For 2024 Pilgrims: €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) |
---|
Exactly why, having not yet done a camino, I resist looking at all the pics posted. It's not just that, like movie trailers, they cherry pick. It's wanting to discover it for myself. Sure the pics will be great reminders afterwards though.In her new book " To Oldly Go " Dervla Murphy argues that because of the internet now the familiar is not left behind and the unknown has become familiar before one leaves home.
And the photo is not the experience. I've walked five years now, and believe me, there is no amount of Internet research that comes anywhere close to the actual experience of walking.The Map is NOT the Territory
The converse is also true: because of the Internet you now have some idea of the meaning, history, context and significance of the thing you are looking at, rather than blankly skimming past....because of the internet now the familiar is not left behind and the unknown has become familiar before one leaves home...
Sometimes I have walked without reservations (Bavaria and Czech Republic in the spring), and relied upon the hope of finding lodgings as I go. Other times I have made reservations (France and Switzerland) and am then faced with the challenge of finding the darned locations. Typically in both cases, the last hour of the day, finding lodgings, is the most painful, frustrating, and difficult. Information technology that eases this process is truly welcome. Perhaps in Spain, where lodgings are frequent and easily located, the problem is different. But for me, the loss of Internet assistance on the lodging problem adds an hour of walking to every day.The sunset challenge " where to sleep ? " has been banished by the ease of booking into hostel etc. With street-plan provided on-line.
Me too, exactly!Exactly why, having not yet done a camino, I resist looking at all the pics posted. It's not just that, like movie trailers, they cherry pick. It's wanting to discover it for myself. Sure the pics will be great reminders afterwards though.
I don't think that is inherent in the number of choices! Those choices are available even to those who do not know about them, who may be very happy albeit in ignorance. So it is knowing about them, a mental act, that may lead to unhappiness. The number is just the number. The rest is attitude.the more choices one has (a product, a place to stay, a restaurant, etc.), the less happy one is with the choice made.
Oh, yes, attitude is important! But the book argued (and I've seen it myself) that people can (not will) become paralyzed by information and options, reluctant to make a decision, second-guessing a decision made. I think that's one reason I am so looking forward to actually being on my Camino pilgrimage -- yes, still choices to be made, but at a much more simplified, basic level.I don't think that is inherent in the number of choices! Those choices are available even to those who do not know about them, who may be very happy albeit in ignorance. So it is knowing about them, a mental act, that may lead to unhappiness. The number is just the number. The rest is attitude.
I always wondered where the line about the schemes of mice and men came from!I have traveled the world extensively over the years and although i really enjoy the planning part of any trip - looking over maps, train schedules, hostel locations, etc as it nicely fills in the time between the idea of going and actually doing it - i find that "the plan" usually ends up on the bottom of my backpack next to my dirty socks. I know i would have missed out meeting some very amazing people and experienced things i didn't know existed had i stuck to a strict regimen. But i've never had to worry about any time constraints either. Things can "change on a dime" the saying goes especially when you're in a foreign land or "expect the unexpected" (hate using that one). But there's a Robert Burns poem that covers this for me:
But, Mousie, thou art no thy lane [you aren't alone]
In proving foresight may be vain:
The best laid schemes o' mice an' men
Gang aft a-gley, [often go awry]
An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain,
For promised joy.
Cheers!
I have traveled the world extensively over the years and although i really enjoy the planning part of any trip - looking over maps, train schedules, hostel locations, etc as it nicely fills in the time between the idea of going and actually doing it - i find that "the plan" usually ends up on the bottom of my backpack next to my dirty socks. I know i would have missed out meeting some very amazing people and experienced things i didn't know existed had i stuck to a strict regimen. But i've never had to worry about any time constraints either. Things can "change on a dime" the saying goes especially when you're in a foreign land or "expect the unexpected" (hate using that one). But there's a Robert Burns poem that covers this for me:
But, Mousie, thou art no thy lane [you aren't alone]
In proving foresight may be vain:
The best laid schemes o' mice an' men
Gang aft a-gley, [often go awry]
An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain,
For promised joy.
Cheers!
Well you made it back but I'm not hearing a ringing endorsement for the strategy...Because of all the information on the forum I decided to forgo buying a guide for my Camino this past April-May. I took some paper notes with my proposed walking plan and off I went.
In my day to day job I do a lot of logistical planning and I wanted to get away from all that and just let the road take me. I think you can still have a "sunset challenge" if you seek to.
A trip without planning always reminds me of the thousands of times I have been asked for the time by someone who proudly eschews watches. I gladly loan my Brierley's to the many pilgrims who don't carry a guidebook on the assumption that they are glad to let me carry the 11 oz. of weight.It may sound very romantic to go boldly into the unknown, but in practice, a bit of previous research can save you from headaches and even dangerous situations
you can quite easy do the camino without a guide book like so many I see..walking into Santiago I never book a place to stay and look for a person I know who has private apartments not just for pilgrims.....I usually get the exclusive use of a room with more than one bed..even though I offer to pay for the all the bed spaces. they refuse...first name terms.nowBecause of all the information on the forum I decided to forgo buying a guide for my Camino this past April-May. I took some paper notes with my proposed walking plan and off I went.
In my day to day job I do a lot of logistical planning and I wanted to get away from all that and just let the road take me. I think you can still have a "sunset challenge" if you seek to.
camino was certainly unknown to me and still is in many ways. i should go on many more (hoping). Some say camino is a metaphor for life's journey and as such we cannot be sure what is around the next bend. However we can choose not to be intimidated or in fear of the unknown but embrace change. Like you the new and different self will emerge ."Unknown" is just a more intimidating word for "undiscovered." The Camino is a not a journey into the unknown, it's a journey of discovery -- discovery of a new and different land, a new and different people, and a new and different self.
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?