Lhollo
Active Member
- Time of past OR future Camino
- CF pt2, Belorado to Sarria, May 21 – June 12, 2022
Hello Camino friends,
This is a bit of a personal post, but I'm going to trust that it's a good idea. I'll plunge into the middle.
I'm probably a fortnight away from booking myself back on a flight to Spain, and walking as much of the Camino Frances, or another route, as I can between early-mid August and mid September. I didn't expect this thought to appear, but it has been haranguing me for a fortnight and won't go away.
Personally, I think it's a ridiculous idea, even though it's a product of my own brain. I've only just got back from the CF, where I was walking Belorado to Sarria with my partner. We both had an absolutely brilliant, incredible, wonderful time. We both miss it. Despite this, I was happy to accept that it ended when it did, for now.
Relevant to my quandary: I'm writing about the Camino. I have funding for the book—it's memoir, but mixed in with life here in the UK—and want it to be the best I can possibly make it. And it's not as though I have nothing to say, because the Camino I've done so far hasn't always been a breeze for me. I have Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, as you may know, and have worked around various troubles with it. But for the most part, I've managed very well. I even ran gleefully down sections where no one is supposed to run
This year, I spent almost the whole Camino in a sort of reverie of birds, Spanish, landscape, video, and conversation with my partner. But I didn't have much time to think, somehow. When I tried to, I felt a sort of empty quietness, which would quickly again be filled with wonder, birds… etc.
So far, we've been staying solely in private rooms, because of my need to sleep in a partly raised position. Dorm beds aren't always feasible for this, and they don't have enough pillows. However, a brilliant forum member ( @Peregrinopaul ) suggested I try a Thermarest sleep system, which I carried with me this year. I used it just once, but it worked well. (See my video of this, in Hornillos del Camino). I don't know how realistic this system will be for all albergues: I need some headroom, and don't think I could heat the inflating mattress enough to kill bedbugs, should that be a problem. I'm thinking that it might be ok in other ways, though, particularly now that I'm able to use it in a lower position than previously (it wouldn't be quite so strange to look at, for other people!).
So, I'm considering trying to do the whole thing in one go—probably the CF because it's busy and I know it, but not necessarily—and staying in albergues. Or maybe again walking only to Sarria but from SJPDP. I'd like to opt largely for off-stages if I did the CF, but either way, I'd be stopping when I felt like it. It'd have to be super-cheap, ideally rarely over €10-€15 per night, plus cheap food (realistic?). But maybe it'd give me time to think, and to learn how much I can do on my own, and how much my body lets me do.
I'm weighing up various pros and cons. I'm also talking a lot with my partner, because it's usually something we do together, and I don't want to upset him. We will return together next June, to walk from Sarria to Finisterre and Muxia, and have already booked some of those nights. But June is a long time to wait, and the book needs an ending (I thought I could work around this, but the nagging idea of returning is telling me… something). And I'm not sure I'll have the spiritual time next June, which I think I need. Sarria is too close to SdC.
Another factor… You may also recall my thread about ghosts and spookiness. I have a large background theme going on, which I'm trying to work out. Something happened to me in Barcelona, before I'd even started the CF last August. It's partly religious (I myself am not/was not, in a traditional way), at minimum spiritual, and I feel I need answers. I didn't get many answers this last May-June, but I went where things led me.
One last thing is that I know the Camino is safer than many places… but I am a tiny 5ft person, and I like to walk in short shorts because I overheat easily (I know the theory about covering up but haven't found anything that works for me). I also can't help myself speaking Spanish when possible, and am generally quite lively, albeit also a little intense at times. In the past, a similar combination of elements resulted in my being assaulted by a stranger severely enough that it was going to court. That was in Barcelona, back in the early 2000s. I had to leave Spain before the trial… (it's a long story). I am aware that it was the man's fault really, of course. Anywayyyy… I'm not sure how comfortable I'll feel walking sections alone, or being alone with some people, but I don't want to let things stop me. I do have Alert Cops, etc. I'm fine when I'm with other people, and I know that often this might be the case on the CF, at least. Then again, I want time alone to think! And I know that I'd like, in the future, to do many routes, for which I might have to be alone.
I intend to keep sitting on this for a while. But two weeks have now passed, and this feeling that I have to return soon hasn't gone away. So… I'll be glad of some perspective from you here.
Well done, and thank you, if you've made it this far. And thank you in advance for any input you might have!
This is a bit of a personal post, but I'm going to trust that it's a good idea. I'll plunge into the middle.
I'm probably a fortnight away from booking myself back on a flight to Spain, and walking as much of the Camino Frances, or another route, as I can between early-mid August and mid September. I didn't expect this thought to appear, but it has been haranguing me for a fortnight and won't go away.
Personally, I think it's a ridiculous idea, even though it's a product of my own brain. I've only just got back from the CF, where I was walking Belorado to Sarria with my partner. We both had an absolutely brilliant, incredible, wonderful time. We both miss it. Despite this, I was happy to accept that it ended when it did, for now.
Relevant to my quandary: I'm writing about the Camino. I have funding for the book—it's memoir, but mixed in with life here in the UK—and want it to be the best I can possibly make it. And it's not as though I have nothing to say, because the Camino I've done so far hasn't always been a breeze for me. I have Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, as you may know, and have worked around various troubles with it. But for the most part, I've managed very well. I even ran gleefully down sections where no one is supposed to run
This year, I spent almost the whole Camino in a sort of reverie of birds, Spanish, landscape, video, and conversation with my partner. But I didn't have much time to think, somehow. When I tried to, I felt a sort of empty quietness, which would quickly again be filled with wonder, birds… etc.
So far, we've been staying solely in private rooms, because of my need to sleep in a partly raised position. Dorm beds aren't always feasible for this, and they don't have enough pillows. However, a brilliant forum member ( @Peregrinopaul ) suggested I try a Thermarest sleep system, which I carried with me this year. I used it just once, but it worked well. (See my video of this, in Hornillos del Camino). I don't know how realistic this system will be for all albergues: I need some headroom, and don't think I could heat the inflating mattress enough to kill bedbugs, should that be a problem. I'm thinking that it might be ok in other ways, though, particularly now that I'm able to use it in a lower position than previously (it wouldn't be quite so strange to look at, for other people!).
So, I'm considering trying to do the whole thing in one go—probably the CF because it's busy and I know it, but not necessarily—and staying in albergues. Or maybe again walking only to Sarria but from SJPDP. I'd like to opt largely for off-stages if I did the CF, but either way, I'd be stopping when I felt like it. It'd have to be super-cheap, ideally rarely over €10-€15 per night, plus cheap food (realistic?). But maybe it'd give me time to think, and to learn how much I can do on my own, and how much my body lets me do.
I'm weighing up various pros and cons. I'm also talking a lot with my partner, because it's usually something we do together, and I don't want to upset him. We will return together next June, to walk from Sarria to Finisterre and Muxia, and have already booked some of those nights. But June is a long time to wait, and the book needs an ending (I thought I could work around this, but the nagging idea of returning is telling me… something). And I'm not sure I'll have the spiritual time next June, which I think I need. Sarria is too close to SdC.
Another factor… You may also recall my thread about ghosts and spookiness. I have a large background theme going on, which I'm trying to work out. Something happened to me in Barcelona, before I'd even started the CF last August. It's partly religious (I myself am not/was not, in a traditional way), at minimum spiritual, and I feel I need answers. I didn't get many answers this last May-June, but I went where things led me.
One last thing is that I know the Camino is safer than many places… but I am a tiny 5ft person, and I like to walk in short shorts because I overheat easily (I know the theory about covering up but haven't found anything that works for me). I also can't help myself speaking Spanish when possible, and am generally quite lively, albeit also a little intense at times. In the past, a similar combination of elements resulted in my being assaulted by a stranger severely enough that it was going to court. That was in Barcelona, back in the early 2000s. I had to leave Spain before the trial… (it's a long story). I am aware that it was the man's fault really, of course. Anywayyyy… I'm not sure how comfortable I'll feel walking sections alone, or being alone with some people, but I don't want to let things stop me. I do have Alert Cops, etc. I'm fine when I'm with other people, and I know that often this might be the case on the CF, at least. Then again, I want time alone to think! And I know that I'd like, in the future, to do many routes, for which I might have to be alone.
I intend to keep sitting on this for a while. But two weeks have now passed, and this feeling that I have to return soon hasn't gone away. So… I'll be glad of some perspective from you here.
Well done, and thank you, if you've made it this far. And thank you in advance for any input you might have!