Hello from Toronto!

[Tara]

I must admit I am experiencing a tad bit of trepidation as I continue my preparations for walking the Camino Frances, starting Aug 31; I'll be en route during the month of September. I am grateful to be living in the possibility. Until we meet, buen camino!

 

[Artemis]

Hi,
Please don't let this be your first impression of this forum. Someone has spammed it and the moderators are probably fast asleep in Europe and won't realize it until the morning. So please return and you will find lots of helpful information and plenty of replies to any questions you may have.
Melinda

 

[mrbillyto]

Hi Tara,
I know how you are feeling. You are leaving 3 days ahead of me and I too am busy training here in Toronto for my walk on the Camino Frances. I hope it all goes well for you and that you manage to get out for a walk between the downpours here these days!
Buen Camino!
Bill

 

[hikerjules]

Hi Bill and Tara. I am from London Ontario and will be starting the Camino (my first time) on August 30th ... maybe I will see my fellow Canadians there along the trail. Only one month away!

Julie

 

[WolverineDG]

Hey Tara! Don't worry about the spam. I'm fairly sure the mods have taken care of it by now. I'm arriving in SJP on 8/31, & setting out on 9/1. I'm talking myself into just going all-in the first day & make it over the hump to Roncesvalles in one fell swoop. So if you see a woman walking with a green Osprey pack, that probably is me!

Kelly

 

[mrbillyto]

Hi Tara and Julie,
I guess I will have some catching up to do! I am leaving Toronto on 3Sep but not starting my Camino from St Jean Pied de Port until 07Sep. Like Kelly, my plan is to go all-in my first day and get over the hill(s) to Roncesvalles. I have the Canadian flag on my backpack so it should be a great way to identify a fellow Canadian.
See you on the Camino maybe?
Bill

 

[Tara]

Hello from Toronto!...2nd note

Thanks, Julie, Bill...and others who have responded....for the jelly-nugget of excitement I felt when I read your notes!! After seven years of 'thinking about it', this is actually happening! Just got back from shopping for my 'packing list', and am eternally grateful to the many, many Pilgrims who willingly shared notes and suggestions, several of which I have incorporated in my preparation process.

I will definitely look for our Flag...Vive Le Canada!! And buen camino. Tara

 

[Anonymous]

Tara! Ola! .. here's the thing .. those whose brains are set to resolve prolbems worry at this first Camino as a tongue worries at a broken tooth ... and all this means is that they are the successful type of person as when something turns up that is a littl dificult they already know what to do - so fear not, this anxiety anticipation is the norm -

In the Arts there is a saying about a good director, that she/he will never put something unexpected onto the stage that an actor cannot cope with

The Good God is the same. You have been called, and after seven years you are answering! - Enjoy!

Ultreya!

(It is going to be Marvellous!) :wink:

 

[peregrina nicole]

Hello Tara,

I'm from Fredericton. I did the Camino Frances last year and loved it. So, this year we did the first 4 stages of the Via de la Plata (we happened to be in Seville for a conference). On Aug 6, we head out to Porto to do the Camino Portugues and then onto Finnesterre and Murxia.

Bon Chemin!

 

[skilsaw]

Great, a gaggle of Canadians!
I think a discreet sized Canadian flag on a is a good thing.

On my first Camino I was mistaken for a German once and another time I was treated like a leper by a group in a coffee shop. Later on, I was told they mistook me for an American and I needed to wear a flag.
Sad how these generalizations stand in the way of getting to know people.

But I digress.
Good luck all of you on your September Caminos. no doubt some of you will connect on the way.

Use your last month of preparation wisely... long walks on the weekend with and without your packs... with and without hills... sometimes on trails, sometimes on pavement.

Be ruthless in trimming the excess from your pack.

And have a marvelous time.

David, Victoria, Canada.

 

[Canuck]

Tara,

I'm sure you'll have a grand time on the Camino. You seem well prepared and certainly show a good state of mind for this kind of trip.

As for the Canadian flag, I also wear one on my pack. It first started when, on my first outing in 2002, I was continously mistaken for a Frenchman whether I spoke French, English or Spanish. It seems I have this particular accent in all those languages.

Walk tall,
Jean-Marc

 

[Deleted member 3000]

Perhaps the U.S. image has improved (from Pew Research Center):



We have nearly doubled in Spain!!!

 

[Anonymous]

Change of President I think - most of us in the UK were swept up by it ... I'm on the White House mailing list and lots of very positive and open bumf comes through - I hope it improves even more.