For 2024 Pilgrims: €50,- donation = 1 year with no ads on the forum + 90% off any 2024 Guide. More here. (Discount code sent to you by Private Message after your donation) |
---|
I think I am most worried about the point where you can go towards two direction. I would like to avoid to go next to the road, but how will I go which one is the right for me.
We used the Brierley guide. It sets out very clearly the routes available, and we had no trouble finding the 'off road' routes. I understand from following this forum that there are several different guides to choose from, including some downloadable ones. I know there are those who prefer to do the Camino without any type of guide but I like to know in advance which route I'm going to take, although I don't obsess about it. Buen CaminoI think I am most worried about the point where you can go towards two direction. I would like to avoid to go next to the road, but how will I go which one is the right for me.
You are absolutely right, Al. But some of those interesting detours would have taken me on the asphalt, and I was quite happy to be along a wooded path and/or beside a river.I have never got lost on the Camino, but I have took some interesting "detours"!
I think I had at the start a lot of anxiety and although I haven't started my first camino yet (sept) I have found all the encouragement in the blogs of well seasoned travellers healing my fears - do you walk very much ? do you have that internal compass? because although a new vista I am sure the contours of the land will confirm the path - at least that's what I'm banking on! sstill always find I'm learning - was out on Dartmoor the other day, weather changed, missed the path - lost -just had to find a stream/river with the flowand follow it and all was well - not sure if the stream/river thing holds true elsewhere?? answers on a postcard!Fear is the greatest burden we all carry. Trust me, in the end it will be a tiny thing, like lint in your pocket.
Buen Camino
Dear All,
I know this is part of the process, but I am really getting tired of my fears.
Alternatively, any advice how to stop that little voice in my head would also be great
Thanks a lot,
Zs
Brilliant! Or you could check the sky to see where the sun is...I've looked up sun rises and sunsets for my dates and routes here. - http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/sunrise.html Search on the town and then search on the dates you'll be in the town and you can check on when twilight starts, when sunrise it, when sunset is and when dusk will be. So at least you can check to see if you'll be walking in the dark!
Don't worry ...camino will lead you to the right way....many people along the way that can answer your direction...Buen Camino.....Dear All,
I will fly out to Madrid on Wednesday, arrive to Leon on Thursday and finnaly start to walk on Friday. My pack is ready, thanks for the information I have read here it is 5,5 kg.
I guess it is normal, but I have different fears in every hour. I managed to get answer for most of it with one exception. I know that the route is well marked and there will be plenty of people, but that is my brain only. I am still worried, how will I find the right route.
I would really appreciate your response how did you know what way to follow.
I know this is part of the process, but I am really getting tired of my fears.
Alternatively, any advice how to stop that little voice in my head would also be great
Thanks a lot,
Zs
The OP is starting from Leon, and it is a bit more tricky to find your way out of a city than a small village. So he might need a few directions - hopefully he'll stay in an albergue in which case just - follow the other pilgrims!
but anxiety is a killer and sometimes we just need to tread lightlyFear on the trail is good. Complacency will kill you.
Yours is a feeling that I experienced –every time I go to Camino. Yes, we can plan, browse guides, look at Google Maps...but there will never be a perfect Camino, as there is not a perfect wedding or a perfect life. It is better to accept that some mistakes are unavoidable, but most of them may be easily amended...or accepted.
Starting in Leon! Best advise is to take a taxi out of town--you waste two hours of hiking thru houses and warehouse by following the arrows from the middle of Leon. Take the Taxi to the hill where the Hobbit houses start.
Dear All,
I will fly out to Madrid on Wednesday, arrive to Leon on Thursday and finnaly start to walk on Friday. My pack is ready, thanks for the information I have read here it is 5,5 kg.
I guess it is normal, but I have different fears in every hour. I managed to get answer for most of it with one exception. I know that the route is well marked and there will be plenty of people, but that is my brain only. I am still worried, how will I find the right route.
I would really appreciate your response how did you know what way to follow.
I know this is part of the process, but I am really getting tired of my fears.
Alternatively, any advice how to stop that little voice in my head would also be great
Thanks a lot,
Zs
Actually, leaving León proper is quite confusing. The "official" Camino does not go in a straight line, it make many detours so the pilgrim could visit historic places. But our beloved yellow arrows have mostly disappeared. The easy way out: go to rotonda (roundabout) de Santo Domingo (not far from cathedral, everybody knows it) and then walk by Gran Vía San Marcos. That takes the pilgrim, after 1 km, to the old Hospital de San Marcos, now a "Parador". From there, the way becomes quite evident.
Yes Kanga, you are right, but anyway, I would no have visited this marvel, bcs after seeing a section of the old walls, I got totally lost. I asked my way to Hospital de San Marcos.Except by doing that you miss the extraordinary Basilica San Isodoro and the stunning ceiling frescos in the Pantheon. Worth reading the Wikipedia entry to get the flavour of the history. It, together with the beautiful stain glass windows in the Cathedral (better than Chatres, IMO), make Leon a very special place.
Buen CaminoHi Everyone,
I am happy to report that I am ready to leave tomorrowI feel I did everything I could to be prepared and not worried anymore. I am very excited and happy. All the worries are gone I do trust Camino will give me what I need, and if I need to get lost, than I am ok with it.
Thanks again for the support for Everyone.
Zs
We had a funny experience with the "follow the crowd" method. My husband and I found a nice spot in the shade of a large stacks of hay bales to have a picnic lunch. It was a short distance off of the camino, along a farm track but well within sight of the proper route. As we finished up and stood to repack we saw some of our pilgrim friends heading our way. It took a moment to realize what was happening and we tried to wave them off and send hem back in the right direction. This only served to draw more attention to the situation and there was an immediate line of pilgrims veering left towards us, instead of continuing on straight! Great way to meet a few more pilgrims ;-)Stop worrying. You will find your way. It is very well marked. Also at this time of the year there are many others around. Don't be the first out in the morning and just follow the crowd.
Have no expectations and the Camino will look after you, what you have forgotten you can get what extra you have taken you can give away, its like life every now and again we get lost but we always find our way back. I always found a marker if you come to a cross road stop look around you will be ok you are not alone.Dear All,
I will fly out to Madrid on Wednesday, arrive to Leon on Thursday and finnaly start to walk on Friday. My pack is ready, thanks for the information I have read here it is 5,5 kg.
I guess it is normal, but I have different fears in every hour. I managed to get answer for most of it with one exception. I know that the route is well marked and there will be plenty of people, but that is my brain only. I am still worried, how will I find the right route.
I would really appreciate your response how did you know what way to follow.
I know this is part of the process, but I am really getting tired of my fears.
Alternatively, any advice how to stop that little voice in my head would also be great
Thanks a lot,
Zs
I thought about that, but could not decide...
Pro would be to save the kms and skip the industrial part
Con would be that I read somewhere how simbolic is that I could walk out from the noise where I am coming from.
Dear All,
Let me inform you I arrived to Santiago on the 20th of Aug and to home yesterday.
I got lost during the walk only once in Ponferrada, but I learnt the lesson what that experience told me. It was a bit more than finding the right address
I am planning the next walk in october from Santiago to Finisterre.
Thank you for your support and help!!!
Zs
If you decide to skip the Leon outskirts you could catch a bus to Virgen del Camino and save some 7k/8k....I caught it and it had a few other pilgrims on it. It is easy to know where to get off in Virgen and just across the street is way marking for the camino just a few meters along the main road heading to your right.
If you have time, the previous evening just check which is the way for the following morning. At least work out "When I leave the hotel/albergue I need to turn left/right."
Sometimes I've missed the arrows and gone adrift ... but found some beautiful things [and people] on the wrong path - and often been corrected by the kind locals.
There is absolutely NOTHING to be worried about
Buen caminno!
I had a similar kind experience, Mary - quoting from my diary Pilgrimage IV.....Finally, about 3 km later I realized I really had missed an arrow as there was nobody at all around and no arrows at the intersection so I turned back, and soon met up with the boy and his dad on bikes and the dog in the lead. They had all come to fetch me to get me back onto the right path. It always makes me smile to imagine what they must have been thinking...and I'm very grateful that they cared enough to come after me.
Dear All,
I got lost during the walk only once in Ponferrada, but I learnt the lesson what that experience told me. It was a bit more than finding the right address
I am planning the next walk in october from Santiago to Finisterre.
Thank you for your support and help!!!
Zs
We did not get lost, just got onto the wrong track. The thing was that in order to get to our albergue (booked beforehand) we had to go sufficiently far off the Brierley map that the next morning we did not know how to get back to where we had left off. The hospitalero gave us directions back to the Camino but, as we eventually realized, they were directions for the fastest route, not the route shown in the Brierley guide which, I am sure, would have been the more interesting. Hmmmm, just realized we could have shown the hospitalero where exactly on the Brierley map we wanted to resume our walk. Didn't think of that. Next time!The only time I got lost was in Ponferrada ......
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?