LIVE from the Camino An update

[adrianm4492]

I thought today would be a good day to update you on my winter Camino. This may be long so just for those interested in a pilgrim's journey.
I arrived into SJPdP six weeks ago today. I left two days later. ( had to wait for the post office to open to forward some luggage. I haven't forgotten it Ivar I'm just slow!) I have just arrived into Sarria today.
I realise that is very slow but that is how I chose to walk. And it has paid dividends. On my first Camino two years ago I arrived into Sarria feeling like death warmed up. There wasn't a square inch of me that wasn't screaming out in pain. This time I have no ailments to speak of. None.
I know some people will criticise and say no pain no gain but being pain free has helped me enjoy this Camino exponentially more than the last.
When I started I was hit with the worst conditions imaginable. For the first week I endured raging blizzards, snow up to my armpits, driving wind and rain, you name it.
Some people on this forum saw fit to criticise me for not being Bear Grylls and being unprepared. I disagree.
I bought all the top line clothing needed (apart from a good poncho) and was as physically prepared as I could be. No one could prepare themselves for what hit me. It was freak conditions, a point proven by the fact I was interviewed by local TV when I arrived into Zubiri. Even they thought it was horrendous and unusual conditions.
Since the Alto del Perdon day I have had picture perfect weather for a month, marred only by the blizzard that hit in ocobreiro.
I mean it's been perfect. Crisp bright mornings warming up to mid teens during the day. Ideal walking conditions.
For a long time I was feeling like this Camino was passing me by and I wasn't getting anything out of it. Banal thoughts and musings filled my mind as I walked and I was seriously questioning my motives for this second Camino.
Then slowly, step by step, she beat those ideas out of me. The superfluous ponderings diminished by the day. To the point where I can now catch myself within minutes of starting some ridiculous fantasy of the future or reliving of the past and turn it back to the here and now.
Everything hit me at once as I was walking the relatively ugly stretch out of Astorga. This was a stretch shared with my two closest Camino friends last time and I felt their presence in every step.
Until this point I had not shed a tear on this walk. A stark contrast to last time when the waterworks were a near daily companion. Firstly from overwhelming joy at finally living my dream, turning eventually into tears of pain as my body began to break down. This time around I had experienced neither.
But then everything fell into place. I had just had 2-3 days of the most perfect days walking imaginable (one of them on my birthday) and it was on that stretch out of Astorga that I began to analyse my walk thus far. And it was glorious. And finally, after weeks of doubt, I knew that this walk was so serendipitous as to be scary. I won't go into the whys and wherefores, but just know that it was perfect.
And I broke down. I was a blubbering, thankful mess. I will never be able to thank the Camino enough but rest assured gratitude has been the predominant feeling since that moment.
And so now here I am, still almost a week away from Santiago and about to start the busy section that filled me with nothing but angst and resentment last time, and I am a changed man. I will be eternally grateful to the Camino for all she has shown and taught me and I feel embarrassed for ever doubting her. For those considering a winter pilgrimage I highly recommend it. There are challenges not faced with higher season walks but the positives far outweigh the negatives. And if the weather is as glorious for you as it has been for me most of the time, well you can thank me for the advice later.
If you want to catch the tail end of my winter adventure you can follow me on Instagram @soulful_rambler. If anyone has any specific questions about winter walking please don't hesitate to ask. Thanks for reading through to the end. Hope I didn't bore you.

 

[kay lee]

Just wonderful! Thank you for sharing such beautiful and intimate experiences. Buen Camino through the rest of your walk.

 

[yesshesaid]

I thought today would be a good day to update you on my winter Camino. This may be long so just for those interested in a pilgrim's journey.
I arrived into SJPdP six weeks ago today. I left two days later. ( had to wait for the post office to open to forward some luggage. I haven't forgotten it Ivar I'm just slow!) I have just arrived into Sarria today.
I realise that is very slow but that is how I chose to walk. And it has paid dividends. On my first Camino two years ago I arrived into Sarria feeling like death warmed up. There wasn't a square inch of me that wasn't screaming out in pain. This time I have no ailments to speak of. None.
I know some people will criticise and say no pain no gain but being pain free has helped me enjoy this Camino exponentially more than the last.
When I started I was hit with the worst conditions imaginable. For the first week I endured raging blizzards, snow up to my armpits, driving wind and rain, you name it.
Some people on this forum saw fit to criticise me for not being Bear Grylls and being unprepared. I disagree.
I bought all the top line clothing needed (apart from a good poncho) and was as physically prepared as I could be. No one could prepare themselves for what hit me. It was freak conditions, a point proven by the fact I was interviewed by local TV when I arrived into Zubiri. Even they thought it was horrendous and unusual conditions.
Since the Alto del Perdon day I have had picture perfect weather for a month, marred only by the blizzard that hit in ocobreiro.
I mean it's been perfect. Crisp bright mornings warming up to mid teens during the day. Ideal walking conditions.
For a long time I was feeling like this Camino was passing me by and I wasn't getting anything out of it. Banal thoughts and musings filled my mind as I walked and I was seriously questioning my motives for this second Camino.
Then slowly, step by step, she beat those ideas out of me. The superfluous ponderings diminished by the day. To the point where I can now catch myself within minutes of starting some ridiculous fantasy of the future or reliving of the past and turn it back to the here and now.
Everything hit me at once as I was walking the relatively ugly stretch out of Astorga. This was a stretch shared with my two closest Camino friends last time and I felt their presence in every step.
Until this point I had not shed a tear on this walk. A stark contrast to last time when the waterworks were a near daily companion. Firstly from overwhelming joy at finally living my dream, turning eventually into tears of pain as my body began to break down. This time around I had experienced neither.
But then everything fell into place. I had just had 2-3 days of the most perfect days walking imaginable (one of them on my birthday) and it was on that stretch out of Astorga that I began to analyse my walk thus far. And it was glorious. And finally, after weeks of doubt, I knew that this walk was so serendipitous as to be scary. I won't go into the whys and wherefores, but just know that it was perfect.
And I broke down. I was a blubbering, thankful mess. I will never be able to thank the Camino enough but rest assured gratitude has been the predominant feeling since that moment.
And so now here I am, still almost a week away from Santiago and about to start the busy section that filled me with nothing but angst and resentment last time, and I am a changed man. I will be eternally grateful to the Camino for all she has shown and taught me and I feel embarrassed for ever doubting her. For those considering a winter pilgrimage I highly recommend it. There are challenges not faced with higher season walks but the positives far outweigh the negatives. And if the weather is as glorious for you as it has been for me most of the time, well you can thank me for the advice later.
If you want to catch the tail end of my winter adventure you can follow me on Instagram @soulful_rambler. If anyone has any specific questions about winter walking please don't hesitate to ask. Thanks for reading through to the end. Hope I didn't bore you.

Thank you so much; this is my hope for my first Camino next month--to be present, open, and able to walk through the opening doors. Your post is lyrical.

 

[catheriam]

I begin my third Camino de Santiago out the front door of Roncesvalles on 22 March 2019. I intend ("man proposes, God disposes"!) a route of a bit of this and a bit of that. Camino Frances to Lugo, a train to Ferrol and the Camino Ingles to Santiago de Compostela, then a "reverse" Camino Portugal from Santiago de Compostela to Porto, a train to Lisbon and back to Missouri. 22 March - 03 May 2019.

My first Camino in April - May 2002 along the Camino Frances was a success. Two pairs of unbroken-in boots ("Lady Scarpas" and "Country Walkers" - ouch, ouch, ouch!) and I ended up in tennis shoes! Blisters, solitude, emotional inner wrangling, foot aches, exhaustion, snorers, etc., etc. But, I did it!

Returned to walk another Camino Frances in 2004 because I was ... bored. Restless. My company had put a hold on contracts in my field and, oh what the heck, just "do" another Camino. Disaster. Unfit, spiritually detached, irritated for the most minuscule of reasons, I left in Burgos and returned to Missouri, humiliated, humbled and infinitely wiser than my next Camino would reveal itself to me in perfect ways.

I am now 74 and my generous Mother left a bequest to provide the means to choose, if I wish, more casa rural and private accommodations. A Stratos 34 and an Enlightened Equipment sleeping bag, lightweight tops and bottoms unavailable in 2002, plus a myriad of iPhone Apps, ditto 2002 unavailability. My heart is light and my feet contentedly nestle in a pair of Hoka One One Torrent. I trust in St James, my angels, and generous doses of patience, humor and perseverance.

May all that adrianmm4492 wrote -- indeed, so lyrically -- reveal itself to me along this Camino in myriad and miraculous ways perfect for my life's journey, my wisdom and my highest good.

 

[alexwalker]

I thought today would be a good day to update you on my winter Camino. This may be long so just for those interested in a pilgrim's journey.
I arrived into SJPdP six weeks ago today. I left two days later. ( had to wait for the post office to open to forward some luggage. I haven't forgotten it Ivar I'm just slow!) I have just arrived into Sarria today.
I realise that is very slow but that is how I chose to walk. And it has paid dividends. On my first Camino two years ago I arrived into Sarria feeling like death warmed up. There wasn't a square inch of me that wasn't screaming out in pain. This time I have no ailments to speak of. None.
I know some people will criticise and say no pain no gain but being pain free has helped me enjoy this Camino exponentially more than the last.
When I started I was hit with the worst conditions imaginable. For the first week I endured raging blizzards, snow up to my armpits, driving wind and rain, you name it.
Some people on this forum saw fit to criticise me for not being Bear Grylls and being unprepared. I disagree.
I bought all the top line clothing needed (apart from a good poncho) and was as physically prepared as I could be. No one could prepare themselves for what hit me. It was freak conditions, a point proven by the fact I was interviewed by local TV when I arrived into Zubiri. Even they thought it was horrendous and unusual conditions.
Since the Alto del Perdon day I have had picture perfect weather for a month, marred only by the blizzard that hit in ocobreiro.
I mean it's been perfect. Crisp bright mornings warming up to mid teens during the day. Ideal walking conditions.
For a long time I was feeling like this Camino was passing me by and I wasn't getting anything out of it. Banal thoughts and musings filled my mind as I walked and I was seriously questioning my motives for this second Camino.
Then slowly, step by step, she beat those ideas out of me. The superfluous ponderings diminished by the day. To the point where I can now catch myself within minutes of starting some ridiculous fantasy of the future or reliving of the past and turn it back to the here and now.
Everything hit me at once as I was walking the relatively ugly stretch out of Astorga. This was a stretch shared with my two closest Camino friends last time and I felt their presence in every step.
Until this point I had not shed a tear on this walk. A stark contrast to last time when the waterworks were a near daily companion. Firstly from overwhelming joy at finally living my dream, turning eventually into tears of pain as my body began to break down. This time around I had experienced neither.
But then everything fell into place. I had just had 2-3 days of the most perfect days walking imaginable (one of them on my birthday) and it was on that stretch out of Astorga that I began to analyse my walk thus far. And it was glorious. And finally, after weeks of doubt, I knew that this walk was so serendipitous as to be scary. I won't go into the whys and wherefores, but just know that it was perfect.
And I broke down. I was a blubbering, thankful mess. I will never be able to thank the Camino enough but rest assured gratitude has been the predominant feeling since that moment.
And so now here I am, still almost a week away from Santiago and about to start the busy section that filled me with nothing but angst and resentment last time, and I am a changed man. I will be eternally grateful to the Camino for all she has shown and taught me and I feel embarrassed for ever doubting her. For those considering a winter pilgrimage I highly recommend it. There are challenges not faced with higher season walks but the positives far outweigh the negatives. And if the weather is as glorious for you as it has been for me most of the time, well you can thank me for the advice later.
If you want to catch the tail end of my winter adventure you can follow me on Instagram @soulful_rambler. If anyone has any specific questions about winter walking please don't hesitate to ask. Thanks for reading through to the end. Hope I didn't bore you.

Fantastic post! Indeed, you and the Camino found each other. Very happy for you! I have had similar experiences as you now have, and it's all good!

Where's your next Camino?

 

[adrianm4492]

I begin my third Camino de Santiago out the front door of Roncesvalles on 22 March 2019. I intend ("man proposes, God disposes"!) a route of a bit of this and a bit of that. Camino Frances to Lugo, a train to Ferrol and the Camino Ingles to Santiago de Compostela, then a "reverse" Camino Portugal from Santiago de Compostela to Porto, a train to Lisbon and back to Missouri. 22 March - 03 May 2019.

My first Camino in April - May 2002 along the Camino Frances was a success. Two pairs of unbroken-in boots ("Lady Scarpas" and "Country Walkers" - ouch, ouch, ouch!) and I ended up in tennis shoes! Blisters, solitude, emotional inner wrangling, foot aches, exhaustion, snorers, etc., etc. But, I did it!

Returned to walk another Camino Frances in 2004 because I was ... bored. Restless. My company had put a hold on contracts in my field and, oh what the heck, just "do" another Camino. Disaster. Unfit, spiritually detached, irritated for the most minuscule of reasons, I left in Burgos and returned to Missouri, humiliated, humbled and infinitely wiser than my next Camino would reveal itself to me in perfect ways.

I am now 74 and my generous Mother left a bequest to provide the means to choose, if I wish, more casa rural and private accommodations. A Stratos 34 and an Enlightened Equipment sleeping bag, lightweight tops and bottoms unavailable in 2002, plus a myriad of iPhone Apps, ditto 2002 unavailability. My heart is light and my feet contentedly nestle in a pair of Hoka One One Torrent. I trust in St James, my angels, and generous doses of patience, humor and perseverance.

May all that adrianmm4492 wrote -- indeed, so lyrically -- reveal itself to me along this Camino in myriad and miraculous ways perfect for my life's journey, my wisdom and my highest good.

And a hearty burn Camino to you. It sounds like you are ready this time. My first Camino was 2 years ago and I started 21st March. I had one really bad days weather but mostly it was perfect. I pray for the same for you.