Left wondering

[Former member 42123]

Sitting upstairs on a bus in Liverpool city centre,looked out the window as we pulled up at traffic lights and saw a couple cross.They had backpacks and both wore Camino T.shirts.Had they just come back,were they on their way to another Camino or were they just in training for a future Camino ? ? ?.As the bus moved away I was left to wonder and to envy,and to hope one day to be walking rather than sitting on the bus so we might meet.

 

[SYates]

I am walking the John Muir Way in Scotland at the moment. Yesterday I stayed in a Bnb and realized that the owner had walked the Camino last year nearly the same day as I did. The pilgrim world is small ;-) Buen Camino, SY

 

[Wokabaut_Meri]

We were at Lake Gairdner, a remote salt lake in outback South Australia, for a Land Speed meeting in March this year. Many of the participants knew of the Camino and one told of us of his doctor who had walked it a few years ago. He then returned home, sold up and has moved to northern Spain.

I love talking to walkers in training or enroute wherever I meet them. We often come across people who are walking across the continent. The local Adelaide 'mountain' @727m high is THE training route and stepping stone for all sorts of remarkable adventures. Always wonderful to catch up with peoples dreams and aspirations over a cuppa at the top.

 

[VNwalking]

aw a couple cross.They had backpacks and both wore Camino T.shirts.Had they just come back,were they on their way to another Camino or were they just in training for a future Camino ?

And you didn't call out the window 'Buen Camino' Philip?

 

[Former member 42123]

And you didn't call out the window 'Buen Camino' Philip?

At front of bus on top deck,no opening window,plus they crossed just before bus moved,so regretfully,no chance.Plus,Liverpool city very busy.

 

[Dan the Man]

I live in Toronto and the other day I had a surprise and an I wonder moment.

I was downtown ( huge city ) and I was walking on the street and I heard a woman yell out " hey, hey! Hey you, Camino guy."
I stopped and turned around and it was a young lady whom I saw several times on My Camino!!!! We always said hi and chatted. Who knew we lived in the same city of 4.5 million people. We are now going walking together!

After that chance encounter, I continued on my way and saw a man at the opposite corner of an intersection with a Camino Yellow Arrow shirt on. It also had France's written on it. I was so surprised! I wondered if he walked it or if it was a gift.

What a strange day!

 

[Anniesantiago]

I was sitting in the hot tub here at this 50+ resort the other night and started talking to a lady. I have a flyer up on the board to give a talk on the Camino. Somehow the conversation turned to that. I told her I was the person giving the talk and she said, "Oh! My sister in law and I are walking the Camino next spring!"

EVERYbody is walking the Camino! lol!

 

[VNwalking]

How good is that, Dan!
If that ever happens to me, I will be truly amazed. But stranger things have happened.
And the other guy?
Well, with thousands of us walking and more every year, it will be more and more common. It would be fun to wish someone like that a buen camino--and to hear their story.
But 2 in one day...hmmmm...coincidence?

 

[julia-t]

I was in Catania, Sicily, this past October for 24 hours.
Walking out of a side street I found myself behind a backpack with a scallop shell hanging from it... I tapped the wearer of the backpack on the shoulder and said Buen Camino, Peregrino. He spoke virtually no English and my Italian/Sicilian is hopeless, but we smiled, shook hands and shared a special moment of recognition.

 

[Alan Pearce]

Last year I was working as a hospitalero. A lady that I knew well, and who lived in the nearest village to mine in Australia, walked in and asked for a bed for the night. Both of us were surprised, as neither of us knew the other was in Spain.

This year I was wandering down a busy street in Madrid, when I heard someone calling out. Same woman.

I am going to ring her next year before I go, just to check on where she might be. Then perhaps we can actually schedule a meeting.

Alan

Be brave. Life is joyous.

 

[JennyH94]

At the beginning of last year, as a birthday gift, I gave my brother Phil one of 'our David's' wonderful "Buen Camino" t shirts from his eBay shop, pilgrimsupplies. It's one of Phil's favourite t shirts and he tells me he often has someone asking him about the message on the t shirt - particularly in Bali where he loves to take a surfing vacation.

Last Christmas he stayed with us at Culburra Beach on the NSW South Coast and one day, wearing the t shirt and sitting enjoying a Flat White (our version of the café con leche) in local café Benny's, he was greeted with a hearty "Buen Camino"! by another customer. Phil will be doing his first camino with twin brother Glen, and me, in 2019, to celebrate their 60th birthdays. Phil was so surprised and delighted to be wished his first "Buen Camino" in the sleepy NSW coastal town ... far, far away both in place and time from the Camino.

Here's Phil 'modelling' the t shirt :




Buen Camino to all -

Jenny

 

[nidarosa]

@philip a tobin Let me know a time and place in Liverpool and I'll happily put my pack back on for you to discover and even come along for a long chat about Post Camino Blues and other walking related things ...