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Oh, Richard, I'm there with you in spirit while you do some soul searching. I'm sending positive thoughts your way. Whatever you decide, you will still be on Camino.Just had a day break in Pamplona and about to spend my second night before heading to Puenta la Reina/ Gares. Bored off my trolley, fed up and depressed. 18 months of prep and no idea why I'm here. Zubiri to Pamplona was fine but so far everything else has just been very unpleasant.
Might check out of this experience...
Hi Richard, So sorry to hear this.Just had a day break in Pamplona and about to spend my second night before heading to Puenta la Reina/ Gares. Bored off my trolley, fed up and depressed. 18 months of prep and no idea why I'm here. Zubiri to Pamplona was fine but so far everything else has just been very unpleasant.
Might check out of this experience...
Lots of good things said here...hi Richard...tomorrow, just walk in your underwear!!Hi Richard, So sorry to hear this.
It's a hard decision to make , or continue your journey or stop.
Wish you all the wisdom to make this decision.
Wish you well and God bless, Peter.
So sorry Richard. It must be hard to feel like you are so let down by the experience, after planning and preparing for so long. Are you walking alone? Can you find someone to talk to? Try some music or looking around for someone you can help, who might be having a hard time too. Are you injured? This kind of scares me, as I am starting out Thursday from SJPP. It sounds like you are just going through the stages of adjustment that someone posted about. Hang in a few more days. Do some praying and singing and a few dance steps to entertain yourself. Hang on......Just had a day break in Pamplona and about to spend my second night before heading to Puenta la Reina/ Gares. Bored off my trolley, fed up and depressed. 18 months of prep and no idea why I'm here. Zubiri to Pamplona was fine but so far everything else has just been very unpleasant.
Might check out of this experience...
RichardJust had a day break in Pamplona and about to spend my second night before heading to Puenta la Reina/ Gares. Bored off my trolley, fed up and depressed. 18 months of prep and no idea why I'm here. Zubiri to Pamplona was fine but so far everything else has just been very unpleasant.
Might check out of this experience...
Just had a day break in Pamplona and about to spend my second night before heading to Puenta la Reina/ Gares. Bored off my trolley, fed up and depressed. 18 months of prep and no idea why I'm here. Zubiri to Pamplona was fine but so far everything else has just been very unpleasant.
Might check out of this experience...
Just had a day break in Pamplona and about to spend my second night before heading to Puenta la Reina/ Gares. Bored off my trolley, fed up and depressed. 18 months of prep and no idea why I'm here. Zubiri to Pamplona was fine but so far everything else has just been very unpleasant.
Might check out of this experience...
I believe that one of the great lessons to be found in making pilgrimage, at least for our generation, is that not everything is subject to instant gratification; sometimes the gratification is delayed until after the hard work is done, and after idealism yields to reality. In my opinion, I think it would be a great loss for you to "check out" because of boredom, depression, unpleasant situations, and a lack of clarity in purpose. Sometimes the richest veins of gold require extensive mining (and no little hardship) to get to them, and sometimes we find them when we're digging for something else.Bored off my trolley, fed up and depressed. 18 months of prep and no idea why I'm here. Zubiri to Pamplona was fine but so far everything else has just been very unpleasant.
Might check out of this experience...
No problems with that, there is a time and place for everything; and Camino expectations can spiral out of control with all the hype. Good luck and if you do continue, Buen Camino! And if not, Good luck!Just had a day break in Pamplona and about to spend my second night before heading to Puenta la Reina/ Gares. Bored off my trolley, fed up and depressed. 18 months of prep and no idea why I'm here. Zubiri to Pamplona was fine but so far everything else has just been very unpleasant.
Might check out of this experience...
Give it a little more time. What exactly has made the experience so unpleasant? I met a man two years ago in Hornillos who was ready call it a day. He and I and a third party hung around for the day, had a nice dinner and parted company. I watched out for him over the next couple of days and we were reunited. We met up later the far side of Fromista and he was having the time of his life. Do what you need to do.Just had a day break in Pamplona and about to spend my second night before heading to Puenta la Reina/ Gares. Bored off my trolley, fed up and depressed. 18 months of prep and no idea why I'm here. Zubiri to Pamplona was fine but so far everything else has just been very unpleasant.
Might check out of this experience...
... 18 months of prep and no idea why I'm here. ...
Just had a day break in Pamplona and about to spend my second night before heading to Puenta la Reina/ Gares. Bored off my trolley, fed up and depressed. 18 months of prep and no idea why I'm here. Zubiri to Pamplona was fine but so far everything else has just been very unpleasant.
Might check out of this experience...
Very well put - thanks David! and especially for sharing about A.S.Neill - Triple-LikeEnough, enough of this sympathy!!!!
Richard, the experience that you feel aren't experiencing is the experience!! You have only just started, just a few days in, yet you are already treating it in a "well, this is dull, I'll take a couple of days off here and be a tourist" way ..... it isn't an event to entertain you it is an experience to surrender to ... you are still trapped in the old world you are supposed to have left behind - you are connected to the internet for a start.
Stop thinking about how it should be ... stop wanting to be gratified ... .. Richard, stop thinking about how it should be and go and walk it.
Switch your phone off, stay away from the internet, don't play music ... and just walk along, every day ......
A.S. Neill, who ran a school over here some decades ago used to love it when a child told him they were bored - they went to him and said that so that he would provide a diversion or entertainment .. he did the opposite .. told them that being bored was a great thing and that they should go off and really be bored, and eventually they would stop being bored and start to do things that they enjoyed - it is the same thing here Richard - you thought you were going to be entertained and now you are bored .. well, here is the thing .. you are alone and therefore the you that is bored is boring - is it not?? So go off and be bored and eventually you won't be able to stand being that so you will start the enjoy the absolute amazingness of what you are doing! - start to notice the blossom on the trees, the animals, the birds circling, the hilarious sound your boots make dragging them out of deep mud.. the wonderful taste of simple food when you are hungry .. the conversations you can strike up, the people you can help, the laughter you can share ...
you are alone with no diversions .. there is only you and your mind (and the universe in all its utter ridiculous glory) - suck it down .. breathe .. live ..
... so go on, start putting one foot in front of the other again and maybe, just maybe, you will change your life and attitude to life forever.
and you cannot get an experience better than that now, can you!
Buen Camino Richard.
when a child told him they were bored
Just had a day break in Pamplona and about to spend my second night before heading to Puenta la Reina/ Gares. Bored off my trolley, fed up and depressed. 18 months of prep and no idea why I'm here. Zubiri to Pamplona was fine but so far everything else has just been very unpleasant.
Might check out of this experience...
Hang in for a while longer, Richard. I find the first few days and the last few days on the Camino Frances to be very different than the rest. In the beginning, your body is getting used to walking long distances daily, you are likely tired and trying to figure out the daily rhythm of your walk and Camino routines. When I have walked from St. Jean to Roncesvalles to Zubiri to Pamplona, I haven't felt really 'in' the Camino--each town is so very different and impersonal. Wait until you have walked another four or five days through (and stayed in) smaller, quieter, friendlier towns. The terrain will be easier, you will be stronger, your days' routines will become more familiar, you will make friends, and you just might really enjoy the experience. For me, the Camino really begins in Puente La Reina...a beautiful, historic, friendly town, and it just gets better after that.
Well, thank you everyone for your inspiring posts!Truly wonderful and supportive advice!
I HAVE stayed with it - and glad I did... Now in Puenta la Reina at a great albergue ( Jakue ) with a couple of good companions and just had a great day over the Alto de Perdon and a beautiful, sunny walk on to Puenta!
Thanks everyone who took time to reply - think I just hit that Pamplona 'wall'
That is SO wonderful and you can't know how happy I am for you and to hear of this (as I leave on Sunday). I, too, will "stick with it!"Well, thank you everyone for your inspiring posts!Truly wonderful and supportive advice!
I HAVE stayed with it - and glad I did... Now in Puenta la Reina at a great albergue ( Jakue ) with a couple of good companions and just had a great day over the Alto de Perdon and a beautiful, sunny walk on to Puenta!
Thanks everyone who took time to reply - think I just hit that Pamplona 'wall'
Well, thank you everyone for your inspiring posts!Truly wonderful and supportive advice!
I HAVE stayed with it - and glad I did... Now in Puenta la Reina at a great albergue ( Jakue ) with a couple of good companions and just had a great day over the Alto de Perdon and a beautiful, sunny walk on to Puenta!
Thanks everyone who took time to reply - think I just hit that Pamplona 'wall'
So Happy for you!! I actually shouted and clapped my hands (scared my dogs)Well, thank you everyone for your inspiring posts!Truly wonderful and supportive advice!
I HAVE stayed with it - and glad I did... Now in Puenta la Reina at a great albergue ( Jakue ) with a couple of good companions and just had a great day over the Alto de Perdon and a beautiful, sunny walk on to Puenta!
Thanks everyone who took time to reply - think I just hit that Pamplona 'wall'
...so I gather my advice was to extremeThank you, MaryLynn - your post didn't just help me but two other pilgrims! We're all now in Puenta la Reina! :-D
I couldn't agree more, MaryLynn - from Puente la Reina it seems to just fall into place! I'm awfully glad to have walked that first week with you in 2014 though...!Hang in for a while longer, Richard. I find the first few days and the last few days on the Camino Frances to be very different than the rest. In the beginning, your body is getting used to walking long distances daily, you are likely tired and trying to figure out the daily rhythm of your walk and Camino routines. When I have walked from St. Jean to Roncesvalles to Zubiri to Pamplona, I haven't felt really 'in' the Camino--each town is so very different and impersonal. Wait until you have walked another four or five days through (and stayed in) smaller, quieter, friendlier towns. The terrain will be easier, you will be stronger, your days' routines will become more familiar, you will make friends, and you just might really enjoy the experience. For me, the Camino really begins in Puente La Reina...a beautiful, historic, friendly town, and it just gets better after that.
Richard, that's great news.Well, thank you everyone for your inspiring posts!Truly wonderful and supportive advice!
I HAVE stayed with it - and glad I did... Now in Puenta la Reina at a great albergue ( Jakue ) with a couple of good companions and just had a great day over the Alto de Perdon and a beautiful, sunny walk on to Puenta!
Thanks everyone who took time to reply - think I just hit that Pamplona 'wall'
Well, thank you everyone for your inspiring posts!Truly wonderful and supportive advice!
I HAVE stayed with it - and glad I did... Now in Puenta la Reina at a great albergue ( Jakue ) with a couple of good companions and just had a great day over the Alto de Perdon and a beautiful, sunny walk on to Puenta!
Thanks everyone who took time to reply - think I just hit that Pamplona 'wall'
Yay!!! Enjoy! I'm thankful to have read this post for those days/moments when I'm on the Camino this September! I just loved everyone's advice.... from the love to the kick in the pants love!
Glad you have found your feet!! Enjoy from now on! Next time try the via Frangegina. We are on it at the moment and today a guy asked us if we were looking for the hospital!! Well I know I was staggering a bit but but I didn't know I looked that bad!! We are past Lucca, past Siena and past somewhere!! I have lost track of days, dates and time but sometimes that's not a bad thing!! Mindless walking is good for the soul at times as we have found so enjoy your trip. AnnetteJust had a day break in Pamplona and about to spend my second night before heading to Puenta la Reina/ Gares. Bored off my trolley, fed up and depressed. 18 months of prep and no idea why I'm here. Zubiri to Pamplona was fine but so far everything else has just been very unpleasant.
Might check out of this experience...
Just had a day break in Pamplona and about to spend my second night before heading to Puenta la Reina/ Gares. Bored off my trolley, fed up and depressed. 18 months of prep and no idea why I'm here. Zubiri to Pamplona was fine but so far everything else has just been very unpleasant.
Might check out of this experience...
Enough, enough of this sympathy!!!!
Richard, the experience that you feel aren't experiencing is the experience!! You have only just started, just a few days in, yet you are already treating it in a "well, this is dull, I'll take a couple of days off here and be a tourist" way ..... it isn't an event to entertain you it is an experience to surrender to ... you are still trapped in the old world you are supposed to have left behind - you are connected to the internet for a start.
Stop thinking about how it should be ... stop wanting to be gratified ... .. Richard, stop thinking about how it should be and go and walk it.
Switch your phone off, stay away from the internet, don't play music ... and just walk along, every day ......
A.S. Neill, who ran a school over here some decades ago used to love it when a child told him they were bored - they went to him and said that so that he would provide a diversion or entertainment .. he did the opposite .. told them that being bored was a great thing and that they should go off and really be bored, and eventually they would stop being bored and start to do things that they enjoyed - it is the same thing here Richard - you thought you were going to be entertained and now you are bored .. well, here is the thing .. you are alone and therefore the you that is bored is boring - is it not?? So go off and be bored and eventually you won't be able to stand being that so you will start the enjoy the absolute amazingness of what you are doing! - start to notice the blossom on the trees, the animals, the birds circling, the hilarious sound your boots make dragging them out of deep mud.. the wonderful taste of simple food when you are hungry .. the conversations you can strike up, the people you can help, the laughter you can share ...
you are alone with no diversions .. there is only you and your mind (and the universe in all its utter ridiculous glory) - suck it down .. breathe .. live ..
... so go on, start putting one foot in front of the other again and maybe, just maybe, you will change your life and attitude to life forever.
and you cannot get an experience better than that now, can you!
Buen Camino Richard.
Hang in for a while longer, Richard. I find the first few days and the last few days on the Camino Frances to be very different than the rest. In the beginning, your body is getting used to walking long distances daily, you are likely tired and trying to figure out the daily rhythm of your walk and Camino routines. When I have walked from St. Jean to Roncesvalles to Zubiri to Pamplona, I haven't felt really 'in' the Camino--each town is so very different and impersonal. Wait until you have walked another four or five days through (and stayed in) smaller, quieter, friendlier towns. The terrain will be easier, you will be stronger, your days' routines will become more familiar, you will make friends, and you just might really enjoy the experience. For me, the Camino really begins in Puente La Reina...a beautiful, historic, friendly town, and it just gets better after that.
What a great group of folks are on this site. Great encouragement, advice and most importantly NO JUDGEMENT whether you choose to stay or go home to pursue another "life Camino". Nice to know if I hit a wall and need a pick me up I can come here. The world should go on a Camino.Well, thank you everyone for your inspiring posts!Truly wonderful and supportive advice!
I HAVE stayed with it - and glad I did... Now in Puenta la Reina at a great albergue ( Jakue ) with a couple of good companions and just had a great day over the Alto de Perdon and a beautiful, sunny walk on to Puenta!
Thanks everyone who took time to reply - think I just hit that Pamplona 'wall'
We are a society of instant everything. I walked my first Camino in 2010. I had great expectations. Softly the path, energy, magic, Mother Earth, lay lines, God, the Universe, or all of the above opened my heart, soul and mind to an experience both microscopic and cosmic.Just had a day break in Pamplona and about to spend my second night before heading to Puenta la Reina/ Gares. Bored off my trolley, fed up and depressed. 18 months of prep and no idea why I'm here. Zubiri to Pamplona was fine but so far everything else has just been very unpleasant.
Might check out of this experience...
"Brilliantly wise." Normal for that poster.For me this is a brilliantly wise post. Thank you
I believe that one of the great lessons to be found in making pilgrimage, at least for our generation, is that not everything is subject to instant gratification; sometimes the gratification is delayed until after the hard work is done, and after idealism yields to reality. In my opinion, I think it would be a great loss for you to "check out" because of boredom, depression, unpleasant situations, and a lack of clarity in purpose. Sometimes the richest veins of gold require extensive mining (and no little hardship) to get to them, and sometimes we find them when we're digging for something else.
So, as many above have said, take one more day, and then one more after that, and just like with the landscape itself, slow progress will yield new horizons, new landscapes, new insights.
Hi Richard, sorry that things aren't going well for you. Maybe give it another day before deciding what you should do?
You might find some helpful advice on these recent threads.
https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/help-me-feel-the-magic.39985/#post-403885
https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/waiting-for-the-euphoria.40076/#post-405371
Good luck with whatever you decide.
Don't give up! I had days when I wondered why I was there. It gets better, and different, and then suddenly worse, then its better. You never know what tomorrow will bring nor where you will sleep, or what the trail is like over the hill... this unknown without pre booked accommodation etc, makes it an adventure. You regret what you don't do and will always ask yousrself, what if I had....?Just had a day break in Pamplona and about to spend my second night before heading to Puenta la Reina/ Gares. Bored off my trolley, fed up and depressed. 18 months of prep and no idea why I'm here. Zubiri to Pamplona was fine but so far everything else has just been very unpleasant.
Might check out of this experience...
Well to much build up and expectation. If you don't like it stop after all you are an adult.Just had a day break in Pamplona and about to spend my second night before heading to Puenta la Reina/ Gares. Bored off my trolley, fed up and depressed. 18 months of prep and no idea why I'm here. Zubiri to Pamplona was fine but so far everything else has just been very unpleasant.
Might check out of this experience...
My husband and I did the camino last year...We went with no expectations except to finish the pilgrimage...so we didn't have any disappointments, we looked at everyday as an experience, and every experience was an experience unto itself...some days were exceptional (especially when we found a delicious pasteria) and some days were just days, quiet and contemplative...take the day for what it is going to give you...and enjoy...Just had a day break in Pamplona and about to spend my second night before heading to Puenta la Reina/ Gares. Bored off my trolley, fed up and depressed. 18 months of prep and no idea why I'm here. Zubiri to Pamplona was fine but so far everything else has just been very unpleasant.
Might check out of this experience...
Hey Richard;Just had a day break in Pamplona and about to spend my second night before heading to Puenta la Reina/ Gares. Bored off my trolley, fed up and depressed. 18 months of prep and no idea why I'm here. Zubiri to Pamplona was fine but so far everything else has just been very unpleasant.
Might check out of this experience...
Just had a day break in Pamplona and about to spend my second night before heading to Puenta la Reina/ Gares. Bored off my trolley, fed up and depressed. 18 months of prep and no idea why I'm here. Zubiri to Pamplona was fine but so far everything else has just been very unpleasant.
Might check out of this experience...
Just had a day break in Pamplona and about to spend my second night before heading to Puenta la Reina/ Gares. Bored off my trolley, fed up and depressed. 18 months of prep and no idea why I'm here. Zubiri to Pamplona was fine but so far everything else has just been very unpleasant.
Might check out of this experience...
Hey Richard, I would like to share my experience with you from last year. After two days, I was ready to go home. I also had no idea why I was doing the Camino. Everything that could go wrong, went wrong. By the third day, I started to meet some angels that helped me get back on my feet. Richard, I managed to walk to the end of the earth. I never did figure out why I was doing the Camino, but I figured out what the Camino was doing for me. Enjoy yourself Richard. There will come a time when you are not going to want the Camino to end.Just had a day break in Pamplona and about to spend my second night before heading to Puenta la Reina/ Gares. Bored off my trolley, fed up and depressed. 18 months of prep and no idea why I'm here. Zubiri to Pamplona was fine but so far everything else has just been very unpleasant.
Might check out of this experience...
Saying a prayer for you.Just had a day break in Pamplona and about to spend my second night before heading to Puenta la Reina/ Gares. Bored off my trolley, fed up and depressed. 18 months of prep and no idea why I'm here. Zubiri to Pamplona was fine but so far everything else has just been very unpleasant.
Might check out of this experience...
I am on two Journey's one I have no choice and cannot stop that it's the loss of my son the other is I'm currently on the Camino and I'm in the Journey of it right now, in the meseta, one day at a time one step at a time one breath at a time; look at the little things the beauty of what is around you that men did not create take a breath and see that beauty and maybe that will keep you going. I know it is helping me.Hi Richard, So sorry to hear this.
It's a hard decision to make , or continue your journey or stop.
Wish you all the wisdom to make this decision.
Wish you well and God bless, Peter.
Sorry to hear about the loss of your son.I am on two Journey's one I have no choice and cannot stop that it's the loss of my son the other is I'm currently on the Camino and I'm in the Journey of it right now, in the meseta, one day at a time one step at a time one breath at a time; look at the little things the beauty of what is around you that men did not create take a breath and see that beauty and maybe that will keep you going. I know it is helping me.
Happens all the time here on this forum that posters don't read the thread from the beginning. I do, because what good is there if I post the same info or advice for the second time, ahm??? But I guess some are so eager to help that they repeat what has been said 10 times alreadyRead the whole thread! The OP has long since moved on. All is well and everyone is happy.
Lots of people posting to the dreadful walk, awful people thread didn't read the first tongue in cheek post, and tried to cheer up the OP, or tell why he was wrong.Happens all the time here on this forum that posters don't read the thread from the beginning. I do, because what good is there if I post the same info or advice for the second time, ahm??? But I guess some are so eager to help that they repeat what has been said 10 times already
Nevertheless they feel good doing it so and maybe even the OP feels the same.
Do it. I'm a day ahead of you. It's beautiful. Connect with people you will find camino angels read www.Caminomama.com. if I can keep going you can too!Just had a day break in Pamplona and about to spend my second night before heading to Puenta la Reina/ Gares. Bored off my trolley, fed up and depressed. 18 months of prep and no idea why I'm here. Zubiri to Pamplona was fine but so far everything else has just been very unpleasant.
Might check out of this experience...
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