Carpe diem?

[Peregrinopaul]

Apologies that I have posted some of this before.
I came across an old thread of mine called A Camino Interrupted from 2016. (I don't know how to direct you to an old thread). This is a part of my introductory post.

"I was just thinking that I should edit my details, which list the Via de la Plata as completed this year.
In fact it wasn't. I had to abandon my camino in Plasencia, when I received word that my older brother was dying. My brother lived in Portugal, and I had visited him, and shared many a glass of vino tinto just before commencing the camino, so this came as quite a shock.
By coincidence, my companion peregrino (and best friend), had an accident that same day; he came off his bike in busy traffic on the road into Plasencia. He broke a rib and injured a thumb badly, so probably would not have been any state to continue. I won't easily forget being flagged down by a passing vehicle, and turning to see several cars with hazard lights flashing and a group of people leaning over my friend prone on the bitumen, and his bike in the ditch. One of those moments you dread.
I returned to Portugal, and was there when my brother died."

Until now, I had completely forgotten that the friend, Daryl, mentioned above, joined the forum and briefly posted on that thread as follows:
"Hi Paul, good to see your post on the forum...my injuries have all healed but not to sure about the damage to my pride before the fall. Nevertheless I am fit and raring to go next June...JP has a good idea! Loved sharing the time with you and your brothers in Portugal, so it would be a fitting place to start again."

Reading this again brought a lump in my throat. He references a suggestion by @JabbaPapa that I should dedicate my next camino to my brother, starting from his house in Portugal. (This did happen). But the sadness I now feel comes from the irony that Daryl makes clear his intention of joining me again on that subsequent camino in 2017. But he didn't. He decided it was best to postpone it until 2018 when it would coincide with his retirement and hence would not involve more time off work. We enthusiastically planned that 2018 camino, and a few months before our departure he died suddenly of a heart attack after playing a game of golf. I dedicated my 2018 camino to him.
I should state that I am not looking for messages of sympathy - there were many such expressions on the original thread.
The point of my post: I can't help reflecting that we all now live in a new world of postponement. After all, the Camino isn't going anywhere, and there's always next year.

 

[Former member 62607]

Yes, a timely thought. I am writing up my diary of the VF and enjoying reliving each day but also it leaves me unsettled and wishing to be anywhere but stuck home, waiting on things being ‘better’ for travellng. It was a good decision to walk it all in 2019 or else i would still be waiting to complete it. The urge to just pack a rucksack and walk is strong as when will the conditions ever be just right? Your story is a sad one and reminds us not to put things off but to act! I have been ultra cautious throughout but see others holidaying and travellng, taking their chances. At some point theres a balance to be struck when rules allow and travel doesnt endanger others or oneself unduly. The heart yearns but the head is in charge for now - but stories such as yours add weight to the heart side of the scales.

 

[El Cascayal]

”The heart yearns”! Such a beautiful way to express how so many of us feel! I find it very moving. We hope, we wait. We walk in our neighborhoods and long for the Camino. A collective Peregrinos experience throughout our world. We are many together and perhaps unknown to one another yet we share a very common ache. May our hopes and dreams bless our everyday and our hurting world! Buen Camino to all of us united in Spiri!

 

[Paul Wilson]

I’ve just booked my train from Barcelona to Pamplona in May, I had just sat down for a coffee while decorating at home and thought why not have a look, I seized the day buen camino mi amigo

 

[tarredon]

Apologies that I have posted some of this before.
I came across an old thread of mine called A Camino Interrupted from 2016. (I don't know how to direct you to an old thread). This is a part of my introductory post.

"I was just thinking that I should edit my details, which list the Via de la Plata as completed this year.
In fact it wasn't. I had to abandon my camino in Plasencia, when I received word that my older brother was dying. My brother lived in Portugal, and I had visited him, and shared many a glass of vino tinto just before commencing the camino, so this came as quite a shock.
By coincidence, my companion peregrino (and best friend), had an accident that same day; he came off his bike in busy traffic on the road into Plasencia. He broke a rib and injured a thumb badly, so probably would not have been any state to continue. I won't easily forget being flagged down by a passing vehicle, and turning to see several cars with hazard lights flashing and a group of people leaning over my friend prone on the bitumen, and his bike in the ditch. One of those moments you dread.
I returned to Portugal, and was there when my brother died."

Until now, I had completely forgotten that the friend, Daryl, mentioned above, joined the forum and briefly posted on that thread as follows:
"Hi Paul, good to see your post on the forum...my injuries have all healed but not to sure about the damage to my pride before the fall. Nevertheless I am fit and raring to go next June...JP has a good idea! Loved sharing the time with you and your brothers in Portugal, so it would be a fitting place to start again."

Reading this again brought a lump in my throat. He references a suggestion by @JabbaPapa that I should dedicate my next camino to my brother, starting from his house in Portugal. (This did happen). But the sadness I now feel comes from the irony that Daryl makes clear his intention of joining me again on that subsequent camino in 2017. But he didn't. He decided it was best to postpone it until 2018 when it would coincide with his retirement and hence would not involve more time off work. We enthusiastically planned that 2018 camino, and a few months before our departure he died suddenly of a heart attack after playing a game of golf. I dedicated my 2018 camino to him.
I should state that I am not looking for messages of sympathy - there were many such expressions on the original thread.
The point of my post: I can't help reflecting that we all now live in a new world of postponement. After all, the Camino isn't going anywhere, and there's always next year.

Thank you for this message, combined as it is with equal measures of hope and heartbreak. I agree, we must allow life to go on if it is at all possible - Time holds still for no man or woman, and none of us knows how long we have.
Last year after we were fully vaccinated (and being newly retired), my husband and I went on Camino from Lisbon to Santiago and on to Muxia, and this year we plan to do the Piemont Pyrenees route through France and across the Camino Frances. The difference this year is we are fully vaccinated AND boosted; with Omicron, we realize we might get sick anyway, but we’ve done all we can to keep the risks low.
We were so impressed last year in Portugal and Spain that the local population followed the masking rules (99% of the time) and had a high rate of vaccination, and life was going on, businesses were open (unfortunately, not all of the albergues and bars had survived) and people were living a fairly normal existence it seemed to us. We were not always so impressed with fellow pilgrims, many of them did not follow the masking rules inside the albergues, we felt they were a bit too anxious to get back to normal and took too many risks, so we stayed mostly in private accommodations. This year, we have to wait and see what conditions will allow - hoping for the best!
I wish you many more long, fulfilling and healthy treks on the Camino and in life!

 

[Former member 62607]

I’ve just booked my train from Barcelona to Pamplona in May, I had just sat down for a coffee while decorating at home and thought why not have a look, I seized the day buen camino mi amigo

Fantastic

 

[Richard Smith]

Not just death, but also while you have your health ...
When my wife and I planned our camino, our motto was we should do it "before our bits fell off".

 

[Wanderingfriend]

Apologies that I have posted some of this before.
I came across an old thread of mine called A Camino Interrupted from 2016. (I don't know how to direct you to an old thread). This is a part of my introductory post.

"I was just thinking that I should edit my details, which list the Via de la Plata as completed this year.
In fact it wasn't. I had to abandon my camino in Plasencia, when I received word that my older brother was dying. My brother lived in Portugal, and I had visited him, and shared many a glass of vino tinto just before commencing the camino, so this came as quite a shock.
By coincidence, my companion peregrino (and best friend), had an accident that same day; he came off his bike in busy traffic on the road into Plasencia. He broke a rib and injured a thumb badly, so probably would not have been any state to continue. I won't easily forget being flagged down by a passing vehicle, and turning to see several cars with hazard lights flashing and a group of people leaning over my friend prone on the bitumen, and his bike in the ditch. One of those moments you dread.
I returned to Portugal, and was there when my brother died."

Until now, I had completely forgotten that the friend, Daryl, mentioned above, joined the forum and briefly posted on that thread as follows:
"Hi Paul, good to see your post on the forum...my injuries have all healed but not to sure about the damage to my pride before the fall. Nevertheless I am fit and raring to go next June...JP has a good idea! Loved sharing the time with you and your brothers in Portugal, so it would be a fitting place to start again."

Reading this again brought a lump in my throat. He references a suggestion by @JabbaPapa that I should dedicate my next camino to my brother, starting from his house in Portugal. (This did happen). But the sadness I now feel comes from the irony that Daryl makes clear his intention of joining me again on that subsequent camino in 2017. But he didn't. He decided it was best to postpone it until 2018 when it would coincide with his retirement and hence would not involve more time off work. We enthusiastically planned that 2018 camino, and a few months before our departure he died suddenly of a heart attack after playing a game of golf. I dedicated my 2018 camino to him.
I should state that I am not looking for messages of sympathy - there were many such expressions on the original thread.
The point of my post: I can't help reflecting that we all now live in a new world of postponement. After all, the Camino isn't going anywhere, and there's always next year.

You are offering such wisdom here. The gift of sitting in places that shift our thinking about the ways things “should” be!

 

[Old Kiwi]

Like a lot of others, I was booked to walk another Camino in 2020 when it all hit the fan. I would like to go next June but I have two problems. The first is in trying to get back into New Zealand. We have very strict rules and at the moment it is impossible to book space in MIQ to Quarantine on return. The second is that if I have to wait for 2023 I might not be in any condition to walk. I will be 80 by then and I am starting to fall apart rapidly.

 

[tarredon]

Like a lot of others, I was booked to walk another Camino in 2020 when it all hit the fan. I would like to go next June but I have two problems. The first is in trying to get back into New Zealand. We have very strict rules and at the moment it is impossible to book space in MIQ to Quarantine on return. The second is that if I have to wait for 2023 I might not be in any condition to walk. I will be 80 by then and I am starting to fall apart rapidly.

I hope that you will be successful in booking a space in MIQ!!

 

[Peregrinopaul]

Not just death, but also while you have your health ...
When my wife and I planned our camino, our motto was we should do it "before our bits fell off".

A very pertinent comment, Richard, which I have borrowed for another thread.