It is hopeless: I surrender...

[alexwalker]

This year, I had to quit in Astorga due to a severe cold: I just understood I was about to kill myself. So; I have to make plans for continuing from Astorga and onwards next time. And when is next time? Soon, I hope, but no winter walking...

But, there is another issue, reflected in the heading of my post. I cannot let go of the Camino... I just want to go back. After 4 walks (VdlP and CF), I have to confess to be a CA (Caminando Anonymics). I would actually like to stay on the Camino. Maybe as a helper in an albergue, or whatever. I have been treated so well by people like Istvan and his wife in Corazon Puro this spring, Rebekah in her tiny pueblo in 2009, + all the beautiful people I have met on the way all times (yes, some *ssholes too, but we should forget bad people ).

Just want to do some payback; but how. I am independent and free and can go whenever I want. Except from some voluntary duties as a sea captain in the tourist industry in the Arctic...

 

[karenfromcali]

This year, I had to quit in Astorga due to a severe cold: I just understood I was about to kill myself. So; I have to make plans for continuing from Astorga and onwards next time. And when is next time? Soon, I hope, but no winter walking...

But, there is another issue, reflected in the heading of my post. I cannot let go of the Camino... I just want to go back. After 4 walks (VdlP and CF), I have to confess to be a CA (Caminando Anonymics). I would actually like to stay on the Camino. Maybe as a helper in an albergue, or whatever. I have been treated so well by people like Istvan and his wife in Corazon Puro this spring, Rebekah in her tiny pueblo in 2009, + all the beautiful people I have met on the way all times (yes, some *ssholes too, but we should forget bad people ).

Just want to do some payback; but how. I am independent and free and can go whenever I want. Except from some voluntary duties as a sea captain in the tourist industry in the Arctic...

Understand how you feel completely! Can't get the camino out of my mind and have tried to think of ways I could stay there. Want (need?) to get back as soon as I can. Volunteering would be wonderful but my Spanish is terrible. Sorry you had to cut short this last time, but sincerely hope you find a way to stay and that the right opportunity will present itself soon.

 

[Alyssa]

This year, I had to quit in Astorga due to a severe cold: I just understood I was about to kill myself. So; I have to make plans for continuing from Astorga and onwards next time. And when is next time? Soon, I hope, but no winter walking...

But, there is another issue, reflected in the heading of my post. I cannot let go of the Camino... I just want to go back. After 4 walks (VdlP and CF), I have to confess to be a CA (Caminando Anonymics). I would actually like to stay on the Camino. Maybe as a helper in an albergue, or whatever. I have been treated so well by people like Istvan and his wife in Corazon Puro this spring, Rebekah in her tiny pueblo in 2009, + all the beautiful people I have met on the way all times (yes, some *ssholes too, but we should forget bad people ).

Just want to do some payback; but how. I am independent and free and can go whenever I want. Except from some voluntary duties as a sea captain in the tourist industry in the Arctic...

Alex, I'm sorry you had to cut short your trip but good for you for taking care of yourself. The spring/summer season will be here soon enough...

I, too, am a CA (nicely said) and started planning my second Camino for next summer mere days after finishing my first this year. I made a number of friends who returned the Camino shortly after completing it to volunteer in albergues. I would imagine that with your independence (I'm envious), you would be able to do that too.

Good luck!

 

[santiago_67]

This year, I had to quit in Astorga due to a severe cold: I just understood I was about to kill myself. So; I have to make plans for continuing from Astorga and onwards next time. And when is next time? Soon, I hope, but no winter walking...

But, there is another issue, reflected in the heading of my post. I cannot let go of the Camino... I just want to go back. After 4 walks (VdlP and CF), I have to confess to be a CA (Caminando Anonymics). I would actually like to stay on the Camino. Maybe as a helper in an albergue, or whatever. I have been treated so well by people like Istvan and his wife in Corazon Puro this spring, Rebekah in her tiny pueblo in 2009, + all the beautiful people I have met on the way all times (yes, some *ssholes too, but we should forget bad people ).

Just want to do some payback; but how. I am independent and free and can go whenever I want. Except from some voluntary duties as a sea captain in the tourist industry in the Arctic...

Alex, the following was posted in August of 2013. Things may have changed since then as to how they get volunteers in Santiago. Falcon or one of the other monitors may have current info, but I thought I would just copy part of that post:
Johnniewalker-santiago@hotmail.com

http://www.johnniewalker-santiago.blogspot.com

"Hello to all experienced peregrinos and peregrinas who are interested to give something back to the pilgrim office which has worked extremely hard for the pilgrim community in santiago. If you are interested in volunteering, please contact johnnie walker at either of the above websites."

 

[Dennis D]

Alex Hello,

I hear you loud and clear. CA all the way, but at least it is a positive addiction. I am spending a lot of time on this Forum just trying to stay connected. Sorry that you became ill on your last trip but happy to hear that you still plan to be back at it again. I am preparing for my next two Caminos. One in 2015 and another in 2016. I am counting the days until my return. I hope that you are as well. Buen Camino !

 

[MichaelB10398]

Hello Alex, your sentiments are not unique and are shared my hundreds, if not thousands, of ardent Camino pilgrims. A life of simplicity found in service to others is a grace that can be enjoyed where ever we are. What is wonderful about the Camino is that it is expected and a focused way of being. We are compelled to a simple life and service toward others seems to come naturally. Though it is possible to build such a life where ever we lay our heads, it is much easier to gently enter into such a lifestyle where it already exists.

We each have a choice about how we will live our lives every day. Some of us do a great job bringing the simple life back to their daily life; others struggle with it by sliding back and forth between the myriad of lifestyles offered us.

Walk the Camino daily. You carry a joyously strong spirit of Camino with you as evidenced by your many enjoyable posts. Whether you join what already exists or create your own, may you always be a source of that Camino spirit in life.

 

[alexwalker]

Thank you for very kind words and advice, Michael. It is like waiting for that journey that will bring one to the Camino for the first time: It seems far away, but sudddenly, one day it arrives. Kind of like David in another post, whose car broke down and he was stranded in France, and found himself surrounded by Camino references... when he started looking. Sometimes, one has to believe there is purpose in life.

 

[david g]

Another option you may look into Alex, though it isn't specifically Camino related, is a volunteer stint through Workaway.com or Wwoof.org. Room and board in exchange for a set amount of work during the day. Many places scattered throughout Spain, some probably right along the Camino. (On days off you could take a leisurely stroll on sections of the Camino). It's a beautiful thing to see how the Camino can call us to look beyond ourselves, to push us to be of service to others. Imagine the changes we could see in the world if we could convince world leaders to walk the Way.

 

[pilgrim b]

Thank you for very kind words and advice, Michael. It is like waiting for that journey that will bring one to the Camino for the first time: It seems far away, but sudddenly, one day it arrives. Kind of like David in another post, whose car broke down and he was stranded in France, and found himself surrounded by Camino references... when he started looking. Sometimes, one has to believe there is purpose in life.

Alex on camino we live each moment one at a time not easy back home but possible (at least some of the time) attending to breathing, seeking reality, spotting a need and acting on it. Buen camino Alex life is our camino have a "good life."

 

[Anniesantiago]

Hello Alex, my name is Annie.
Welcome to Camino Anonymous!

 

[t2andreo]

Alex:

Welcome to the club! You are now one of those folks, myself included, who would like to be perpetually on Camino... just wandering along, like a "happy hobo."

Although Norway is not in the EU, it is in the Schengen Area. Does that mean you have the right of abode in EU countries? If yes, you can just have your pension check sent onward... Would that I could...

I am glad you are back in fine fettle. Next June, I shall plan do the Camino Portugues from Porto to Santiago, for about 12-13 days.

 

[alexwalker]

Alex:

Welcome to the club! You are now one of those folks......

Been there 5 years...

Alex:

Although Norway is not in the EU, it is in the Schengen Area. Does that mean you have the right of abode in EU countries? If yes, you can just have your pension check sent onward...

Yep, Tom: Free to come and go. No visa. Free healthcare. All med. bills are invoiced to the Norw. health care system. Don't need checks: Pension payout is sent directly to my Visa account each month. Great exchange rate from NOK to Euro. Strong oil&gas currency...

 

[SandritaCeballos]

Hello all, I get excited reading your posts and seeing how many return for another leg of the Camino. I will be a newbie and am planning to travel next year in September. There is so much information to absorb and believe me if I could travel sooner I would, as I am aching to take this journey. I welcome any advice on preparation and what route you would recommend for a first leg of about 10-15 days. I thank you for your information and wish you all safe travels and bendiciones

 

[MeganG22]

Alex, I think just last night I really realized the extent of the addiction-- while my grandparents were asking me many questions about it and I brought up the forum: "Well I am a member of this website about the Camino that I check and contribute to...every single day...for the last two years...Every. Single. Day." Just saying that aloud made me think- wow. Lucky for all of us it is a truly wonderful, healthy, providing, life-changing addiction!

 

[scruffy1]

• Dear Alex, more health news, Fiebre Jacobeus cannot be cured even if you wash out the showers and toilets of four albergues, it's for life! The Camino has been with us for over a thousand years? It will be here next year, the year after, next decade and long after we are gone.

 

[David]

Thank you for very kind words and advice, Michael. It is like waiting for that journey that will bring one to the Camino for the first time: It seems far away, but sudddenly, one day it arrives. Kind of like David in another post, whose car broke down and he was stranded in France, and found himself surrounded by Camino references... when he started looking. Sometimes, one has to believe there is purpose in life.

Yes, it is quite ridiculous isn't it - of all the roads in France I could have been towed to ... Route de Compostele! One gets all these 'clues' and tries to make sense of what is really going on!
Life seems sometimes like being inside a complicated board game with zillions of pieces but with no instructions!

If life, the universe, reality, was random it would be, well random! - but it isn't is it .... my belief system tells me that there are no accidents, no coincidences, no randomness - everything, every little thing, has meaning .. what the universe manifests to us is for a reason and it is how we respond that is important, not what is actually happening that we label 'good' or 'bad'
and, yes ... you are addicted .. if you had a religious mindset you would say you are called ... the answer, exactly as you put it, is to surrender! so - You really have to go back - there is no choice at all.
If the wandering calls you rather than being in one place, with your 'acts of good' desire to pay back ... could I suggest a first aid kit and a time of wandering along the Camino? You don't need to do stages, nor keep up with the daily set of pilgrims .. if you take it easy, cover short distances, you will meet new people every day, you could bus back upstream a few days and walk that section again ... just a thought . (Of which - if I had chosen that this time instead of car and caravan as base and first aiding from there I wouldn't be sitting here now waiting to see if I can afford the car repair or will have to scrap it and go home but would be somewhere on the Frances writing this from an internet cabinet!!!!!)

This hungering to return, to that lifetime of walking, isn't a new thing, I think we (or some of us) are hard-wired to do this, some ancestral thing, or some abandoning of what society holds to be important, that which is actually unimportant - here is Matsuo Basho a 17th century Zen Abbot - I think it fits the Camino addiction very well

"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."

The nearest translations to the Japanese word for monk would be "leaf upon water" or "cloud across sky" ......... of course ....

Buen Camino brother

 

[Al the optimist]

Just to let you all know that at the suggestion of Arn we have opened up a social group for Caminolics.

 

[MichaelB10398]

Been there 5 years...



Yep, Tom: Free to come and go. No visa. Free healthcare. All med. bills are invoiced to the Norw. health care system. Don't need checks: Pension payout is sent directly to my Visa account each month. Great exchange rate from NOK to Euro. Strong oil&gas currency...

You make me jealous of those benefits!

I hope one day to meet you on Camino; to walk piece or all that is offered us. You have long inspired me. Until we meet along the Way, like you I feel the call every day.

When I wake my mind's eye sees me reach for my boots, set my pack just so, and away I go. The day is kissed by those first, sweetest of sun's rays that illumines the shell that points my way. As I leave the village and hit the trail I raise my eyes to the sky and I am again overwhelmed at how blessed I am to have walked once, twice, thrice and yet hunger to return. My cheek feels the tear as I again realize that I am not on my Spanish Camino.

Some moments are harder than others, but the fact remains that I am a pilgrim here. So much beauty surrounds me. I meet those who are my spiritual kin for I see the pilgrim twinkle in their eye. As I return home from a day's work I feel the gratitude of having worked another day. My pack stands ready for me; no need to prepare. I am ready.

 

[mspath]

Just to let you all know that at the suggestion of Arn we have opened up a social group for Caminolics.

May I join ?

MM

 

[Silverton]

Me too, please. I have called myself a Camino recidivist/reincidente, but caminolic (or caminoholic??) also says it like it is! I'm afraid I'm not ready to be cured--was it St Augustine who had that prayer too--not just yet, Lord??

 

[pilgrim b]

Me too, please. I have called myself a Camino recidivist/reincidente, but caminolic (or caminoholic??) also says it like it is! I'm afraid I'm not ready to be cured--was it St Augustine who had that prayer too--not just yet, Lord??

Solvitur ambulando (St Augustine)" It is solved by walking". So along with James and Francis I guess he is still walking the camino, maybe we might just bump into them one of these days !

 

[Silverton]

Pilgrim B, I know that quote is certainly more apt here, than the totally not in context one of Augustine that I referred to: 'Lord, make me chaste and continent, but not yet.' because I had said I wasn't ready yet to be cured of caminoholism. Mixing my metaphors, once again.

 

[David]

Prefer not to meet Augustine along the Camino - first Christian theologian to write down the reasons why a heretic should be burnt to death - not my sort of chap ....

 

[Rebekah Scott]

all you junkies -- esp. those with building skills and strong backs -- are welcome to come over and stay at my place and help me re-do another adobe house... this one right on the Way!

 

[alexwalker]

-- esp. those with building skills and strong backs --

I doubt a 60 yrs old computer geek & sea captain with a bad back would do you good That being said: I was outside your door one morning in May this year, in case you needed a working hand for a few days. Nobody home (looked very quiet), so I had to walk on. I believe you were in USA at the time? Wedding? That was what I was told.

 

[november_moon]

I think I need to join CA as well. I have unfinished business there and think about it every day. I have the scallop shell that I carried right here on my desk.
We were only on the Camino for 1 week - 1 week before we had to leave due to a death in the family - and even in that short time, the Camino changed us. When we were making our way home, we knew we would return. I think it will be in 2016, so I still have quite a while to wait - so in the mean time, I feed my addiction by reading about other people on the Camino.

 

[alexwalker]

We were only on the Camino for 1 week - 1 week before we had to leave due to a death in the family - and even in that short time, the Camino changed us.

https://www.caminodesantiago.me/com...fe-friends-camino-friends-soul-friends.29254/

Welcome to the family, my dear.

 

[pilgrim b]

Pilgrim B, I know that quote is certainly more apt here, than the totally not in context one of Augustine that I referred to: 'Lord, make me chaste and continent, but not yet.' because I had said I wasn't ready yet to be cured of caminoholism. Mixing my metaphors, once again.

Don't concern yourself Silverton about mixed metaphors or a cure for caminoholism we are all pilgrims who make good deeds and sometimes like David said of Augustine get things wrong.

 

[david g]

Rebekah, are you serious? I'll be walking again starting May 1 and had planned to stay my entire 90 days, volunteering with Workaway hosts once my Camino is done. I'd love to get some experience working with adobe, so if you're still in need at that time, let me know.
As for us all returning to walk the camino again, due to being "Caminoholics", I guess that would be more than a "12 Step" program.

 

[Al the optimist]

Anyone can join the Caminoholics Social Group, just go there and post.

 

[katdavis]

Hi, my name's Katrina and I too am addicted

But what a beautiful family we belong to!

My bag is packed and ready, I just need to buy a flight and decide if I am going to start the Via de la Plata from Cadiz / Seville or Granada!

 

[Al the optimist]

Go girl go!

 

[alexwalker]

...some abandoning of what society holds to be important, that which is actually unimportant -

Intelligent speech: We are now V E R Y close to the core of the whole thing, aren't we?

If life, the universe, reality, was random it would be, well random! - but it isn't is it .... my belief system tells me that there are no accidents, no coincidences, no randomness - everything, every little thing, has meaning .. what the universe manifests to us is for a reason and it is how we respond that is important, not what is actually happening that we label 'good' or 'bad'

Which tells me that we would agree within 10 mins. and spend the rest of the evening researching the remaining thruths residing inside a few bottles of Rioca. I am all with you, brother!

On the serious side, I agree with you, for many reasons, many of them learnt on the Camino. I have stories...

 

[david g]

David, I couldn't agree more with what you said about how everything has meaning, even those minuscule happenings that in other situations would be ignored. That's one of the beautiful things about the Camino. We're given the time, away from all the distractions of our usual lives, to see these things as they happen and to be able to act upon them. I don't think I've ever felt that I was in exactly the right place at exactly the right time as much as I did on the Camino. It was hard to convey that to family and friends after returning home, and I'm sure I sounded like I had gotten just a bit "out there", but too many things happened at too perfect a time for me to not recognize them as having meaning.

 

[Dennis D]

Hi, my name's Katrina and I too am addicted

But what a beautiful family we belong to!

My bag is packed and ready, I just need to buy a flight and decide if I am going to start the Via de la Plata from Cadiz / Seville or Granada!

Hello and welcome Katrina. The good news is there is no 12 step program for us. Buen Camino!

 

[David]

True - more like a 9 hundred thousand step program!

 

[MaryMcKinley]

all you junkies -- esp. those with building skills and strong backs -- are welcome to come over and stay at my place and help me re-do another adobe house... this one right on the Way!

Ah, Rebekah! I had every intention of stopping by your place last month on my Camino, if only to tell you that we have a sort of mutual friend. My friend Susan is a friend of Anne Marie Z in PA. Sorry I didn't make the detour that day but I have a feeling I'm going to become one of those Caminoholics, too.

 

[Julio Gone Camino]

But, there is another issue, reflected in the heading of my post. I cannot let go of the Camino... I just want to go back. After 4 walks (VdlP and CF), I have to confess to be a CA (Caminando Anonymics).

Yeah, I get this as well!

We have recently returned from the second part of our 3-year plan to complete the Camino Frances. The third section is planned for next year.

Since we have returned, neither of us can get the Camino out of our minds. It was just such an amazing, life-enriching experience. Another 10-12 months until we go back is hard to imagine, so to combat that feeling we have decided we are actually still on Camino - everything we do and everywhere we walk is simply preparation for carrying on along the route next year.

In the meantime we are planning for our return and considering what we might do in 2016 as well, so thoughts of the Camino are never far from our minds.

Does that sound like we have CA bad? Probably - but as everyone knows, once it's "got" you, you are well and truly "got".

 

[amido hicho]

all you junkies -- esp. those with building skills and strong backs -- are welcome to come over and stay at my place and help me re-do another adobe house... this one right on the Way![/

LOL,, y WANT A FREE LABOR JAJAJAJA.

 

[jeffnd]

Hello and welcome Katrina. The good news is there is no 12 step program for us. Buen Camino!

Yeah, it's more like a million step program!

 

[MichaelSG]

Another option you may look into Alex, though it isn't specifically Camino related, is a volunteer stint through Workaway.com or Wwoof.org. Room and board in exchange for a set amount of work during the day. Many places scattered throughout Spain, some probably right along the Camino. (On days off you could take a leisurely stroll on sections of the Camino). It's a beautiful thing to see how the Camino can call us to look beyond ourselves, to push us to be of service to others. Imagine the changes we could see in the world if we could convince world leaders to walk the Way.

I think you might mean http://www.workaway.info, right? Country clubs in the US can get their own employees.

 

[david g]

I think you might mean http://www.workaway.info, right? Country clubs in the US can get their own employees.

Whoops! You're right Michael. Thanks for the clarification.

 

[gigibarry]

Hello all, I get excited reading your posts and seeing how many return for another leg of the Camino. I will be a newbie and am planning to travel next year in September. There is so much information to absorb and believe me if I could travel sooner I would, as I am aching to take this journey. I welcome any advice on preparation and what route you would recommend for a first leg of about 10-15 days. I thank you for your information and wish you all safe travels and bendiciones

Oh, Sandrita, I don't know which is more exciting: going for the first time or returning. There are many recommendations on this forum for where to start and how to prepare. I would only be repeating those with more experience than me. All I would say is prepare, but not too much so as to leave open space in your heart and mind for unexpected blessings. They will come. This is why we all want to go back.

 

[shubertj]

This year, I had to quit in Astorga due to a severe cold: I just understood I was about to kill myself. So; I have to make plans for continuing from Astorga and onwards next time. And when is next time? Soon, I hope, but no winter walking...

But, there is another issue, reflected in the heading of my post. I cannot let go of the Camino... I just want to go back. After 4 walks (VdlP and CF), I have to confess to be a CA (Caminando Anonymics). I would actually like to stay on the Camino. Maybe as a helper in an albergue, or whatever. I have been treated so well by people like Istvan and his wife in Corazon Puro this spring, Rebekah in her tiny pueblo in 2009, + all the beautiful people I have met on the way all times (yes, some *ssholes too, but we should forget bad people ).

Just want to do some payback; but how. I am independent and free and can go whenever I want. Except from some voluntary duties as a sea captain in the tourist industry in the Arctic...

Alex,
I feel your pain, my wife and I started walking the Camino Portuguese on Sept 2 from Lisbon and only made it to Coimbra when my back went out and had to return to the USA for surgery. Its only been 2 weeks from my surgery but already up to 5k walking every morning and thinking of the Camino all day long. Hope to return next year as the doctor says walking is the best thing I can do.

I love your payback comment and would love to spend the time helping others as they helped us through our crisis.

Only no heavy lifting !!

 

[gracieb]

Hey there, didn't have time to scan the entire post, but I just have to say I'm right there with you. I think about the Camino everyday. I didn't think about it until 11:30 am yesterday and was amazed at myself. I feel impossibly connected to it, and leaving it has felt like a huge loss.. as if 50 of my closest friends all died at once. It was such a beautiful, life-changing experience.