Friends of Bill W walking the Camino Frances April, May?

[happymarkos]

Hi
I am planning to start from St Jean on the 25 April walking on my own and would love to catch up with Friends of Bill W along the way who are also "trudging the road of happy destiny".
There do not appear to be any English speaking meetings on the Spanish AA website; Spanish ones would do if I can find the towns, days of the week and times to hopefully catch a meeting
Mark O

 

[Pieces]

theres a similar post under the general forum

not sure if this is a need to meet or a nice to meet post but if you feel the need to meet up along the way maybe join the loners group and see if anyone is in the vicinity...

if not the Camino can easily be done without drinking, tons of people don't and th conversations are often spiritual in nature so I think you won't be lacking

 

[WALKER007]

Starting on 26th April so bound to bump into you - doing it by myself, the short, fat Englishman Terry Buen Camino

 

[William Marques]

This is an earlier post on the same subject el-camino-frances/topic11064.html

 

[happymarkos]

Hi Terry
thank you for the post.
I plan to have the AA triangle on my pack so if you see it look forward to catching up.
I am a older Aussie about 5'7" and expect to celebrate my 32nd sober birthday in June so may still be on the walk
regards
Mark

 

[happymarkos]

Hi William,
thank you for the post
I did look for an earlier topic but did not have much luck finding it.
Hope to learn to navigate the site with practice
regards
Mark

 

[happymarkos]

Hi Pieces,
thank you for your kind thoughts in response to my post.
Having been a sober person with the help of AA for many years I heed the advice of keeping in contact with other members and trying to attend meetings on a regular basis; hence my post.
I have no particularly worries however know it is a daily reprieve which I guard carefully.
best wishes
Mark

 

[Freedrik]

We will be in Saint Jean Pied de Port on the 27th and will leave Ronscevalles on that Monday. I have no idea who Bill W is but if you run into three people from Virginia, be sure to say hello.

Cant seem to stay away.

 

[juliecarteraz]

Hi Mark and Terry: My partner, Will, just celebrated his 13th year of sobriety. We will be walking from SJPP mid-April. We do not have our plane tickets booked yet, so I don't have an exact arrival date yet. He will have his triangle medallion affixed to his backpack. Hope to see you along the Way! Buen Camino!

 

[bill stace]

Just celebrated 18 years and will be leaving from St Jean May 2. What a great life it is, one day at a time. Bill

 

[MMMoffitt]

I've been a friend of Bill W going on 8 years! Glad to hear that there will be others on the Camino as well.

 

[happymarkos]

If we all wear the Triangle symbol on our packs etc it will make it much easier to find each other.
From what I can see there are no scheduled meetings in English along the way.
I will be traveling slowly so a number of people starting after me will no doubt catch up.
happy to see you as I "trudge the road of happy destiny"! (trudge means to step out purposefully)
Happy Mark

 

[Missmercy]

Hi Terry
thank you for the post.
I plan to have the AA triangle on my pack so if you see it look forward to catching up.
I am a older Aussie about 5'7" and expect to celebrate my 32nd sober birthday in June so may still be on the walk
regards
Mark

What a great idea to put the symbol on your backpack. I’m doing the last 100kms in March and will do the same thingthanks. Allison

 

[Deleted member 89517]

I too am walking the Camino Frances for the first time. I will be arriving Sept. 2020. I love your idea of the triangle patch on our backpack and hope that "friends of Bill W." will see it along the way. FYI for future meeting seekers, the local bar keep and the police stations usually can guide you to the nearest AA meeting. If I can't find a meeting , I can pray. Gods answers Knee mail! Buen Camino! JoAnna

 

[Kanga]

Here's an older thread (which I think includes links to a few others) that might be of interest.

 

[freescot]

I've walked quite a few Caminos in the past 10 years and invariably meet other pilgrims who are also ex-drinkers. It's as if we smell each other out.
In Europe there are a range of different associations of mutual help groups for those in difficulty with alcohol often based around the whole family. Many pre-date AA in their origins. All are effective. In France the largest are Vie Libre ( A Free Life) and Alcohol Assistance. Meetings are, of course, in French. In Spain, groups can be found by searching for "alcoholicos rehabilitados" on Google - adding the region to narrow it down.
For me, though, AA and the Camino have much in common even beyond offering the possibility of a life-defining spiritual journey. Nobody speaks for you and, in itself, there is no cost for participation. It is the loosest structure I can imagine for social organisation - no money, no leaders, with full personal, individual freedom and authority. Yet they both touch people's lives and the overall health of society significantly everywhere on the Earth. They are both models for how we might all live together in Peace.
I am sure, Happy Mark, your Camino will be full of remarkable encounters and you will hear other people's stories and tell your own without judgement and with complete acceptance, filled with that Love which we know heals all things.
Buen Camino.