Frances in the spring of 2019 (wow, that seems so far away when I type it). In my preparation, I've been thinking a lot about challenges I may face. I know that I'm a typical "Type A" personality who likes order, plans, schedules, etc. When I worked on tall ships after college, I tried to be a boat bum and go with the flow, but found it very challenging to let go and accept that some things are out of my control.
I've read many posts about how pilgrims can plan ahead, map out a trekking schedule, and make reservations a day or two in advance. Do you have any other advice to help me adjust for/cope with my natural tendencies?
Many thanks in advance! This is a great forum. I'm learning so much from your experiences.
Doug
Normally when I travel I know exactly where I’m going to be staying each night. Prior to walking the Camino, I had not stayed one night in a hostel. I wasn’t one to plan out itineraries to the nth degree, but where I was staying...that was planned out. I wanted to force myself out of my comfort zone. I felt it would be good for me. I did and it was. My advice is to plan your gear and plan your training and plan the weight of your pack down to the ounce and then go with the flow for the rest of it.Hello everyone,
I'm saving up vacation time to do the Camino Frances in the spring of 2019 (wow, that seems so far away when I type it). In my preparation, I've been thinking a lot about challenges I may face. I know that I'm a typical "Type A" personality who likes order, plans, schedules, etc. When I worked on tall ships after college, I tried to be a boat bum and go with the flow, but found it very challenging to let go and accept that some things are out of my control.
I've read many posts about how pilgrims can plan ahead, map out a trekking schedule, and make reservations a day or two in advance. Do you have any other advice to help me adjust for/cope with my natural tendencies?
Many thanks in advance! This is a great forum. I'm learning so much from your experiences.
Doug
Hi Doug. I am currently walking my fifth Camino. The first one I made reservations each night for the next night. Then a met a woman who urged me to let the Camino be the Camino and I didn't make reservations that night. Well, that didn't work and I ended up paying an inflated price for the last room in town. Embrace who you are. If you have a general idea of your walking abilities each day go ahead and plan. I make reservations on the Only Prilgrims website, Booking.com and email some properties directly. Walk the Camino your way and cancel reservations if you change your mind. Buen CaminoHello everyone,
I'm saving up vacation time to do the Camino Frances in the spring of 2019 (wow, that seems so far away when I type it). In my preparation, I've been thinking a lot about challenges I may face. I know that I'm a typical "Type A" personality who likes order, plans, schedules, etc. When I worked on tall ships after college, I tried to be a boat bum and go with the flow, but found it very challenging to let go and accept that some things are out of my control.
I've read many posts about how pilgrims can plan ahead, map out a trekking schedule, and make reservations a day or two in advance. Do you have any other advice to help me adjust for/cope with my natural tendencies?
Many thanks in advance! This is a great forum. I'm learning so much from your experiences.
Doug
I agree with Waka, Doug, I am like you in daily life, and made it my Camino challenge to be less organised and allow the Camino to provide. It was sometimes hard, and I did not always let it go. And a certain mass hysteria got hold of the other pilgrims every now and then. To resist that is a challenge. But the further I got, the more relaxed I became about it. Only once did we have a situation (in Najera) where all the albergues and hostels were full, and only because my walking mate threw a wobbly we got the 'emergency beds' in the albergue municipale. So we DID find a bed in the end!I guess one of the challenges you face will be to go with the flow. I have to say it can be daunting at first not know where you're going to stay and when you get there will there be a bed. I felt a little like this at first but as the days went on I learnt to just accept my lot.
Love it! So trueEl Camino se vive tres veces : cuando lo sueñas, cuando lo vives y cuando lo recuerdas. !
I saw a poster in Najera: El Camino se vive tres veces : cuando lo sueñas, cuando lo vives y cuando lo recuerdas. I am jealous that you are still in stage 1 and I am in 3 now!
Hello everyone,
I'm saving up vacation time to do the Camino Frances in the spring of 2019 (wow, that seems so far away when I type it). In my preparation, I've been thinking a lot about challenges I may face. I know that I'm a typical "Type A" personality who likes order, plans, schedules, etc. When I worked on tall ships after college, I tried to be a boat bum and go with the flow, but found it very challenging to let go and accept that some things are out of my control.
I've read many posts about how pilgrims can plan ahead, map out a trekking schedule, and make reservations a day or two in advance. Do you have any other advice to help me adjust for/cope with my natural tendencies?
Many thanks in advance! This is a great forum. I'm learning so much from your experiences.
Doug
Hi RoboI think you need to be careful here Doug. I mean if your natural tendency is to plan, plan, plan, then trying to just 'go with the flow' could be quite stressful for you.
I would suggest the following.
This has certainly helped me to relax, though it can have medical side effects that you might want to consider. Always good to get medical opinion on these things I think.
Anyway.
Plan away to your hearts content. That's what many Camino 'addicts' do when not walking anyway. I know I do. I pour over guide books and maps. Research places to stay. For our next Camino, I have worked out a schedule that is designed to ensure my wife does not need to walk more than 20 kms per day. (she has bad feet) The schedule also has ideas about where to stay. Heck I've even starting compiling a list of recommended places to eat.
I could practically walk the Camino now in the pitch dark and know where I was going!
All this planning is not only fun, but it gives me a sense of reassurance that I have planned for all eventualities. And I make sure I book my first 2 nights accomodation.
But here's the scary bit Doug. And I can say this with some experience, having walked 2 Caminos. Of course there are many here who have walked dozens! But even 1 or 2 gives you a 'feel' of the kind of things that can go wrong with your careful plans.
I find it goes like this. I'm not sure if it's something in the water. Maybe the mountain air of the Pyrenees? Maybe the sense of peace knowing no one can reach me via phone or email. (except my wife of course, I'm not that stupid)
Maybe it's the sense of being part of a 'moving community' all heading in the same direction with similar purpose.
But all of that careful planning goes 'out the window' on day 3. It's perhaps a bit like being let loose with the other kids on summer camp? I'm not sure, I've never been on one. I'm not American.
But maybe you start to get the idea Doug. You see most of the other kids don't have plans, and seem to be totally relaxed and carefree. And it's kind of infectious.
And of course the wine. Best not to tell your friends about that. I mean, they think you're going on this arduous 'trek' that only adventurous and super fit types go on. Don't spill the beans Doug. It's really a food and wine walking tour! But the wine. Yes the wine. The Vino Tinto .........ahh.
That knocks any thought of planning out of my head, every day. Guaranteed.
So plan away buddy. Plan away.......... It's fun after all......
Hi Doug. If you feel the need to be totally prepared and, since you have two years, why not learn Spanish? It will add immeasurably to your Camino experience, show respect for your hosts/host country, and be useful for future trips in Latin America, including SW USA.Hello everyone,
I'm saving up vacation time to do the Camino Frances in the spring of 2019 (wow, that seems so far away when I type it). In my preparation, I've been thinking a lot about challenges I may face. I know that I'm a typical "Type A" personality who likes order, plans, schedules, etc. When I worked on tall ships after college, I tried to be a boat bum and go with the flow, but found it very challenging to let go and accept that some things are out of my control.
I've read many posts about how pilgrims can plan ahead, map out a trekking schedule, and make reservations a day or two in advance. Do you have any other advice to help me adjust for/cope with my natural tendencies?
Many thanks in advance! This is a great forum. I'm learning so much from your experiences.
Doug
Hi Doug. If you feel the need to be totally prepared and, since you have two years, why not learn Spanish? It will add immeasurably to your Camino experience, show respect for your hosts/host country, and be useful for future trips in Latin America, including SW USA.
I am a total Type A personality. I did the Camino Norte with no plans alone. I suggest just letting go. It wasn't easy at first but I fell into the rhythm and it was a piece of cake.The only anal thing I did was send my backpack on ahead as my back could not take it. So I had to chose where I would stop the next day and send my backpack there. It was no problem. You can do it! Good luck and buen camino!Hello everyone,
I'm saving up vacation time to do the Camino Frances in the spring of 2019 (wow, that seems so far away when I type it). In my preparation, I've been thinking a lot about challenges I may face. I know that I'm a typical "Type A" personality who likes order, plans, schedules, etc. When I worked on tall ships after college, I tried to be a boat bum and go with the flow, but found it very challenging to let go and accept that some things are out of my control.
I've read many posts about how pilgrims can plan ahead, map out a trekking schedule, and make reservations a day or two in advance. Do you have any other advice to help me adjust for/cope with my natural tendencies?
Many thanks in advance! This is a great forum. I'm learning so much from your experiences.
Doug
Haha, I only just saw this reply! My dogs are called Banjo and Matilda and so few get the Banjo patterson reference, but a kiwi???!!! So impressed!!!@Banjo&Matilda you just need a swag, mate, and a billy, and she'll be right.
Just steer clear of the billabongs.
@Banjo&Matilda you just need a swag, mate, and a billy, and she'll be right. Just steer clear of the billabongs.
Haha, I only just saw this reply! My dogs are called Banjo and Matilda and so few get the Banjo patterson reference, but a kiwi???!!! So impressed!!!
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