Bringing the Camino "back home"

[indyinmaine]

There are all sorts of references in the Forum about its being "infectious", "having to go back", "which one will I do next", etc., etc. While I too have those feelings I'm trying to concentrate on translating my experience to those who either don't have the time, resources, or perhaps inclination to walk, particularly as it relates to spirituality and the church. To date I've found that my presentations come across more like travelogues rather than translatable experiences (if you haven't done it there's no way they can experience it).
In the four months since I've returned I've come to the conclusion that there is a distinct "vocabulary" problem and am in the process of writing a book about it. That will probably take some time and in the interim I'm considering organizing a retreat (in the US but not necessarily in Maine) to focus on the topic. While the date is yet uncertain I'm thinking about Fall '14 or Spring '15.
I'd be interested in conversing with anyone who might have the same inclinations.

 

[zammy]

I have walked the Camino twice, starting both times from Le Puy.
I am not Christian and so my reasons to walk it were not religious but personal.
It was my first try of a "long distance trail" which got me hooked on these kind of trails, like the AT, TMB and more.
I can describe this experience best by transferring the feeling of a long distnace hiker first. After walking for 5 to 7 days your body adjusts to the hardness of the trail leaving your mind to soar up,
you find yourslef walking like an automatic pilot, you walk and your body sense the trail while your mind is doing nothing else but high level meditation.
It's an experience no one can avoid- you walk almost all day long, the noises and sounds you hear are the wind, rain, leaves, trees, birds, your breaths, the squeaking of your pack- all these are the ideal recipe for a high level meditation and this is the feeling you get addicted to, this is what made me and others come back and walk more long distance trails.
Now, add to this the experience of the many people you meet, the encounters of people and countries not familiar before, the sharing, caring, attention from other people is intoxicating, you feel like you are trully not alone, you can trust almost everyone to do everything to and for you, where else, in these stormy time, can you find this eperience? many like me wish to feel it again and again and this why many go back.
It is a feeling of physical and mental strength that rises from within you and make you feel like you can conquer the world, nothing is hard from that point on.
Infectious?oh yes, I have become a missionar for the Camino and long distane hikining in general, I try and succeed convincing my friends and strangers I meet on the net to walk th Camino.
Every spring my feet itch and I plan to walk another trail that year if I can , I constantly plan on which trail I should walk and there are so many of them but the camino is a life changer for me.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

To date I've found that my presentations come across more like travelogues rather than translatable experiences

Isn't that just the general futility of wanting others to feel what I feel? To have them understand me?

One can rebel against the essential loneness of life, or simply accept it. No one will ever completely understand another person, and there simply are not enough words to crash through that barrier.

A nice travelogue gets others going, where they can have their own thoughts and feelings. That may be all that you can do.

 

[indyinmaine]

I understand the myriad of reasons why each of us walk the Camino. Interesting enough though is that the description zammy gave is almost a carbon copy of mine, even though our goals might have been totally (or were they?) different. I think there's a common element in doing the walk and I just happen to be interested in how that can be best translated to my church community. If everyone who either could or wanted to walked the Camino I'm fairly certain that the "experience" would be lost in the crowds. If that were to happen we would all probably find another one which was less crowded!

 

[Deleted member 3000]

If everyone who either could or wanted to walked the Camino I'm fairly certain that the "experience" would be lost in the crowds.

Not for me. No one else's camino diminishes mine no matter how many there are. If all 7 billion humans did it in one year, though, finding a bed would be a problem.