Future Pilgrims

[Rambler]

I wanted to introduce myself as this section suggests and tell you all how happy I was to find this Forum for help in our Camino planning. My name is Rambler and my daughter and I have been planning to walk the Camino for the last several years. We are from the US (Atlanta) and learned of the Camino years ago while visiting my wife's relatives in Spain. Her mother was from Madrid and we were told of the Pilgrimage by her aunt and uncle.
We are avid hikers and have over the last few years always tried to take a few days to a week in the summer to go hiking here on the Appalachian Trail. Needless to say, the Camino Frances had a certain appeal in it being a long distance hike in the land of our family's ancestors.
We are a Catholic family also and see this as a true pilgrimage opportunity to grow spiritually and strengthen our father-daughter relationship even more.
Work obligations will only allow me to take 3 weeks at most off to do this trip, so we are looking at how to make the most of this and have the best experience possible.
Plans are to go in the June/July 2008 timeframe, but all is flexible right now.
We are currently in the reading stage, buying books and begining to think about what we need to do. We are less concerned about the actual hiking part (prep of feet and how to pack, etc.) because we think we are used to longer distance hiking.
The things I am most interested in now are:
:?: What start stop route should we do? With 21 days we cannot walk the whole Camino Frances. Do we try and bike it, or just walk a subset?
:?: How do I keep my highschooler interested and enthusiastic about the trip and its planning? Are there books that you would recommend to her that would be written more to appeal to young adults? Things she can do apart from me to prepare herself for the trip? I am a natural planner/geary so I love the day by day planning. But she is less focussed on that and I want her to have her role also in making this trip a reality.
:?: What should we do to keep some spiritual (Catholic) focus to our trip? I understand there are masses in many of the towns for pilgrims. Does anyone have suggestions on what we should plan to enhance this portion?
:?: Given the time constraint, how do we keep this from being a forced march?

I just wanted to say hello and that I look forward to gleaning words of wisdom from the many pelegrinos here on this forum. Hopefully some of our paths will pass next year in Spain and we will be able to share our experiences.

Rambler

 

[sillydoll]

Teenager on the camino

The only book I have read on the camino, specifically written for teenagers, is The Ramsay Scallop (which I think was a set book for certain grades). It will give her an understanding of the camino and also of the history of pilgrimage.
You can order it from Amazon.com
Abrazos,

 

[oursonpolaire]

In terms of your time limitations, there are three approaches; 1) to walk 21 days from Burgos, 2) to break it into two segments, likely Roncesvalles-Burgos and Leon-Santiago or 3) walk Roncesvalles-Leon this year, and Leon-Santiago another.

In terms of religious observance, the Archdiocese of Santiago's website provides information on pilgrims' masses, which are held in the great majority of the towns and villages along the Camino Francese. In larger cities, you may want to look for some of the smaller, less dramatic, churches (such as San Lorenzo in Burgos, or Santa Salome or Animas in Santiago), but this is very much a matter of taste and inclination. In most places there were always a dozen or two pilgrims who would regularly attend the village mass, frequently not those who are normally observant in their home towns (or even Roman Catholic).

Your daughter will likely have her own Camino, which may not involve much planning for her-- that's not important for everyone, and the Camino has a way of upsetting detailled plans. Without knowing anything about her, I hesitate to give prescriptions; she may want to focus more on writing her own journal, and exploring her own thoughts and experiences. I would think that it be useful to give adolescents a certain amount of space in dealing with a major cultural shock, which the Camino always will be. In terms of reading, I would spare her Paulo Coelho and Shirley MacLaine, but some young people might like these books... You might want to encourage her to have a basic grasp of Spanish.

I have spoken with several parents who walked stretches with their teenage offspring on the Camino, as one of the best, last, most intense shared experiences before the child disappears into later high school and further education, and they all spoke most warmly of the time together.

 

[Steve S]

Hi, Rambler

My 16-year-old son and I leave in 9 days for our first camino. I have wrestled with many of the same issues that you have, but obviously I will be better able to answer them in a few weeks. But here's what I would respond now:

1) The idea of starting in Burgos makes a great deal of sense. However, you should investigate some of the other routes as well (Camino Portugues, Via de la Plata), especially if you want to avoid crowds.

2) I'm not sure that I've done a fabulous job keeping my son involved, but the more willing your daughter is to read guidebooks, etc. the more engaged she'll be. Pictures of cathedrals, churches, and monasteries along the way have really helped to pique my son's interest. Finally, there is a book called "My Father, My Daughter" that you can pick up on amazon.com that's about the Camino. I didn't find the book especially helpful, but perhaps you all might.

3) Obviously there are both public (masses) and private (devotionals, scripture readings, etc.) methods that can help keep it a true pilgrimage. There's a site on the web ("A Closer Walk" that you might find useful at http://gryjhnsn.tripod.com/santiago/index.html
Lee Hoinacki's book El Camino: Walking to Santiago de Compostela takes a very spiritual, very Catholic approach, and it provided me much food for thought. I've also got a book by Joyce Rupp called Walk in a Relaxed Manner: Life Lessons from the Camino (recommended to me by another forum member) that you might find interesting, but I haven't yet read it. Finally, I may try to take Teresa of Avila's The Interior Castle. In any case, you get the idea--find spiritual reading that suits you.

4) I haven't been yet, but one of the themes I've picked up from this forum and elsewhere is that on the Camino (as in much of life) "less is more." I'm not talking about packing. although the advice applies there as well; I do mean that covering fewer kilometers per day might make a more enjoyable experience. The last thing we want is a race against either time or other pilgrims to the next albergue. Shorter stages will mean less racing, and you'll arrive at the next refuge before pilgrims doing marathon stages.

If you can remember, send me a private message in early August and I'll recount any lessons learned on the road. I'm very excited about the trip; miraculously, so is my son.

Steve S

 

[Rambler]

Thanks.

Reading the responses from other parents means alot. Thanks. The more I look at pictures of the actual trail the more I wonder if it would be better to try and bike the whole distance. We are not big bikers, but it looks that you can cover more ground and have more flexibility.
But still thinking... :roll:
Rambler

 

[sillydoll]

Hiking and Biking

You could do both!
Walk for two weeks - then bike from Burgos to Santiago.
Tour 'n Ride will send a bike to you in Burgos and you ride it back to Santiago.
http://www.tournride.com/
Decisions, decisions!

 

[oursonpolaire]

Like Steve S, I found Lee Hoinacki's book excellent. There are some poems and hymns which you might find helpful, such as Thomas Campion's Never Weather Beaten Sail, or Sir Walter Raleigh's The Passionate Man's Pilgrimage, or John Bunyan's To Be a Pilgrim; the hours on the trail can be long at times, even in company, and kilometres can fly by with good verse.

As well, if you are interested in frequenting the pilgrims' masses, you should pick up a Spanish language missal (easily available in the US from RC-oriented religious bookstores) and acquire a bit of familiarity with the Spanish texts.

I would suggest that you think less of the distance to be covered than the hours to be shared, and the tiem spent with earth and sky and the trail before you. The Camino offers us many things, and one of these is time away from machines. I am a cyclist of many years and many thousands of km, but I would advise a walking Camino, partly because you will not likely have many such occasions to spend such hours with your daughter. This may be the source of many years' memories for you, and there is no need to rush. Let the path itself set your schedule, as much as can be managed. Like man, sufficient unto the day etc.

 

[jl]

Hi Rambler,

I have a vast collection of Camino books, and ineed have become the local lending library for the topic in my community. There is not a lot available in my State (in Australia).

One book that no-one has mentioned is Rites of Passage by Wayne Chimenti. It is available from Amazon.com. It is written by a man who takes his wife and 13 year old daughter on the Camino as a "rite of passage" for her movement into adolescence. They walked from SJPdP and it describes well their trials and triumphs. I found it easy to read. He incorporates some of the historical tales as well, although some of these vary slightly from the ones I have read elsewhere. Both you and your son might find this an easy (and informative) book to read.

There is also another book called Pray for me in Santiago by Theresa Burkhardt-Felder. She tells of her journey with her husband from SJPdP. I found the writing style somewhat tedious and ponderous and was also frustrated that she had a tendency to be non spportive of the albergues (often staying in alternative accomodation), but it is just another book available should you come across it.

Best wishes, Janet