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“the mornings of the future are anchored like boats in a harbor.”
That is my state, too. However, I am pleased to say that I am feeling fairly content about it. I have enjoyed being at home, not working, during springtime in an area with many beautiful walks, and it has been a huge pleasure. I have not been meeting my walking targets but I have been working in the garden for a similar time. I haven't come close to being bored yet.I am in watch and wait mode.
(I find myself looking at rural blocks of land - a dream I put on hold when I discovered Caminos)
I too have no enthusiasm for the restrictions and would rather not wait for several years as at 82 I would be pushing my luck which I am inclined to do anyway!I’m feeling no enthusiasm for the restrictions that will be in place for the foreseeable future and would rather wait, even if it’s several years. In the meantime have made some great discoveries of hiking trails “in my own backyard”. Realizing I can have adventures close to home has been a benefit (one of very few) of Covid.
DefinitelyI just wondered
how many of you considered walking the Caminos after this virus scare....
I guess I should have started a poll but can’t remember how to do it
The reason I ask? I have spent (as per usual) the Winter months planning itineraries and now? I have NO desire to walk.
It isn’t just fear - frankly staying where I am now, in the UK, is probably the most dangerous place to be....
I can’t explain it. So I’d love to know how you all feel
PS when I say NO desire to walk, it isn’t quite right, I am dying to go!!!! But somehow I don’t feel it is even a consideration....
Yes, @domigee , I do. When? - that will be after some time. When the colour green appears beside Spain in the list issued by the Dept of Foreign Affairs. Meantime, my actual concern about ”The Camino” is for the life of those whose bread and butter, or pan y vino, has been whooshed out of their very hands. Just yesterday as a result of following up on a thread posted by another forum member, I found a very positive expression of support in the form of a camino being planned with the aim of informing all hopeful pilgrims of the conditions on the Camino Francés around mid August. Check out the UK CSJ website for more details.I just wondered
how many of you considered walking the Caminos after this virus scare....
I guess I should have started a poll but can’t remember how to do it
The reason I ask? I have spent (as per usual) the Winter months planning itineraries and now? I have NO desire to walk.
It isn’t just fear - frankly staying where I am now, in the UK, is probably the most dangerous place to be....
I can’t explain it. So I’d love to know how you all feel
PS when I say NO desire to walk, it isn’t quite right, I am dying to go!!!! But somehow I don’t feel it is even a consideration....
Your beautiful post speaks eloquently for all of us, @nycwalking .The way is fluid. It will be very different from what is was.
Will I recognize it?
Will it await for life to right itself so I can trek that dusty trail?
Do I wish to walk again: yes!
Will I? Can I? Can we all?
If I am meant to walk, then things conspire to make it happen. At present they do not. The very opposite. The boat is firmly anchored.
My dear friend, my own tears well up as I read what you have shared. My heart goes out to you. I have my own angst about the future of the camino and what it will look like. I stubbornly do not want the "new normal"...I want more of what my Camino memories have brought me, as do you.The cold and wet, hot and dry trek across Spain is my go-to when life overwhelms.
Instead of camino release; I am relegated to living in a state of shock and denial with chili-cheese fries, Coke and Pepsi, as my ever present companions. The cook at restaurant waves when I arrive to pick-up the goods. And, I am fast-tracked. Others wait for their vitals; I place my order and am gone within minutes.
I need the simplicity of the camino. I need a light backpack, a hot sun turning my black hair blonde, matrimonio bunks, the slip and slide of scree on downside of Alto de Perdón.
The tears of loss are welling as I write. Will, I ever again know the joy of lonely solace while walking; eating wild blackberries; enjoying a noisy and tasty meal of bread and lentils at communal dinner in Grañon; a two week hospitalera stint somewhere along the Way: I wonder.
In these last few years since my last full camino winter 2014, life has presented obstacles to walking. However, last November I was gifted eight days to try and walk, autoimmune illness permitting. It was cold, hard, and that darn hill out of Ourense nearly defeated me. But, I was there. I was there.
Now, life overwhelms: COVID, civil unrest a twenty minute drive from my home in any direction, and a host of life’s challenges before the aforementioned with which to concern myself.
But, no camino.
The way is fluid. It will be very different from what is was.
Will I recognize it?
Will it await for life to right itself so I can trek that dusty trail?
Do I wish to walk again: yes!
Will I? Can I? Can we all?
The cold and wet, hot and dry trek across Spain is my go-to when life overwhelms.
Instead of camino release; I am relegated to living in a state of shock and denial with chili-cheese fries, Coke and Pepsi, as my ever present companions. The cook at restaurant waves when I arrive to pick-up the goods. And, I am fast-tracked. Others wait for their vitals; I place my order and am gone within minutes.
I need the simplicity of the camino. I need a light backpack, a hot sun turning my black hair blonde, matrimonio bunks, the slip and slide of scree on downside of Alto de Perdón.
The tears of loss are welling as I write. Will, I ever again know the joy of lonely solace while walking; eating wild blackberries; enjoying a noisy and tasty meal of bread and lentils at communal dinner in Grañon; a two week hospitalera stint somewhere along the Way: I wonder.
In these last few years since my last full camino winter 2014, life has presented obstacles to walking. However, last November I was gifted eight days to try and walk, autoimmune illness permitting. It was cold, hard, and that darn hill out of Ourense nearly defeated me. But, I was there. I was there.
Now, life overwhelms: COVID, civil unrest a twenty minute drive from my home in any direction, and a host of life’s challenges before the aforementioned with which to concern myself.
But, no camino.
The way is fluid. It will be very different from what is was.
Will I recognize it?
Will it await for life to right itself so I can trek that dusty trail?
Do I wish to walk again: yes!
Will I? Can I? Can we all?
Very well said my friend. Thank you for putting so succinctly into words what has been troubling me deeply.Yes, I most definitely feel like walking again.
Plans for March April this year went astray, however I feel that the time to walk in Spain again is not yet here. I would like to feel that when I walk again, most people would want and welcome me to be walking through their villages and daily lives. I don't want anyone to feel threatened by my being a pilgrim passing through.
I can walk now for me, but I want to walk when it is right for them.
Margaret, you are my Camino hero!The following post was originally written 21/03 at the beginning of confinement here in France; months have passed since then but my sincereity remains ever true.
My husband Bill and I at 80 and 81 after a year of extreme serious illnesses battened down. After closing our Marne-side b&b/pilgrim house, stocking medicine and food for the next months we continue to go forward together with courage and strength of will towards the inevitable.
All life is chance; things are or are not. I try not to worry about what I can't control but hope for the best while attempting to make things better.
Memories of successful past camino efforts help me keep going.
Ever since I found this Forum in 2009 each morning I have read/replied to the posted entries of the past day as the Forum became a part of my normal routine. One pleasure across the past decade has been the discovery of digital friends in unmet fellow walkers/readers with whom so much could be shared. Such are you for me.
Stay safe and well dear companions,
We who can not continue to walk as in the past can still continue on the pathways of our memory,
May we all have the mental and physical strength to persevere.
In the truest sense, Ultreia,
Margaret Meredith
I just wondered
how many of you considered walking the Caminos after this virus scare....
I guess I should have started a poll but can’t remember how to do it
The reason I ask? I have spent (as per usual) the Winter months planning itineraries and now? I have NO desire to walk.
It isn’t just fear - frankly staying where I am now, in the UK, is probably the most dangerous place to be....
I can’t explain it. So I’d love to know how you all feel
PS when I say NO desire to walk, it isn’t quite right, I am dying to go!!!! But somehow I don’t feel it is even a consideration....
Thanks for replying i am glad to know someone else feels this way too. IVery well said my friend. Thank you for putting so succinctly into words what has been troubling me deeply.
I was beginning to despair reading about people wanting to fulfil their OWN desire to walk the Camino again while seemingly completely disregarding the feelings of the local folks who will have to brace themselves for a potential second wave of the virus. Unfortunately it appears that science has been overtaken by economics. The loudest voices for a relaxation of lockdown measures is coming from the leisure/tourism sectors. With regards to the Camino this means that (some) Albergue, Pension, Bar, Restaurant and Hotel owners want to see Pilgrims and tourists again but are these people speaking for the majority of residents in small towns like Santo Domingo for example ? Santo Domingo de la Calzada suffered horrendously during the pandemic.The situation there in now stable but the one thing guaranteed to bring in fresh cases of the Covid virus are people travelling into the town from outside region.
I thing we owe it to the very people who have welcomed us time and again over the years on the Camino to return but only when it is safe and proper and right for them first and foremost.
Gracias y ultreia .
I totally agree with you and I am from the UK as well and should be on the Camino now. I don't think the infrastructure is ready and nor are the locals for an influx of pilgrims. I am really not sure about the future, but COVID 19 has destroyed the spirit of the Camino, but I guess there will be just a different feel to it in the post COVID world.I just wondered
how many of you considered walking the Caminos after this virus scare....
I guess I should have started a poll but can’t remember how to do it
The reason I ask? I have spent (as per usual) the Winter months planning itineraries and now? I have NO desire to walk.
It isn’t just fear - frankly staying where I am now, in the UK, is probably the most dangerous place to be....
I can’t explain it. So I’d love to know how you all feel
PS when I say NO desire to walk, it isn’t quite right, I am dying to go!!!! But somehow I don’t feel it is even a consideration....
Agree 100%I would walk tomorrow if it was possible. I am too old to be putting things off in case the sky should fall. I will also go on my cruise in October if its sailing.
I’m in the same boat myself. I had planned for the Portuguese starting in April but now I am happy to wait until next year. I don’t consider it to be fear though, rather prudence. We need to give the Spanish and Portuguese people time to recover before we put them and ourselves at further risk by unknowingly and unintentionally triggering a second phase. It only takes one person to do it.I just wondered
how many of you considered walking the Caminos after this virus scare....
I guess I should have started a poll but can’t remember how to do it
The reason I ask? I have spent (as per usual) the Winter months planning itineraries and now? I have NO desire to walk.
It isn’t just fear - frankly staying where I am now, in the UK, is probably the most dangerous place to be....
I can’t explain it. So I’d love to know how you all feel
PS when I say NO desire to walk, it isn’t quite right, I am dying to go!!!! But somehow I don’t feel it is even a consideration....
Hiked the A.T. in 2000, passed thru your town. Just took a break at the ATC building and moved on.I retired on 10 April and was supposed to start the CF on 20 April this year. I was hoping September/October might be an option, but until there’s a vaccine I’m having second thoughts. Like others have said, not only do I not want to get sick (at age 65 I’m just in that risky demographic), but I also wouldn’t want to infect other pilgrims or locals along the Camino.
I didn’t want to go in 2021 due to Holy Year crowds, but if there’s a vaccine by then I may reconsider. Fortunately, I’m in good health but still would rather go sooner than later while that’s still the case. But I’m heartened to see that some of you are still doing the Camino into your 70s and 80s!
Meanwhile, my property borders the Appalachian Trail, and I’ve continued my training hikes that I started in January so I’m fit for the Camino whenever it’s possible for me to go. I’ve also continued to contribute part-time hours at my old job since all travel plans in my post-retirement have been postponed. Plus the extra income will come in handy to finance future travel and possibly more expensive lodging options on the Camino.
life is too short for regrets , go for it. Spain is coping pretty well really.I just wondered
how many of you considered walking the Caminos after this virus scare....
I guess I should have started a poll but can’t remember how to do it
The reason I ask? I have spent (as per usual) the Winter months planning itineraries and now? I have NO desire to walk.
It isn’t just fear - frankly staying where I am now, in the UK, is probably the most dangerous place to be....
I can’t explain it. So I’d love to know how you all feel
PS when I say NO desire to walk, it isn’t quite right, I am dying to go!!!! But somehow I don’t feel it is even a consideration....
Spain opens its Caminos, pilgrim's offices, the Cathedral in Santiago, albergues 1st of July! It's official!Yes!
I will be walking as soon as the flight is confirmed, as soon as the countries lift restrictions, as soon as each country gives the green light and welcomes pilgrims. Yes, I will walk.
Would love to walk again. In the meantime, I am hand constructing a rock/ Flower garden on the path/trail behnd our home. Not putting lots of walking mileage in (about 3 miles per day) but have been lugging rocks, planting, digging, weeding and breathing heavy 3-4 hrs per day. Not bored at all....That is my state, too. However, I am pleased to say that I am feeling fairly content about it. I have enjoyed being at home, not working, during springtime in an area with many beautiful walks, and it has been a huge pleasure. I have not been meeting my walking targets but I have been working in the garden for a similar time. I haven't come close to being bored yet.
I do hope to go to the Camino again, but it is highly unlikely to be before spring 2021, for various reasons.
Hi,I just wondered
how many of you considered walking the Caminos after this virus scare....
I guess I should have started a poll but can’t remember how to do it
The reason I ask? I have spent (as per usual) the Winter months planning itineraries and now? I have NO desire to walk.
It isn’t just fear - frankly staying where I am now, in the UK, is probably the most dangerous place to be....
I can’t explain it. So I’d love to know how you all feel
PS when I say NO desire to walk, it isn’t quite right, I am dying to go!!!! But somehow I don’t feel it is even a consideration....
Cheers!I am helping ease my pain of not being on camino by using the money to buy red wine. This plan is working, and I now think about red wine nearly as much as being in Spain.
Definitely planning on going (Primitivo)...maybe September? Had bookings for May/June but cancelled. Waiting to see how the virus progresses in Spain.I just wondered
how many of you considered walking the Caminos after this virus scare....
I guess I should have started a poll but can’t remember how to do it
The reason I ask? I have spent (as per usual) the Winter months planning itineraries and now? I have NO desire to walk.
It isn’t just fear - frankly staying where I am now, in the UK, is probably the most dangerous place to be....
I can’t explain it. So I’d love to know how you all feel
PS when I say NO desire to walk, it isn’t quite right, I am dying to go!!!! But somehow I don’t feel it is even a consideration....
I'm ready to walk... still have my flights planned for July 24th and WILL NOT cancel the flight unless Spain will not let me in from the USA... My Plan is to walk and experience an even more quiet, peaceful and serene Camino.I just wondered
how many of you considered walking the Caminos after this virus scare....
I guess I should have started a poll but can’t remember how to do it
The reason I ask? I have spent (as per usual) the Winter months planning itineraries and now? I have NO desire to walk.
It isn’t just fear - frankly staying where I am now, in the UK, is probably the most dangerous place to be....
I can’t explain it. So I’d love to know how you all feel
PS when I say NO desire to walk, it isn’t quite right, I am dying to go!!!! But somehow I don’t feel it is even a consideration....
Similar feelings, NYCwalking. I can relate. But worried that you are consuming unhealthy foods.The cold and wet, hot and dry trek across Spain is my go-to when life overwhelms.
Instead of camino release; I am relegated to living in a state of shock and denial with chili-cheese fries, Coke and Pepsi, as my ever present companions. The cook at restaurant waves when I arrive to pick-up the goods. And, I am fast-tracked. Others wait for their vitals; I place my order and am gone within minutes.
I need the simplicity of the camino. I need a light backpack, a hot sun turning my black hair blonde, matrimonio bunks, the slip and slide of scree on downside of Alto de Perdón.
The tears of loss are welling as I write. Will, I ever again know the joy of lonely solace while walking; eating wild blackberries; enjoying a noisy and tasty meal of bread and lentils at communal dinner in Grañon; a two week hospitalera stint somewhere along the Way: I wonder.
In these last few years since my last full camino winter 2014, life has presented obstacles to walking. However, last November I was gifted eight days to try and walk, autoimmune illness permitting. It was cold, hard, and that darn hill out of Ourense nearly defeated me. But, I was there. I was there.
Now, life overwhelms: COVID, civil unrest a twenty minute drive from my home in any direction, and a host of life’s challenges before the aforementioned with which to concern myself.
But, no camino.
The way is fluid. It will be very different from what is was.
Will I recognize it?
Will it await for life to right itself so I can trek that dusty trail?
Do I wish to walk again: yes!
Will I? Can I? Can we all?
I don't want anyone to feel threatened by my being a pilgrim passing through.
I can walk now for me, but I want to walk when it is right for them.
All life is chance; things are or are not. I try not to worry about what I can't control but hope for the best while attempting to make things better.
Memories of successful past camino efforts help me keep going.
Ever since I found this Forum in 2009 each morning I have read/replied to the posted entries of the past day as the Forum became a part of my normal routine. One pleasure across the past decade has been the discovery of digital friends in unmet fellow walkers/readers with whom so much could be shared. Such are you for me.
Stay safe and well dear companions,
We who can not continue to walk as in the past can still continue on the pathways of our memory,
May we all have the mental and physical strength to persevere.
In the truest sense, Ultreia,
Margaret Meredith
Occasional chili cheese fries--OK. Sugary (or artificial), carbonated sodas--never! In any case, sounds like your body spoke and you listened!No worries.
Yesterday, I ate my chili cheese fries, twenty minutes or so later they decided to bi-evacuate, if you ken my meaning. So, I will have to leave those goods at the restaurant: Too bad.
Fair play to youI plan to do my 6th Seances when it is safe to do so. Will not travel outside of Western Australia until any and all Covid threats are gone.
I can and will wait.
Plenty of other things to keep me busy and interested.
Maybe you will be lucky and will be able to do without the zimmer frame for the next few years. Buen camino.I am still holding out hope that I can complete my camino in October if things go well with the virus. I have read here folks saying that the camino will always be there which is true but I wont and am consious of being an old age pensioner.
So hopefully things will continue to improve and I will be on the camino in autumn but if not I will bring the zimmer frame in 2021Love to all.
Both the flu and the common cold cannot be controlled and this will not be either. And rushed vaccines could have terrible consequences.No, I do not. I have walked multiple Camino routes multiple times, but the current situation has taken all the wind from my sails in regards to the Camino.
Honestly I don't foresee a normality in walking it to come back for several years from now. Only when the covid 19 is controlled through vaccine.
Who said anything about rushed vaccines?Both the flu and the common cold cannot be controlled and this will not be either. And rushed vaccines could have terrible consequences.
I do. More than ever now......I just wondered
how many of you considered walking the Caminos after this virus scare....
I guess I should have started a poll but can’t remember how to do it
The reason I ask? I have spent (as per usual) the Winter months planning itineraries and now? I have NO desire to walk.
It isn’t just fear - frankly staying where I am now, in the UK, is probably the most dangerous place to be....
I can’t explain it. So I’d love to know how you all feel
PS when I say NO desire to walk, it isn’t quite right, I am dying to go!!!! But somehow I don’t feel it is even a consideration....
I still wish that I could walk the Camino again this year but I am extremely fearful that if I got sick could i make my way home again?I just wondered
how many of you considered walking the Caminos after this virus scare....
I guess I should have started a poll but can’t remember how to do it
The reason I ask? I have spent (as per usual) the Winter months planning itineraries and now? I have NO desire to walk.
It isn’t just fear - frankly staying where I am now, in the UK, is probably the most dangerous place to be....
I can’t explain it. So I’d love to know how you all feel
PS when I say NO desire to walk, it isn’t quite right, I am dying to go!!!! But somehow I don’t feel it is even a consideration....
Fair play to you
the camino’s can wait and not going anywhere
Trying to figure out what '6th Seances' means. Is it a play on your name Sean?I plan to do my 6th Seances when it is safe to do so. Will not travel outside of Western Australia until any and all Covid threats are gone.
I can and will wait.
Plenty of other things to keep me busy and interested.
My Croft sean-lad is a Irish slang word meaning old fellaTrying to figure out what '6th Seances' means. Is it a play on your name Sean?
And not unimportant how are things in your own country , in your case the US. ??Waiting to see how the virus progresses in Spain.
I had a Camino planned this year as well. Sad to say that I too have put it off and am playing the waiting game with this virus.I just wondered
how many of you considered walking the Caminos after this virus scare....
I guess I should have started a poll but can’t remember how to do it
The reason I ask? I have spent (as per usual) the Winter months planning itineraries and now? I have NO desire to walk.
It isn’t just fear - frankly staying where I am now, in the UK, is probably the most dangerous place to be....
I can’t explain it. So I’d love to know how you all feel
PS when I say NO desire to walk, it isn’t quite right, I am dying to go!!!! But somehow I don’t feel it is even a consideration....
Trying to figure out what '6th Seances' means. Is it a play on your name Sean?
Sounds like Francés was aurocorrected to SeancesThat was me. Got the spelling wrong I guess and I can't remember what word I wanted in there today. I was writing something about this next Frances being my 6th when I can get to it.
Mea Culpa.
Your age place you in the high risk catogary and that said you are a risk for others.If Spain permits it, I will be walking in October. I had to cancel my scheduled 4 May start. There is an old saying that tomorrow is promised to no one, and at 75, I hesitate to delay anything any more than absolutely necessary.
Your age place you in the high risk catogary and that said you are a risk for others.
Cheers!
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