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He said, She said, They said.

Purple Backpack

Active Member
Time of past OR future Camino
CF’12 VF’16 VP w/variants 2022/23 Norte’23
I love to write. But sometimes other people have said it better. Any favorite Camino/travel/hiking/walking quotes? Funny, serious, original or famous....just remember to give credit where credit is due and have fun!

I'll start it off with

"Bizarre travel plans are dancing lessons from God." ~Kurt Vonnegut
 
St James' Way - Self-guided 4-7 day Walking Packages, Reading to Southampton, 110 kms
It remains true to this day...

"If you want to hear God laugh, tell Him your plans." (Old Yiddish proverb)

It was never my intent to walk the Camino, now I have credenciales from three different years. Hard to figure....

B
 
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The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
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“But that's the glory of foreign travel, as far as I am concerned....I can't think of anything that excites a greater sense of childlike wonder than to be in a country where you are ignorant of almost everything. Suddenly you are five years old again. You can't read anything, you have only the most rudimentary sense of how things work, you can't even reliably cross a street without endangering your life. Your whole existence becomes a series of interesting guesses.” Bill Bryson - Neither Here nor There: Travels in Europe.
 
Few people know how to take a walk. The qualifications are endurance, plain clothes, old shoes, an eye for nature, good humor, vast curiosity, good speech, good silence and nothing too much....Ralph Waldo Emerson, Country Life, 1858
 
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It remains true to this day...

"If you want to hear God laugh, tell Him your plans." (Old Yiddish proverb)

It was never my intent to walk the Camino, now I have credenciales from three different years. Hard to figure....

B
Hi B , love the proverb .
Wish you more lovely Camino's
 
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way ..." Charles Dickens, A Tale of two Cities

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference."
Robert Frost, The Road Not Taken
 
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This question is one that only a very old man asks.
My benefactor told me about it once when I was young and my blood was too vigorous for me to understand it.
Now I do understand it.
I will tell you what it is.

Does this path have a heart?

All paths are the same: they lead nowhere.
They are paths going through the bush, or into the bush.
In my own life I could say I have traversed long, long paths, but I am not anywhere.
My benefactor’s question has meaning now.

Does this path have a heart?

If it does, the path is good; if it doesn’t, it is of no use.
Both paths lead nowhere; but one has a heart, the other doesn’t.
One makes for a joyful journey; as long as you follow it, you are one with it.
The other will make you curse your life.
One makes you strong, the other weakens you…..


Carlos Castaneda
The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge
 
“It's funny how, in this journey of life, even though we may begin at different times and places, our paths cross with others so that we may share our love, compassion, observations, and hope. This is a design of God that I appreciate and cherish.”
Steve Maraboli, Unapologetically You: Reflections on Life and the Human Experience

“Once you have traveled, the voyage never ends, but is played out over and over again in the quietest chambers. The mind can never break off from the journey.”
Pat Conroy

“Go outside. Don’t tell anyone and don’t bring your phone. Start walking and keep walking until you no longer know the road like the palm of your hand, because we walk the same roads day in and day out, to the bus and back home and we cease to see. We walk in our sleep and teach our muscles to work without thinking and I dare you to walk where you have not yet walked and I dare you to notice. Don’t try to get anything out of it, because you won’t. Don’t try to make use of it, because you can’t. And that’s the point. Just walk, see, sit down if you like. And be. Just be, whatever you are with whatever you have, and realise that that is enough to be happy.
There’s a whole world out there, right outside your window. You’d be a fool to miss it.”
Charlotte Eriksson
 
The 2024 Camino guides will be coming out little by little. Here is a collection of the ones that are out so far.
One of the many sayings I've seen on the Camino, “Su Camino es el tuyo para caminar y sólo tuyo,” which I understand to mean, “Your pathway is yours to make and yours alone.”
 
I have two such axioms that have shaped my entire Camino existence and experience since the first go:

"I have come to learn that the the journey IS the destination..."
(Anonymous - But I have this one framed in my home - a gift from my wife after my first Camino. She heard me say it several times on phone calls and in e-mail messages back and forth. I cannot claim credit for originating this one, but is is very true.)

"On any day, remember that there are days to be brave, and days to be smart..."
(Tom A. (me))

There is another, which is told in several forms. Here is my version...

"The Camino, any camino is simply a long walk. Some are arguably longer than others. A Camino is comprised of many individual steps. One merely takes a step, then repeats that process, known from infancy, about one-million times. Just remember to stop when you reach the Cathedral in Santiago..." (Anonymous)

Or my (coined this year) "Finisterre Route" variant... "Turn right at the corner at the end of this block, and stop walking when you come to the ocean...in about four days..."
(Tom A. (me), 2016)

Finally, there are the unofficial Camino Rules:

1. Never judge another person (or their Camino, gear, companions, behavior....) lest you be judged;
2. The Camino provides (it really does you know);
3. Saint James works in strange ways (sometimes in VERY strange and even weird ways);
4. Always treat others you encounter the way you would like to be treated;
5. Always help another pilgrim in need; and
6. Pay it forward (the good deed is it's own reward), encourage others to do the same.

The first three or four axioms are very well known on the Camino. I am not aware that anyone has formally coined the unofficial "Camino Rules" anywhere. If you find them, please share them.

I added the last two are from my own experiences on Camino. I found them to vastly improve the quality of each day, at least for me.

It did not matter if it was a kind word, a willing ear, a shoulder to cry on, first-aid treatment, sharing snacks or a meal, bottled water, or a ride, scrounging in a donativo box, giving away gear excess to my needs to another pilgrim I came upon, or even buying needed gear at a store for another at my expense, it did not matter. I am blessed to be able to offer encouragement, assistance or more tangible help, so I do. This is my nature. It comes to me naturally. I am also known along the Camino and in Santiago by this behavior.

In fact, I have come to realize that unless I can find other pilgrims to interact with and help if needed, my day is not complete. It is one reason why I did not like the Madrid Route this past April (too few pilgrims), and another reason why I so love working as a volunteer at the Pilgrim Office in Santiago (lots of pilgrims).

I hope this helps.
 
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"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times ..." Charles Dickens, A Tale of two Cities

Another (mis)quote from Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities...

"It is a far, far better bigger thing that I do, than I have ever done...", which is what I told myself as I walked 'off camino' between the Norte and the Ingles this year.
 
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Get a spanish phone number with Airalo. eSim, so no physical SIM card. Easy to use app to add more funds if needed.
Oops!! Sorry, I didn't know that thread existed but it made for fun reading last night. Thanks for sharing the link!
Most of the "new" topics already exist somewhere in the history of this forum but there's absolutely no problem in reviving majority of them. Glad you've enjoyed it.
 
A selection of Camino Jewellery
A quote from Frederic Gros, in an interview with Carole Cadwalladr. I remember it happening to me a couple of times, and his words summarize my feeling perfectly:

"And if you walk several hours, you can escape your identity. There is a moment when you walk several hours that you are only a body walking. Only that. You are nobody. You have no history. You have no identity. You have no past. You have no future. You are only a body walking.”
 
St James' Way - Self-guided 4-7 day Walking Packages, Reading to Southampton, 110 kms
Caminante no hay Camino.
Se hace Camino al andar.

I've always loved this poem, but never found it that inspirational; it's rather typical of the Generation of 98 in its expression of "cosmic nihilism" underlying their abulia. The key is in the final stanza,

Caminante, no hay camino,
sino estelas en la mar.


It's a reminder that our passage leaves but faint traces that quickly fade to nothing.
 
A selection of Camino Jewellery
The Summer Day
Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean-
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down-
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don't know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?

—Mary Oliver
 
I've always loved this poem, but never found it that inspirational; it's rather typical of the Generation of 98 in its expression of "cosmic nihilism" underlying their abulia. The key is in the final stanza,

Caminante, no hay camino,
sino estelas en la mar.


It's a reminder that our passage leaves but faint traces that quickly fade to nothing.


I allways think about this poem like a invitation to live our own lifes. Yesterday is yesterday, it is now when we are walking, it´s now when whe are choosing the step, the way each of us are going to walk the way of our lifes No yesterday, a single today, lots of tomorrows, lots of caminos to walk, lots of lifes to live.
 
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"The moon & sun are eternal travellers. Even the years wander on. A lifetime adrift in a boat, or in old age leading a tired horse into the years, every day is a journey, and the journey itself is home.
From the earliest times there have always been some who have perished along the road. Still I have always been drawn by windblown clouds into dreams of a lifetime of wandering."
Matsuo Basho (1644-94) Zen Abbot
 
The focus is on reducing the risk of failure through being well prepared. 2nd ed.
It's not Spanish but Italian and for the sake of vino tinto (in my case) I think I should post it (sorry for bigger fonts, it's copy/paste...):
“Anni, amori e bicchieri di vino, nun se contano mai.”’ ‘“Years, lovers and glasses of wine; these things must not be counted.”
 
"Adopt the pace of Nature. Her secret is patience."
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

"May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds."
~Edward Abbey
 
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€83,-
Very light, comfortable and compressible poncho. Specially designed for protection against water for any activity.

Our Atmospheric H30 poncho offers lightness and waterproofness. Easily compressible and made with our Waterproof fabric, its heat-sealed interior seams guarantee its waterproofness. Includes carrying bag.

€60,-
It has been fun looking through these old threads so easily noticed by the new format. The only downside is that it keeps me "chained to the forum" a little longer when I should be getting busy doing other more important things that are much less entertaining however. Ha.
 
It has been fun looking through these old threads so easily noticed by the new format. The only downside is that it keeps me "chained to the forum" a little longer when I should be getting busy doing other more important things that are much less entertaining however. Ha.

Someone once said something like: Important and urgent things have to be dealt with right now, so if you just leave them, they will go away."

I'm not sure this holds true for all things, but it's a nice thought ;)
 
From Thoreau: I have met with but one or two persons in the course of my life who understood the art of Walking, that is, of taking walks — who had a genius, so to speak, for sauntering, which word is beautifully derived “from idle people who roved about the country, in the Middle Ages, and asked charity, under pretense of going a la Sainte Terre, to the Holy Land, till the children exclaimed, “There goes a Sainte-Terrer,” a Saunterer, a Holy-Lander. They who never go to the Holy Land in their walks, as they pretend, are indeed mere idlers and vagabonds; but they who do go there are saunterers in the good sense, such as I mean. Some, however, would derive the word from sans terre, without land or a home, which, therefore, in the good sense, will mean, having no particular home, but equally at home everywhere. For this is the secret of successful sauntering. He who sits still in a house all the time may be the greatest vagrant of all; but the saunterer, in the good sense, is no more vagrant than the meandering river, which is all the while sedulously seeking the shortest course to the sea.
 
Technical backpack for day trips with backpack cover and internal compartment for the hydration bladder. Ideal daypack for excursions where we need a medium capacity backpack. The back with Air Flow System creates large air channels that will keep our back as cool as possible.

€83,-
It remains true to this day...

"If you want to hear God laugh, tell Him your plans." (Old Yiddish proverb)

It was never my intent to walk the Camino, now I have credenciales from three different years. Hard to figure....

B

I like this proverb, and have similar feeling.
1 year ago I have no idea of any caminos in Spain, not to mention to go 700kms. But it seems an invisible hand guides me to CF.

Based on my experience, I would like to say:

It’s God’s plan to lead you to go caminos, all your plans are under God’s master plan. So, why worry about your own plans??

Mai
 
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It remains true to this day...

"If you want to hear God laugh, tell Him your plans." (Old Yiddish proverb)

It was never my intent to walk the Camino, now I have credenciales from three different years. Hard to figure....

B

I like the Islamic version of this too:

"Trust in Allah. But tie up your camels"

Davey
 
The focus is on reducing the risk of failure through being well prepared. 2nd ed.
Here are some graffiti or quotes I have collected while walking over the past few years;

"Why tiptoe through life just to arrive at death safely"

"John Brierley for best fiction writer 2016"

On entering the Meseta: "Welcome to your mind"

On the Meseta: "I'm sure this would be easier drunk"

"The miracle you are searching for is you"

"The way is beautiful because you are"

"Make your weird light shine bright
so the other weirdo's know where to find you"

"Some walk to find themselves
Only to find each other"

"It's only love, give it away"

"Sing a song of sixpence
A pocket full of Rye
Forty Peregrino's passing you by
And when you reach the albergue
they'll turn to you and say
'Sorry Peregrino', completo for today"

And many, many more!
Davey
 
It has been fun looking through these old threads so easily noticed by the new format. The only downside is that it keeps me "chained to the forum" a little longer when I should be getting busy doing other more important things that are much less entertaining however. Ha.
And this is where I will say: I have been really enjoying my too frequent visits to the forum, and likewise neglecting other things. I need to restrict myself in a few areas, and this will be one of them. It will be costly, but isn’t that the message from the traditional Feudal Lords: your reward will be great...! Buen Camino, caminantes.
 
And this is where I will say: I have been really enjoying my too frequent visits to the forum, and likewise neglecting other things. I need to restrict myself in a few areas, and this will be one of them. It will be costly, but isn’t that the message from the traditional Feudal Lords: your reward will be great...! Buen Camino, caminantes.
I always enjoy your comments, Kirkie, and will miss reading your input, but I def understand. Adios until you catch up on your work/projects...see ya later!
 
St James' Way - Self-guided 4-7 day Walking Packages, Reading to Southampton, 110 kms

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