Many of the ideas above are excellent ways to cope with "Caminoitis." I, too, experienced the same dynamic with my loving wife after my first Camino in 2013.
The affects of my first Camino (complete Frances, solo, from St. Jean Pied de Port to Sanitago) were literally life-changing for me. Were it not for the fact that I have responsibilities for aged parents and my tiny family here (me, my wife and a cat), I would be living in Spain, volunteering full-time.
In fact, shortly after returning home in June 2013, I literally wanted to pull an "apostle" and walk away from my past life to take on the life of a Camino "hobo," albeit with a modest regular income. Being a responsible, boring fellow, I restrained that impulse... But, doing subsequent Caminos only reinforced the first-impression. I am hooked! i cherish my time in Spain and always lament coming back home.
However, although we are both retired and on pensions, my wife of more than 37 years and I were able to negotiate a compromise solution. All things in life are negotiable...except perhaps death...and maybe taxes... But, in a marriage, all things are on the table, so to speak.
So, in return for moving anywhere in the world my wife chose on her retirement, and in a home of my wife's choosing and decoration, I am allocated one Camino and one volunteer stint annually. This might sound one-sided but, as we live in the US (South Florida), it takes at least a full day to travel to Spain or France. The costs are also not insignificant. Besides, I would have agreed to almost anything to get this result.
So, in 2015, we sold our home in Virginia, and moved to south Florida, bought and completely renovated a home, and decorated it primarily to my wife's liking. I have been relegated to one of the several guest bedrooms, to serve as my office, "dog house," or "man cave." In the process, the wife also scored a new SUV. I am a big believer in "happy wife...happy life."
As most of you know, after doing one or more Caminos, you find that material things just do not matter as much anymore. Most of us come to realize that we can only wear one change of clothing at a time, and that we can do quite nicely thank you, with what is in our rucksacks.
With two household moves in one-year, one long-distance from the north, some 1,600 km south, and another local move, I have been keeping the local Goodwill folks happy with charitable clothing donations. I have also been toting duffle bags loaded with excess Camino-capable clothing and Camino gear to the Pilgrim House in Santiago when I return there. This coming summer will be no different from last July.
I now regard my home as a place to store my accumulated stuff, and to house ME between Camino-related activities. I just do not care about landscaping, fabric choices or wall colors anymore... In the grand scheme of things, it truly does not matter. Fortunately, my wife has an outstanding interior design and decorating sense.
So, our home is striking. But, for me, that is a corollary benefit. As long as I have space for my Camino gear, and I can pack a rucksack and head for the airport in hours, I am content. I know the Camino will ALWAYS be there, waiting for me to return. It is my security blanket, my "safe space," if you will. It might be an expensive "hobby." But it is what keeps me sane in retirement. I hope to be able to remain active and to give back well into the future.
But, for us, this overall arrangement works. My wife has her life and interests. I have mine. BTW, we have no children so that bit it made infinitely easier.
We are blessed in being able to arrange our budget so we can afford these activities. In fact the overall cost of living in Florida, versus Virginia, is lower; significantly enough so that it adequately covers the costs of all my annual Camino activities.
My wife is not interested in doing a Camino. But, she is very interested in traveling to Spain with me in future.
So, we have discussed possibly cobbling together a "Morse Code Camino." I coined this term to describe a Camino made up of walking "dots" and riding "dashes." The idea is be to have my wife experience the entire
Camino Frances, walking the most scenic and historic parts (dots), while connecting these places with bus, train or even taxi rides (dashes). Of course, hostal and hotel stays would be de rigeur. I have covered all or most of this route three times since 2013. So, I know which parts to emphasize.
She well understands that she will have to walk the final five or six day stretch from Sarria to qualify for her Compostela. This is in a future plan.
We shall see...
