Contactability

[GregHoyland]

Hello! I'm a Camino novice - doing my first stretch this year (start June 19th finishing July 11th) from Leon to Santiago (at 60! Help!). I want to travel light and gadget free so am not planning to take my mobile - fine for me as I can use call boxes if necessary but what about folks at home needing to contact me in an emergency? Does anyone have any advice on whether it's possible to contact pilgrims along the Way?
Thanks, Greg

 

[sillydoll]

How wonderful to be planning your first Camino! If you have an email address your family can contact you that way. Many albergues have pay-Internet, so do Cafe-bars and libraries and you'll find Internet cafes along the way in larger towns.
I always buy a phone card over there that I can phone home (South Africa) and try to call home at least once a day.
Have a great walk.

 

[renegadepilgrim]

I think e-mail is the best way to keep in touch. I didn't have my mobile with me either. Didn't see a lot of pay phones either, but I wasn't really looking for them. I didn't Skype with my family on the Camino, but I know there are places to do that if you want.

 

[JohnnieWalker]

but what about folks at home needing to contact me in an emergency? Does anyone have any advice on whether it's possible to contact pilgrims along the Way? Greg

Hello Greg - in the absence of you carrying a mobile phone there is no reliable way for relatives to contact you in an emergency other than by e mail as has been suggested. Some people carry mobiles and only turn them on once a day to see if there are messages for this very reason. Otherwise on the Camino Frances you will be able to check your e mails regularly or call home from either a payphone or one of the many locutorios (shops with phone booths). Most of the internet cafes where you find them have at least some PC's with webcams if you wish to communicate that way.

Best wishes

John

 

[Tia Valeria]

We carry a cheap PAYG Orange mobile and keep it turned off while walking. It is there in an emergency and Orange coverage is good in Spain. Family are asked to send a text if necessary not leave an answerphone message. We can then text or call back by mobile or find a phone.

Our Orange 'Alcatel' phone cost £10 plus a first £10 top-up. Choice then whether to add more, or not if it is only for real emergency use. Turning it on each evening for about 10-15 minutes gives it a chance to pick up any messages without draining the battery too much. Phone is small and light, we did take the charger also light. This also saves taking a more expensive type of mobile if you want to be gadget free.
Buen Camino
Tia Valeria

 

[Pieces]

whatever did we do before the internet and the cellphones ?

I assume that the Guardia will come find you in case of a real emergency, which I suppuse is not very likely to occur. Most emergencies aren't really emergencies, we are just not used to waiting more than 2 minutes for responses, most things can wait a day or two. So maybe leave your expected itinirary with your family, and then check emails and mail them updates if anything changes along the way.

(btw I don't think bringing a cellphone but turning it off constitutes going gadget free, but maybe that is just me)

I think it is an excellent idea to go gadget free !

Buen Camino

 

[JohnnieWalker]

I assume that the Guardia will come find you in case of a real emergency, which I suppuse is not very likely to occur.

Oh no they won't is the short answer to that. Every year the Pilgrims' Office is contacted by families with real emergencies - a relative close to death or having died for example - and they need to contact someone on the Camino. We put up signs in the office asking the person to identify themselves when they arrive. Families use this forum from time to time trying to contact pilgrims or otherwise are forced to try and find telephone numbers of albergues. All very difficult.

Some pilgrims have real responsibilities at home - children, elderly parents, a sick relative. One person's "gadget" is another's necessity.

 

[sillydoll]

whatever did we do before the internet and the cellphones ?

In April 2002 two pilgrims (a 48 year-old Brazilian and a 78 year-old Japanese) died when they were caught in blizzards crossing to Roncesvalles in January and April.

In March 2005 an English pilgrim decided to risk walking the route Napoleon with an experienced Spanish pilgrim. They were caught in a snow storm for 2 days, both suffered from hypothermia and frostbite. When they were finally able to walk to Roncesvalles Roger's condition was so severe that he was rushed to Pamplona general hospital. Once there he was told that the frostbite on his left foot was so severe that he would have to have all the toes on his foot amputated. (This decision was later reversed).

In 2007 Chris Philips, an experienced fell walker, died from exposure after getting caught in a freak blizzard. He became separated from 3 Italian pilgrims who were able to call Emergency services on their cell phone. They spent the night on the mountain but were later rescued. They told the paramedics about the Englishman who had been with him. Rescuers found him near the path, about 50m from a road, lying in deep snow and suffering from severe hypothermia. He died shortly after arriving at hospital in Pamplona. He left a wife and two small children.

The CSJ of UK reported that a French woman died of exposure at the Col de Lepoeder in March 2009.

Two young cyclists who were snowbound called their parents on the cell phone who in turned alerted the emergency services and they were rescued.

whatever did we do before the internet and the cellphones ?

Perhaps we died an untimely death? But, by being on the Camino, at least we went straight to heaven? :?

 

[Pieces]

Some pilgrims have real responsibilities at home - children, elderly parents, a sick relative. One person's "gadget" is another's necessity.

Well I am assuming that if one has a dying relative in hospital, or similar, one doesnt wish to go gadget free...

 

[GregHoyland]

Thanks everybody - what a wonderful on-line community! (I'm liking the gadgets at home before I go for that very reason!) On the road it will be great to talk face to face - hope I meet some of you sometime.
Best wishes all and thanks again.
Greg

 

[Camino2010]

Hello, Greg!

Last year I walked from SJPP to Santiago in September-October. I kept in touch with friends and family via e-mail and Facebook (mostly Facebook because in next to no time I could post a status update to the effect of, for example, "Hello everyone! 25km walked today, am here in lovely ________, had a beautiful day of walking on the trail... so many butterflies!"), and it worked well.

However, not every place I stayed had internet service/computers and because of that, it was two days before my mother could reach me to let me know that my father had died unexpectedly at home in Canada, of a heart attack. He died the night I was in Astorga, after I'd already checked in by computer for the day. The next night I stayed in Rabanal, no computer at the albergue, so she didn't know where I was or how to find me. The night after that, when I got to Molinaseca, there was a message from my mother on Facebook asking me to call home to Canada immediately. That's when I got the news.

My mother was almost to the point of contacting the police here in Canada to get in touch with the police in Spain, to see if they could find me, but I don't know how well that would have worked out. Next time I walk the Camino I'll keep in touch much the same way, e-mail and Facebook, and now my family and I have a better idea of how it is to stay in contact along the way.

(I'd bought a Spanish cell phone in Pamplona, by the way, but I didn't keep it turned on all the time I was walking, and in fact only used it about every 10 days or so; it was only after my dad died that I used the phone more often, to keep in touch with my mother in a more personal way than by computer.)

Enjoy your León-Santiago Camino! Last year I met a couple of lads from Germany who walked the same stretch (during their two-week school vacation!) and they loved it. Some of my happiest, most favourite days were the ones I walked with them. You'll meet great friends yourself, I'm sure. For me it was a lovely example of how it doesn't matter how long you walk with someone, great friendships can spark at any point along the Camino!

Buen Camino!

Rachel

 

[Caminando]

One person's "gadget" is another's necessity.

IMO, this says it all. Despite discussion on the forum, you must do what you please in this area. It's YOUR camino. It would seem that taking a mobile is the simplest way to go. Folks can text you if necessary. You don't have to have it on all the time.

You say you're 60 - welcome, you young upstart!

 

[renegadepilgrim]

I told my mom that if she didn't hear from the Red Cross then I was still alive. She kept worrying about me because I wasn't checking in everyday. I don't think she completely understood how hard it was to have internet all the time, every day! I finally had to explain to her that not all of the albergues had internet, and that most days I was most concerned with getting a shower, washing my clothes and finding food!

I wonder if the Red Cross is a good source for relaying information about family deaths, etc. It seems that way during disasters and whatnot. Anyone have experience with this?

 

[Deleted member 3000]

One thought that I adopted on a Camino was that I am not responsible for the fears and anxieties of others. I carry my cell phone because I want to use it! The Red Cross, while compassionate, may not be interested in being the communication conduit for individuals who choose not to carry readily available communication devices. They might view it as a variation of the personal choice not to carry a watch, but then constantly asking others what time it is. I try to make a choice, then live with it.

 

[Caminando]

One thought that I adopted on a Camino was that I am not responsible for the fears and anxieties of others. I carry my cell phone because I want to use it! The Red Cross, while compassionate, may not be interested in being the communication conduit for individuals who choose not to carry readily available communication devices. They might view it as a variation of the personal choice not to carry a watch, but then constantly asking others what time it is. I try to make a choice, then live with it.

This reminds me of an ex colleage who spoke of her attitude to the answerphone. She said that she would not become a slave to recorded messages. She would not be responsible or in hock to other's calls. If the message was important enough, they'd call back when she was at home. Too many of the recorded messages were trivia and she was fed up with it.

She was a Jehovah's Witness, a group of people who stick to their principles through thick and thin. She too made a choice, and stuck to it. She cleared away some unconscious prejudices I had about this faith.

 

[renegadepilgrim]

The Red Cross, while compassionate, may not be interested in being the communication conduit for individuals who choose not to carry readily available communication devices.

That thought works really well if you are conscious and able to use a communication device. If you are not, then the Red Cross is the perfect conduit to communicate with your Embassy and family. I'm thinking worst-case scenario (I have to, it's a part of my job in the "real" world). You would not use the Red Cross to tell your family you have a lot of blisters, but they might be used to say, "Hey, your loved one got very dehydrated, passed out on the Camino and is in the hospital receiving IV fluids and recovering nicely. Don't worry. They'll be fine." Make sense now?

 

[Deleted member 3000]

I met thousands of pilgrims who probably would have been willing to make the outgoing phone call on their cell phone to inform of an injury without the need for the Red Cross. The general direction of this thread was incoming calls in case of an emergency at home. I suggest that pilgrims "be prepared" with readily available technology if they are worried about the possibility. Purity of a camino is a nice concept, but not to the point of irresponsibility. The Camino provides, but pilgrims can also provide for themselves. Bicycle helmets did not exist in my youth, but wearing one today is considered a normal precaution. Perhaps cell phones have attained that status, at least as prudent preparation for an emergency.

 

[renegadepilgrim]

Never mind......you aren't really "hearing" what I'm saying.

 

[GregHoyland]

Hi everybody,
Thanks again for the comments and advice. By trying to go 'gadget free' on my pilgrimage I don't want to be irresponsible - I am taking my pace-maker, artificial hip, false teeth and glasses after all... When I go on pilgimage or retreat here in the UK I make a point of leaving as much 'stuff' behind as possible and that includes things like mobile phone and camera. (I even tried one where I left money behind as well and 'traded' for things I needed!) At this point I'm not leaving any critical situations behind at home - chronically or critically family members - but the unexpected does happen and I wanted to know if I could be contacted on the Way if necessary.
On reflection I don't want to compromise others by having to rely on their equipment in an emergency so I think I will take my mobile after all.
Roll on June!
Greg

PS I was joking about the pace-maker, artifical hip and false teeth... but does anybody know where I put my glasses...?!

 

[wdbillingsley]

One poster mentioned the Red Cross which...I am a volunteer at the Red Cross in the US. Looking at the Red Cross's web site in Spain, they do offer a message distribution service but I would think that would really be for cases where international communications are disrupted. If you walked into a Red Cross office, they would probably try to help you since they are nice people.

However, if your family was looking for your, they would have no better means of locating you along the Camino than the local police would. Best bet is to be responsible and either carry a phone, check the internet.

 

[renegadepilgrim]

Not what I was talking about re: Red Cross. Did anyone read what I posted?

I was referring to you, the pilgrim, becoming incapacitated and NOT able to contact home on your own. In this instance, the Red Cross, in conjunction with your Embassy could work together to contact whoever you have listed in your passport or RoadID for emergencies. I wear a RoadID for this very reason. Am I making sense?

 

[JohnnieWalker]

Yes you are! But in my experience Cruz Roja in Spain operates purely on a voluntary basis, does not have universal coverage and is non existent in some parts of the country.

 

[renegadepilgrim]

The Cruz Roja uses volunteers for sure. They also have a paid staff of over 8,000 people that run the various programs they offer throughout Spain. They offer programs to help migrants, asylum seekers, the disabled and more. However, they are much more than just a few volunteers scattered around the country. They respond to all kinds of disasters(international and local), incidents and provide many different services.