Last Camino

[Sagalouts]

it wasn't that I made a big decision not to go back,it was more a realization on the beach at finisterre that I had finished it was a completion,time to move on.
if the camino was a university I felt I had graduated.I'm still trying to come to terms with this,I'm nervous about whats to come the way I was on my first day starting out in SJPP,I think for me the camino had become a very comfortable place my very own comfort blanket-walk eat sleep.
my home here in England became just a staging post while waiting to start my next camino.
I don't know what the next level is apart from taking what I have learnt and seeking new challenges I know I can't just sit here getting older.
as any other camino addict faced this same realization

 

[peregrina2000]

Hi, Ian,
Thank you so much for posting this. I'm a Camino addict, but I haven't yet had this experience. Every time I walk into Santiago, I say to myself, well some day for sure I am going to arrive and say to myself, I am DONE, this is it. I have to admit that I fear that day, and it's probably for the very reason you describe -- for me the Camino isn't a challenge, it isn't a way to get myself out of my comfort zone, it is the place on earth where I am the most comfortable. It's the only place where I'm not afraid to set out on foot all alone in the dark, not knowing really where I'm going, knowing that I will be enjoying beautiful natural surroundings, thoughtful company, and simplicity. I remember once on the Camino Primitivo, I was leaving Cornellana, and it was dark and misty. Up ahead, I saw the glow of two cigarette butts. When I got closer, I saw it was two men, both with large farm tools in their hands, staring at me. I didn't miss a beat, I kept on walking, said Buenos Dias, and they said to me (in Spanish) -- you're lucky to have such a nice day for walking. Never in a hundred years would I have put myself in that situation in another place. It was then that I started to realize that for me the Camino had become the "escape" perhaps, the self-indulgent opportunity to cut off the modern world, just focus on introspection and gratitude and enjoyment of the beauty of the earth. And I sometimes feel guilty about that, and wonder whether I should keep coming back -- but like all good addicts, of course, I do.
So when you say you've "graduated," are you saying that you have absorbed all the Camino has to offer you, or are you saying that you don't think you can justify what has become some continuing self-indulgence or disconnect from reality? Hmmm, much food for thought, Laurie

 

[Deleted member 3000]

I'm heading for the last roundup
Gonna saddle old Paint for the last time and ride
So long, old pal, it's time your tears were dried
I'm heading for the last roundup.

 

[colinPeter]

Hi Ian,

The following lyrics have often illuminated various stages of my life.
"Ah, but I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now"
Hoping your next stage is a step beyond.

Col

 

[lynnejohn]

Ian, we are with you. I think all of us who have walked multiple Caminos have contemplated, with each arrival in Santiago, what if this is the last time?
I can't imagine life without the Camino, and I agree with Laurie when she says, "It really is the place on earth where I am most comfortable". I really feel free and with each Camino discover more about myself, life and the world. I don't want to think about it being over just yet.
So my thoughts are with you, Ian, as you turn the page on this chapter. I'll be interested to hear about your next journey of discovery, should you chose to share it with us.

lynne

 

[miguel_gp]

So my thoughts are with you, Ian, as you turn the page on this chapter. I'll be interested to hear about your next journey of discovery, should you chose to share it with us

Absolutely. It would be a shame to lose your valuable input to (dare I say) a rival forum! Seriously, it would be nice to see you post back regarding your next venture\experience\chapter so that others can see where it leads to.

Regards
Mig

 

[AJ]

Good luck Ian!

 

[sharon w]

Hi Ian, You can come to Australia and travel the roads as a "grey nomad". Lots to see and do.
Sharon

 

[TerryB]

Hi Ian,
We are planning for our camino in April / May next year, feeling that it will be our last! However, we are thinking that a visit to the Picos de Europa, taking in the 'pilgrim site' of Covadonga would be a possibility. It is difficult in the U.K. to find anything with the infrastructure catering for long distance walkers. The 'Coast to Coast' is a possibility but the cost is probably beyond what we would want to pay.
We can fully understand why so many former pilgrims want to live on or near the Camino! If it wasn't for two small grand-daughters . . . . . . . .

Blessings on your seeking
Tio Tel and Tia Valeria

 

[Arn]

Ian,

Your valuable insight will be sorely missed. Though, I truly believe the Camino can, and has, made decisions for us that fly in the face of our own judgement at the time.

I've bored many a Forum member with my previous walks around the planet, though the comment has always remained the same: Been there, done that, got the t-shirt...no need to go back!

That said, the Camino keeps calling me back!

Keep us in the loop, you are family!

Saludos,

Arn

 

[Rebekah Scott]

"My last camino..."
I have heard those words before! From people who somehow showed up again, sooner or later.
You don´t have to be a pilgrim to enjoy the camino -- there are lots of advantages to taking a different route, or changing your pilgrim ID to "nomad" or "wanderer" or even (gasp) "tourist!"
I am sure to see you again soon, someplace. Maybe even here!

Reb.

 

[sillydoll]

A couple of years ago, my family bought me the most beautiful Camino book ever published. BEING A PILGRIM Art and Ritual on the Medieval Routes to Santiago is a coffee table type book by Professors Kathleen Ashley and Marilyn Deegan.
The photographs are stunning, the text well researched and presented. It covers the four routes through France and the Camino Frances.
My dream is to hire a car and drive all the routes, stopping to see all the monuments, cathedrals, statues, frescos, stained glass windows etc featured in the book. I have walked from Paris to Spain but missed so many treasures because places were closed and we had to walk on. Ditto the Aragones, and even the Camino Frances to a certain extent.
So, I would like to do a Camino road trip. But, I might just have to settle for a few more walking trails first!

 

[Deleted member 3000]

missed so many treasures because places were closed and we had to walk on

Imagine how much more you would have missed if you had been equipped with only the four pages of handouts at the Pilgrim Office in St. Jean Pied de Port! Yellow arrows may show you the way, but the do not show you The Way.

 

[+@^^]

ah yes
i remember walking with you for a bit on the vdlp
it must have met you at your graduation party then, Ian
i will remember you and a bunch of crazy Irish girls and english boys walking through the night
in (how you say in english) not in showroom condition
.
and like one addict to another
most addicts genuinely mean it when they say they will stop
but they just cant
.
good luck
Tam

 

[gyro]

it wasn't that I made a big decision not to go back,it was more a realization on the beach at finisterre that I had finished it was a completion,time to move on.
if the camino was a university I felt I had graduated.I'm still trying to come to terms with this,I'm nervous about whats to come the way I was on my first day starting out in SJPP,I think for me the camino had become a very comfortable place my very own comfort blanket-walk eat sleep.
my home here in England became just a staging post while waiting to start my next camino.
I don't know what the next level is apart from taking what I have learnt and seeking new challenges I know I can't just sit here getting older.
as any other camino addict faced this same realization

Dear Ian,
First of all, I am not in the least surprised that you had such a strong sense of completion at that beach. I remember getting there, going down to the water's edge and simply weeping for the simplicity of the situation. For a brief moment, everything made sense and everything was going to be OK. A blessed moment.

Twice in the last 14 years, I have felt "Right, that is that, then. Time to do something else. Time to look for new horizons. And have indeed taken some fallow years. But the urge to walk a camino slowly, slowly creeps over me and I find myself pondering my next wander.
So, don't be too surprised if the urge comes back in a year or so. In the meantime, I wish you new vistas, new friends and new challenges.

God speed
Gyro

 

[Sagalouts]

thanks for all the kind words
Laurie its true I feel I have absorbed all the Camino as to give me,it was such a strong feeling at the end of my 6th camino in 3 years (3000mls) that it was time to take this and move on,and yes it would be self indulgent to dive back into the all embracing warm pool that is the camino-so so many good people/friends and yes even lovers,its been everything I needed and more,it didn't change me as such but I did learn so much about myself and yes I am ready for new challenges,anyone fancy setting up a Camino Couch Surfing site? and your right Gyro I may feel the urge to return in the future but for now its "so long and thanks for all the fish"
Ian

 

[MarianneGardner]

Ian, see http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=2735
I have joined up.
Marianne

 

[robertt]

Sagalouts, I haven't forgotten you as a dinner companion at the abbey in Conques. I already knew you by this forum, and those early contacts really stick in the mind.

One day - not yet - I'll bring down the curtain on Caminos. I know this because it's happened to me with most things. Lately I've realised that my bush acres and bamboo forest, where I intended to die at age 100, hit by a falling bunya-nut cone, will soon need to be passed on to someone else.

I'm not going far, but I'm going. Something is telling me to move to where I can smell salt water and hear surf. And one day something will tell me that walking along pilgrim trails is over. Just not now.

It's all flux. I hope you stay in touch and let us know where the flux has taken you.

Rob

 

[ksam]

Ian!! Noooo say it ain't so!! Maybe it's just my addiction talking...maybe just jealousy that you've been able to cure it?? There aren't too many addictions that one might actually wish someone to fallback into...but I think this might just be one.

I have to second Lauries post...The Camino..at least for now, feels more like home than damn near anything or anyplace else. Sad sort of but true. To be able to pick up my pack and set forth just seems so comfortable there. I can catch snippets of that on the trail here, but not the depth of comfort that I find there. Perhaps I need to widen the net and see if there are other trails here that might do that. Food for thought.

The thought that I will never ever meet you on the trail and get to walk with you a bit...too sad to contemplate...so I won't! Or even sadder still, that you won't grace us with your wit and wisdom here on the forum. Nope won't even go there! As Arn said, your family...keep us in the loop.

Buen...something??
Karin