New Member with a Question

[bill schmidt]

Hi:

I am planning to walk the Camino but am intending to break it into two sections, one next June, and the second the following May (2010), likely at the general mid-point, i.e.Leon. I could restructure my life to do it in one stretch, but as my profession as Psychotherapist makes it difficult to take 5 or 6 weeks off. However, I am wondering about how the experience would be eroded, if you think it would by breaking it up in this way?

Also, are there any meetings on the Camino anywhere in Canada in the next 3 months?

Thanks, Bill

 

[MermaidLilli]

Personally, I like the idea of doing it all in one shot. One of the things that added to my experience was how long it was taking and the personal feelings that arose and how I processed them. It was invaluable. After weeks of walking getting to Santiago, seeing people I had met and remet along the way and our reflections we shared was super! Then one more shot to Finisterra and seeing the ocean brought out the tears, a final feeling of accomplishment.
This year I had to skip a final section of the Via to meet up with my son who was walking the Frances in Santiago. And I thought I can just finish it another time. Now I am torn between finishing and just doing a different one. It is rather uncomfortable having to make those decisions, mostly due to the distance from home to Spain. Not easy timewise and financially to travel there.
I have spoken with some who have done it in 2 parts and they felt just fine with it. Probably one of the additions to their experience is the year or time between and how the anticipation excited them.
If you can swing it, do it all in one part.
My 3 cents
Lillian

 

[KiwiNomad06]

Many people, especially Europeans, do the Camino in sections as each year's vacation rolls around, so it is not at all an uncommon thing to do. And many many people walk only a section of the Camino Frances in any case, eg they start from Leon, or they start from Sarria.

But having said that, I found that there were special things that happened for me because of the longer walk. Sil talks about being 'in the zone'. There is something about the peace you acquire when you have already walked quite a distance, and walking becomes very natural. I am not sure if people who start in Leon really get a chance to experience this or not, but perhaps they do.

In the end, you will make choices based on what is possible for you, and that will be your Camino. We each come to treasure the experience in our own way.
Margaret

 

[Bridget and Peter]

hi Bill

I am wondering about how the experience would be eroded, if you think it would by breaking it up in this way?

Personally, I like the idea of doing it all in one shot.

On the other hand, we are a pair of serial cycling pilgrims. We started from home in July 2007 with a weekend ride to Harwich, then in September we crossed the Channel and cycled from Holland to Reims in France. This year we cycled from Reims to Limoges, and the rest is awaiting us. Each stage seems to have a different meaning or purpose - the first was a little taster which taught us something about pacing ourselves. The second was about learning to trust and growing confidence. This year we got excited about church architecture and making links and connexions e.g. our 'home' cathedral of Ely and Vezelay - both set on a hill with two towers, both dedicated to women and originally the home of an order of nuns. Until we got past Vezelay we hardly met any other pilgrims - that was a new treat! We don't really have the next stages planned yet, as there are big family things happening (a daughter's wedding in Feb and her baby in May) this year and so my holiday allowance might get rather depleted! But I am confident that we will be able to take up where we stopped when the right time comes and that there will be new delights and meaning!

I know that we are missing some of the experiences that others have by doing a long continuous pilgrimage, but I think we are having others. And the sense of being on a journey with a purpose and meaning is lasting for years!!!!

In the mean time, as a foretaste to what is to come, we have booked flights for two days after the wedding to Santiago so we can walk the Camino Ingles as recuperation after the wedding!

 

[jl]

Hi Bill, I found that there was really something rather special about walking the longer distance and would reccomend it, if you are able to spare the time. What, for me, is wonderful is to be able to get up each day without any care in the world other than getting to where I am going. Not to have to answer the phone, attend a meeting, support colleagues and others in onesr life, not to have set meal times (and have to cook) and to be free of the normal daily chores gives one an amazing feeling of freedom! It means though that for those of us who live a long way from the Camino we need special organisation to have that freedom. The reward is a special kind of peace as your body and mind adjust to the rythm of the day, and a special kind of kinship with those who make up the "mobile Village" of the Camino.

One thing to consider is that doing the second part of the Camino in 2010 will mean that you would be doing it with potentially MANY, MANY more people than next year because it is a holy year.

Regards, Janet

 

[Canuck]

Also, are there any meetings on the Camino anywhere in Canada in the next 3 months?

Your answer is here: http://www.santiago.ca/ben.html

If you're going to go twice, I would suggest you do two different routes finishing in Santiago each time. Start wherever you want. There is no rule setting the start of any camino...but your own.

By doing it that way you would have two different valuable experiences, since the many caminos differ in many ways.

Have a good one!!!

Cheers
Jean-Marc

 

[Rebekah Scott]

If it was me, I would walk to Leon first, then go back and finish the rest of the French Camino later on. The first trip will show you what you´re up against and how lovely it all is, and leave you wanting more. The second trip will be a self-contained, better-informed, new journey in itself, with the added bonus of giving closure to the first. Lucky you!

reb.

 

[gyro]

Hi:

I am planning to walk the Camino but am intending to break it into two sections, one next June, and the second the following May (2010), likely at the general mid-point, i.e.Leon. I could restructure my life to do it in one stretch, but as my profession as Psychotherapist makes it difficult to take 5 or 6 weeks off. However, I am wondering about how the experience would be eroded, if you think it would by breaking it up in this way?

Thanks, Bill

Dear Bill,
You will have seen quite a few comments here. My view is that I did precisely what you are proposing many year ago (98/99). It was Roncesvalles to Leon one year, then Leon to Sde C the next. In actual fact, I found the first half of the journey to be the more rewarding...many good people along the way and the idea of walking hundreds and hundreds of miles over a mont. Whoever heard of such an idea.
2010 will be a holy year..take care with an overcrowded route.

I completed the Via de la Plata in 2007. Frankly, I was blessed so much in walking the quiet paths from Seville to Salamanca, I would recommend this route to everyone.
and God bless
Gyro

 

[Rebekah Scott]

Final word, to steal a phrase from Madison Avenue: Just do it.
Never mind all the rest of the noise. It´s all just detail. Just get over here, and just do it. You will never be the same after.

Reb.