mustbjones
Active Member
- Time of past OR future Camino
- Fall 2013
Does anyone wear small flags or patches that designate their country/nationality?
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Ha ha... Good point.robertt said:I don't do the national patch thing. Attracts envy. Think of all those kiwis and poms who wish they were AUSSIES. Not fair on them.
Having a flag on whilst travelling calls attention to yourself.
(Hey I'm a tourist ... an easy mark ... pick my pocket please)
Isn't Oz that island off the coast of New Zealand?robertt said:I don't do the national patch thing. Attracts envy. Think of all those kiwis and poms who wish they were AUSSIES. Not fair on them.
robertt said:I don't do the national patch thing. Attracts envy. Think of all those kiwis and poms who wish they were AUSSIES. Not fair on them.
mustbjones said:Guys we seem to have strayed from the path. I am from the US and I certainly don't want to be "abused" for something I have no personal control over. Nor do I wish to be pegged as an "easy mark" for some nefarious persons. That said, I am not ashamed of where I am from and I am thinking of sowing a small American flag on my travel vest, along side my two Camino patches. Does anyone see something drastically wrong with that? Just a simple, humble question, no hackles raised.
falcon269 said:One possibility of a national patch is that it will save you a lot of hostile and boring conversations with people who dislike you even before they have met you! :wink:
DurhamParish said:I have spend most of my life with danes, pardon me for not going all out with excitement at the mention of someone seeing one about somewhere....
b'sides, there's 5 millions of us, it is not like we are about to be extinct or anything...
I agree. And it was not only where one was from, but what one did and had done. By mid-way through, I was already 'well known' to pilgrims with whom I had barely exchanged more than an occasional 'buen camino'. It got to the stage at Hermanillos that one less than sober individual felt it necessary to disrupt my quiet reflection in the common room to 'discuss' aspects of an occupation I had last pursued nearly a decade earlier. Much as I tried to avoid him, over the next couple of days he always seemed to find me in the evening with a keen desire to resume his conversation.Pieces said:one thing I found strange (and slightly annoying) was that people would always tell other people if they had met other people from where the people in question were from...
I have met one of the southern neighbours that had a maple leaf, they were convincing, to us outsiders they sound the sameSojourner47 said:I travelled with Canadians who carried Maple Leafs writ large, for fear they would be mistaken for their southern neighbours. lol..
wayfarer said:In Ireland it's the weather, lovely day, soft day, cold day and then take it from there if you have a mind to. Isn't that how we meet our Camino family. Its human nature.
mustbjones said:Guys we seem to have strayed from the path. I am from the US and I certainly don't want to be "abused" for something I have no personal control over. Nor do I wish to be pegged as an "easy mark" for some nefarious persons. That said, I am not ashamed of where I am from and I am thinking of sowing a small American flag on my travel vest, along side my two Camino patches. Does anyone see something drastically wrong with that? Just a simple, humble question, no hackles raised.
Si, your Alabama patch should have taken pride of place. We all loved your accent; especially me but I never saw another.siseale94 said:I had American, Alabama, Spain and Camino Forum patches on my Backpack. Didn't seem to offend anyone and I certainly wasn't offended by anyone else's patches. I also had a Czech patch but didn't have time to sew it on. These were places I have hiked and it usually had the positive effect of leading to conversation. To each his own.
A soft day is a mild day with light rain normaly in Springtime when it would be good for crop growth. In the countryside you would be greeted with "soft day thank God"mralisn said:wayfarer said:In Ireland it's the weather, lovely day, soft day, cold day and then take it from there if you have a mind to. Isn't that how we meet our Camino family. Its human nature.
What is a soft day?
Spot on.grayland said:Spain is not the Middle East..
I have a small U.S. flag patch on my pack along with several others.
The myth of anti-American (or anyone else) is much overdone. I have never experienced any attitude in many years of traveling all over the world.....except in the Middle East.
Don't be concerned.
Iqualmente, Buckeroo. I also enjoyed yours. Did you meet Marcel from the Neatherlands? He is doing the Porto route as we speak and I would love to be there. Have you any thoughts of returning?Buckeroo said:Si, your Alabama patch should have taken pride of place. We all loved your accent; especially me but I never saw another.siseale94 said:I had American, Alabama, Spain and Camino Forum patches on my Backpack. Didn't seem to offend anyone and I certainly wasn't offended by anyone else's patches. I also had a Czech patch but didn't have time to sew it on. These were places I have hiked and it usually had the positive effect of leading to conversation. To each his own.
wayfarer said:A soft day is a mild day with light rain normaly in Springtime when it would be good for crop growth. In the countryside you would be greeted with "soft day thank God"mralisn said:wayfarer said:In Ireland it's the weather, lovely day, soft day, cold day and then take it from there if you have a mind to. Isn't that how we meet our Camino family. Its human nature.
What is a soft day?
Just keep looking up for the drones, and you will be fine... :|I think this is a very serious matter and not one to take lightly
falcon269 said:Just keep looking up for the drones, and you will be fine... :|I think this is a very serious matter and not one to take lightly
Perhaps because some Americans do not come from the US, they are not inclined to wear the stars and stripes :|vicrev said:Why do some Americans not wear or show their flag,but wear obscure team/state/county flags? Show the stars & stripes proudly ! You have a lot to BE proud of !!!!.......Vicr
ffp13 said:I have met one of the southern neighbours that had a maple leaf, they were convincing, to us outsiders they sound the sameSojourner47 said:I travelled with Canadians who carried Maple Leafs writ large, for fear they would be mistaken for their southern neighbours. lol..
In the movie 'The Way' they try to disguise their nationality with a Japanese flag not very convincing
Some of these posts make me wonder if there are a number of people on the Camino for the wrong reasons.
dougfitz said:Perhaps because some Americans do not come from the US, they are not inclined to wear the stars and stripes :|
I also disagree with your discriptions, seems like sterotyping 101 to me. In spite of your qualifying statement, I believe you will find the Camino and it's pilgrims to be very different than you now seem to imagine.november_moon said:We are Americans and we are not planning to put American flags on any of our stuff - although we might put a patch with a California flag on it somewhere - or more likely a San Jose Sharks patch For us, the choice has nothing to do with not being proud of being American (my husband is a Desert Storm vet) or concerns about being hassled or anything. In my personal experience, it just seems that those who run around with American flags on (patches, shirts, hats, bandanas, etc.) tend to be more of the "USA, love it or leave it" types - basically closed to any way of doing things or looking at things that isn't the "American way". It goes beyond national pride and turns into a disdain for anything that isn't American. I am not saying that anyone on the Camino with an American flag patch would fit this description - and most likely no one on the Camino would fit that description at all because the Camino doesn't seem like a place that would attract those types in the first place. All the same, because of my experiences, I wouldn't choose to put an American flag on my stuff.