Camino family Christmas escape.

[tigermike]

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[FLEUR]

That sounds like a good suggestion. I am fortunate and have family to spend time together. However last year my husband and I spent Christmas away from our family. I invited a friend for supper on Christmas eve, we then went to midnight mass.
Next day husband and I went to our local church hall. Here we helped to serve tea / coffee and then a very good lunch to people from the parish who would have spent Christmas alone. Traditional Christmas lunch was served to all £5 a head.
Here it was more a case of loneliness rather than poverty which brought people together.
A great and enjoyable experience. We visited our families over the New year holiday.

 

[Jeff Crawley]

In the UK you can rent a whole youth hostel for your group - you might be a little late for this Christmas though.

 

[tigermike]

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[Rebekah Scott]

Mike you can come over and have Christmas with us at Peaceable. We go to church in the evening, and on Christmas day often gather up the people in the local albergues and bring them over for a feast. Sometimes we get a crowd, sometimes just us. If you want to make the trip over, you are welcome... we'll put you to work peeling spuds.

 

[tigermike]

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[FLEUR]

Contact National trust Leith hill Surrey. I rented their Henman bunk house for a family holiday.
Sleeps 16
Good facilities.
Beautiful rural setting but not far to a good pub.
Tesco even delivered our food order!

one drawback, I've a feeling they don't let it over the Christmas period.

 

[tigermike]

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[twh]

or, perhaps worse still, foisting myself like some charity guest on others this Christmas, was just too awful to contemplate.
.

Mike you seem like a fun, outgoing interesting guy with lots of experience and good stories to tell. Many "intact" families who know you would love having you (prefer having your presence) for Christmas dinner if you were able to bring to the party the Mike who is positive, caring, and happy to be with others....and not the guy who focuses on himself as a charity case. It's easier said than done but you are the only one that has control over how you choose to see yourself or your situation. So arrive at the party representing all the positive things that make you a pilgrim...love and acceptance of yourself and those around you.

Another angle to consider is the gift you give others by giving them the opportunity to offer you something. I'm sure you have experienced doing something for someone else on the Camino. It's the best feeling to help another and then know you made a difference in their life. By accepting an invitation from another family you are giving them the gift of being able to give to another.

I do like your original idea; a gathering of single Pilgrims without family close by for the holiday. A weekend of camaraderie sounds even better than just one evening. I hope you find peace and happiness over the holidays.

 

[FLEUR]

U.K.
Google National Trust Bothies and Bunkhouses

 

[tigermike]

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[Jenscamino]

Mike you can come over and have Christmas with us at Peaceable. We go to church in the evening, and on Christmas day often gather up the people in the local albergues and bring them over for a feast. Sometimes we get a crowd, sometimes just us. If you want to make the trip over, you are welcome... we'll put you to work peeling spuds.

Hi Rebekah are you on the camino somewhere, I would like to do a December camino this year but dont want to be alone the whole time esp. Christmas.

 

[tigermike]

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[Robo]

For many of us Christmas is not the happiest time of the year.
And for many of us, one of the fondest memories we cherish from completing the Camino, is that unique family bond that emerges out of nowhere and implants such a very special place in our hearts.
Every year I dread the coming of Christmas, it reminds me of those special times that, since my divorce and the breakup of my own nuclear family, I know I shall never experience again.
Last night I posted a message on another thread to say that I was seriously thinking of doing the CF for the third time this year (yes, third).
You see the thought of being alone, or, perhaps worse still, foisting myself like some charity guest on others this Christmas, was just too awful to contemplate.
This morning I had another thought – why not try to organise a Camino gathering for all those other lonely hearts out there – people who might also like to escape the Christmas blues but not have the spare five weeks (or the inclination) to walk the CF in early winter.
Each of us, from whatever background, religious group, nationality, age or profession have one important thing in common; we know the Camino, we have found inside ourselves that special something and, most importantly, we recognise it in others.
Given all of the above and our ability to forego the luxuries of five-star accommodations at times, our willingness to engage with others, make new friends, help and support one another why not let’s get together ?
A small boarding school somewhere in the UK would seem like a good place to assemble; it would be closed for the holidays and therefore available, have a dorm or two, hot showers, a kitchen, a dining and socialising area, warmth and hopefully a blissfully seasonal open fire as well !
So, fellow pilgrims, I commend this fledgling idea for you all to consider; let me know your thoughts, I’ll take on the organisational responsibilities and the cost ought not to be prohibitive just as long as the numbers are there.
Over to you…..

That sounds like a wonderful idea @tigermike.
If I was on my own I'd be in like a shot

 

[Former member 49149]

Hi Rebekah are you on the camino somewhere, I would like to do a December camino this year but dont want to be alone the whole time esp. Christmas.

Rebekah is cleaning up the path somewhere after Oporto.

 

[t2andreo]

Thanks Rebekah, a very kind thought and invitation.
But peeling spuds though would be a terrible waste of Cordon Bleu talent don't you think ?

If your skills are THAT good, then I am certain Rebekah will be happy to cede the American-style kitchen she has to you. Of that I am certain. However, you must also do the dishes...

 

[t2andreo]

I wish I could be there as well. While I have a wife and home here, Christmas / New Years is low point in my year as well. She did not grow up with the same traditions, and I am removed from family. One is SO torn...

 

[Purky]

Another angle to consider is the gift you give others by giving them the opportunity to offer you something.

I once had a long conversation with a Franciscan friar. One of the topics that came up was the fact that he gave a lot of lectures all over Holland and Belgium, and he didn't have a driver's license or a car himself. He was dependant on a car owned by the monastery, driven by another friar. When I remarked that acting as his driver was very generous of the other friar, he put me right straight away. "No no no, that's not it, it is the other way around. Because I offer him the opportunity to do me a favor, you see?" And then he winked at me. That guy was running circles around me, both spiritually and intellectually. He was awesome.

 

[tigermike]

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[tigermike]

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[twh]

allowing someone to give you something to help them feel good

This was one of my "lessons" on the Camino this year. Early on I met up again with two people who were part of my Camino family from Orisson on the CF. We walked into an albergue late one afternoon that put us in a separate detached bunk house with a bathroom and 6 beds (3 bunks). In the bottom bunk on the far wall a pilgrim was already in bed. With some difficulty, this pilgrim propped himself up to say hello. He had that look of decrepitness that comes with many birthdays but it was also apparent that his condition was due to much more than age. He didn't have energy to walk two blocks into town for a drink with us. He walked about 10 km per day leaving very early, at sun up and then shuffled to his next destination. He appeared to be physically quite ill (chronic not acute) and either this was one of the last things he was going to do or he just recovered from something that brought him close to the edge and he had now recovered enough to get out of bed again and was happily but wobbly on his Camino. I didn't ask for details, he was another loving pilgrim and that was all that mattered to me. I did ask if there was something special that motivated him to do the Camino and he said, gratitude.

I had lost my charging cord for my phone the previous day. When I met up again with my 2 Camino family members I brought this up at our late dinner. They had the same phones and charging cords. I asked if during the walk tomorrow, I could borrow their cord to charge my phone from my accessory battery pack and they were happy to oblige. The 3 of us rolled out of town around 8am and decided to walk to the next village to get breakfast. As we were about to enter that village we passed our lower bunk mate from the previous evening. We could not comfortably walk at his snail's pace so we exchanged pleasantries and continued. We got our breakfast and were about to leave when our slow walking friend arrived in front of the outdoor table area of our bar. We hailed him over and stayed for a second cafe con leche. Since we had been in the process of organizing our stuff to leave I wanted to get the charging cord from my Orisson buddies so I could set it up in my fanny pack and it could charge my phone over the next few hours of walking. I asked them if this would be a good time for me to get that cord from them and they said yes. Our slow walking friend inquired about my situation and needing to borrow the charge cord and once hearing the story he gleefully replied he had an extra one and he would like to give it to me. I politely refused. I reminded him that he intentionally brought 2 so he had one as a back up and the last thing I was going to do was take his spare knowing it would be much more difficult for him, than me, to find a store and buy a new one if he ended up losing his last phone cord. He then talked in earnest about the many difficulties he had already experienced on this camino and how so many people had helped him when he really needed it. He was grateful for the help but felt empty because he knew with his physical condition he would have no opportunities on this camino to help anyone else. This had really bothered him and he was now so excited because he had a chance he never thought he would have, to help someone else on this camino.

I still did not want to leave him with just one phone cord but it was obvious from his demeanor he did not care about anything more than the chance of exercising his opportunity to help someone else on the Camino. So with much gratitude I accepted his gift. It was a double whammy for me, I got something physical I really needed badly (the cord) but I got something else so much bigger that still makes me tear up a little and that is the incredible feeling of giving the gift of allowing someone else to give me a gift of something that they really wanted me to have. I never saw this pilgrim again but I have never regretted taking this man's spare phone cord because of how it made him feel. I'm plugged into this cord now. It's my favorite souvenir from the summer of 2018.

Sorry Mike for the hi-jack of your thread, I promise it's my last comment on this one.

 

[Rebekah Scott]

Jenscamino, I am in Moratinos, right in the middle of the Frances, just before Sahagun. You and any other pilgrim is welcome, not just for the holidays, either.
If you can cook, all the better! Let us know you're coming and we'll clean the place up a bit.