Dealing with nostalgia?

[wjowc]

The question is simple: how do I do it? Is it possible?

It's been a year and a half and I haven't gotten over the experience. I was 25 at the time, it was basically a month spent in a whole another world and lately, as things have not been going great for me, I can't stop thinking about it some days. I guess I am cursed with a good memory and I can almost recount the whole thing step by step and remember most of the conversations I've had. It's rather quite debilitating.

Will doing it again help or will it add even more memories that I'll keep playing back in my head? Do I miss the Camino in general or do I miss that one specific time in September 2018? I don't know.

 

[SeñorJacques]

I remember learning in high school that the word "nostalgia" literally means "the ache of wanting to return home again". Sounds like you found a home of sorts on the Camino, and maybe the only way to cure that ache is by returning for another one sometime.

 

[Rick M]

The question is simple: how do I do it? Is it possible?
Do I miss the Camino in general or do I miss that one specific time in September 2018? I don't know.

Post Camino Syndrome. Its a thing, as many on this forum can attest. There are quite a few threads on this topic, here's one: https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/i-want-to-go-back.59623/

The only way to answer your question is to go back and try again. But you already knew that.

Buen Camino

 

[henrythedog]

The question is simple: how do I do it? Is it possible?

It's been a year and a half and I haven't gotten over the experience. I was 25 at the time, it was basically a month spent in a whole another world and lately, as things have not been going great for me, I can't stop thinking about it some days. I guess I am cursed with a good memory and I can almost recount the whole thing step by step and remember most of the conversations I've had. It's rather quite debilitating.

Will doing it again help or will it add even more memories that I'll keep playing back in my head? Do I miss the Camino in general or do I miss that one specific time in September 2018? I don't know.

It isn’t what it used to be.

Don’t waste tomorrow thinking about yesterday - just get your finger out and do something. Bad times generally pass; we all have them to some extent.

I don’t mean to sound unsympathetic. If you enjoyed it then - if you can - do it again.

 

[Tassie Kaz]

The question is simple: how do I do it? Is it possible?

It's been a year and a half and I haven't gotten over the experience. I was 25 at the time, it was basically a month spent in a whole another world and lately, as things have not been going great for me, I can't stop thinking about it some days. I guess I am cursed with a good memory and I can almost recount the whole thing step by step and remember most of the conversations I've had. It's rather quite debilitating.

Will doing it again help or will it add even more memories that I'll keep playing back in my head? Do I miss the Camino in general or do I miss that one specific time in September 2018? I don't know.

It's only natural if things aren't going so well to look back on better times & especially a time which had such a positive impact.
I was a mess after my first Camino (CF) in 2012. I had no idea how to process the experience...the impact on me was totally unexpected (I thought I was just going for a long walk...) & I was prepared for everything but that aspect. I was in my mid 40's back then..I can't even imagine what my 25 year old self would have made of it all!
Now 8 years, many trails & thousands of kilometres later, I look back on all of them in different ways, at different times for various reasons.
From what you describe, I think its a combination of a difficult time now & an extraordinary experience then. As your current situation passes & you undertake other walks (or the same one again) you will find things 'balance out'. You'll have other experiences & reactions & will be in a another place mentally/emotionally.
Try not to stress; many of us have 'been there' & if recalling your Camino helps you through now, that sounds a reasonable coping mechanism to me. Having something to look forward to (another trail?), is equally as helpful...just don't fall into the trap of expecting the same outcome.

 

[Donna Sch]

This time last year I was doing the Levante and of course the photos keep popping up on my FB memories. When you are stuck at work and the usual day to day drudgery is happening, it can do a number on your head even temporarily. I was lucky in that I had a work trip away and unexpectedly it was overnight with a late morning flight home so I got a chance to do a quick hike which did wonders for my mental health. If nothing else the Camino has taught me to look for opportunities to do mini-adventures. Play tourist in your own area. It doesn't mean spending money...it can be a simple walk on the beach, in a reserve. The details you noticed in Spain...plants, wildlife, architecture...use that same eye in your own space. Take up a new hobby. Just do something different. The camino gave you a taste of a life worth living...you know what underpins that so go out and find it in your own space.

 

[VNwalking]

Walking the Camino is a 'peak experience,' so it's natural that it makes a deep impression. It's not an experience to 'get over,' but rather an experience to integrate into your life.

If there's a huge gulf between how you live at home, and how you live on the Camino - and the latter is better - then your work is clear. The task is to find a way to better align your life to your deepest values, and to what you were on the Camino. That presence, and that connection here and now can be had in 'regular life,' but it doesn't happen automatically.

It's the camino of life, and well worth walking.
Buen camino, pilgrim!

 

[c0484]

The question is simple: how do I do it? Is it possible?

It's been a year and a half and I haven't gotten over the experience. I was 25 at the time, it was basically a month spent in a whole another world and lately, as things have not been going great for me, I can't stop thinking about it some days. I guess I am cursed with a good memory and I can almost recount the whole thing step by step and remember most of the conversations I've had. It's rather quite debilitating.

Will doing it again help or will it add even more memories that I'll keep playing back in my head? Do I miss the Camino in general or do I miss that one specific time in September 2018? I don't know.

It is the Camino Curse. I keep going back and the more times I walk the Camino the more I want to walk it again.

 

[lt56ny]

When you do one Camino you have started on a journey that never ends.

 

[Fera]

I could totally relate to your feeling!
I thought I was the only one who keeps longing and miss the Camino that much!
It has been over 6 months for me but I can't move on

 

[wjowc]

I could totally relate to your feeling!
I thought I was the only one who keeps longing and miss the Camino that much!
It has been over 6 months for me but I can't move on

For me it was nothing for about a year, maybe a bit less, and then the last few months it really kicked in...

 

[wjowc]

Play tourist in your own area. It doesn't mean spending money...it can be a simple walk on the beach, in a reserve. The details you noticed in Spain...plants, wildlife, architecture...use that same eye in your own space. Take up a new hobby. Just do something different. The camino gave you a taste of a life worth living...you know what underpins that so go out and find it in your own space.

I've tried that for about a year, but it's getting hard to do in semi-suburban America where I've now walked to every corner of my reasonably big town. Actually one of the lasting effects of going to Spain for me is that it kind of "ruined" travel in general for me. I look at going to northern Germany and looking at the towns there but the thought of "well, I don't get to half check out of the modern world for a month, so is it really worth it?" is always there.

 

[Donna Sch]

I've tried that for about a year, but it's getting hard to do in semi-suburban America where I've now walked to every corner of my reasonably big town. Actually one of the lasting effects of going to Spain for me is that it kind of "ruined" travel in general for me. I look at going to northern Germany and looking at the towns there but the thought of "well, I don't get to half check out of the modern world for a month, so is it really worth it?" is always there.

Comparison is the thief of Joy.

 

[wjowc]

Comparison is the thief of Joy.

Well, sure, but I also subscribe to the school of thought that some things, some landscapes, some buildings are objectively more beautiful than others... I guess I'm answering my own question about whether I should go back to Spain or not.

 

[VNwalking]

Well, sure, but I also subscribe to the school of thought that some things, some landscapes, some buildings are objectively more beautiful than others

Beauty is subjective, actually.
This love of the camino is all in our minds. We walk through semi-suburban (or even urban) Spain and are entranced. But in the same context at home? Meh.

What keeps most of us coming back is as much internal as external, based on a complex mix of causes - some about the camino, and some about ourselves.

The end point of my camino journey is when I am as present and content anywhere else as somewhere in the middle of Spain.

 

[wjowc]

Beauty is subjective

I'm looking for a picture of an angry/disappointed Aristotle to insert here but I can't find one, so I'll concede.

 

[VNwalking]

I'm looking for a picture of an angry/disappointed Aristotle to insert here but I can't find one, so I'll concede.

And then there are Hume and Kant....


Joking aside...I bet I'm not the only one who finds loveliness even in grubby or 'ugly' parts of the camino...
View media item 2555

 

[Bradypus]

Do I miss the Camino in general or do I miss that one specific time in September 2018? I don't know.

I can't answer for you on that one. But for myself it is both. I have walked many Caminos and other pilgrim routes since my first Camino Frances in 1990. Most of those journeys have had their own special qualities which I remember with gratitude and a certain longing to repeat. But that first Camino is the one for which I have deep nostalgia.

 

[Annette london]

I've tried that for about a year, but it's getting hard to do in semi-suburban America where I've now walked to every corner of my reasonably big town. Actually one of the lasting effects of going to Spain for me is that it kind of "ruined" travel in general for me. I look at going to northern Germany and looking at the towns there but the thought of "well, I don't get to half check out of the modern world for a month, so is it really worth it?" is always there.

Hi wjowc,
It really would be a shame to let your wonderful experience on the Camino "ruin" any future travelling "for you.

For most of us, that first Camino will always be "The One" and that's why we keep returning to one or other of them
However what you felt on your first Camino will not necessarily feel the same for others.
You mentioned looking at Germany for walking..and then discounting it..well we walked The Rhinestag....from Bonn to Wisbaden a few years ago and it was a wonderful walk...by the river and over ...looking down on it with many beautiful towns and forests along the way ...why not think again?

For the past 20 years or so when we visit a place, I get a magnet for the fridge and when I look at each one of them I can remember the time and place
And on our long walks from place to place I buy a postcard on which I write a few sentences re that place on the back.....2 shoeboxes full now!!
Yes it does make me feel nostalgic and wish I could do them all again . But that's life and time will not allow now

So don't waste time feeling that all other travel can never compare to your Camino..and as someone said there's beauty in all walks if you try and find it

Also why not check out the forum thread......WHERE HAVE TOU WALKED LOCALLY TODAY?
And then post your own local walk?
Best wishes
Annette

 

[David61]

Hi wjowc,
It really would be a shame to let your wonderful experience on the Camino "ruin" any future travelling "for you.

For most of us, that first Camino will always be "The One" and that's why we keep returning to one or other of them
However what you felt on your first Camino will not necessarily feel the same for others.
You mentioned looking at Germany for walking..and then discounting it..well we walked The Rhinestag....from Bonn to Wisbaden a few years ago and it was a wonderful walk...by the river and over ...looking down on it with many beautiful towns and forests along the way ...why not think again?

For the past 20 years or so when we visit a place, I get a magnet for the fridge and when I look at each one of them I can remember the time and place
And on our long walks from place to place I buy a postcard on which I write a few sentences re that place on the back.....2 shoeboxes full now!!
Yes it does make me feel nostalgic and wish I could do them all again . But that's life and time will not allow now

So don't waste time feeling that all other travel can never compare to your Camino..and as someone said there's beauty in all walks if you try and find it

Also why not check out the forum thread......WHERE HAVE TOU WALKED LOCALLY TODAY?
And then post your own local walk?
Best wishes
Annette View attachment 70357

LOVE your fridge!