new participant

[Bem]

Hi there,
just searching the web for info, found this great website and joined up.
Live in Sydney Australia and plan to walk the Camino frances in April May next year.
Starting in SJPP I hope to be able to do it in 4-5 weeks. My wife wants to join me in Sarria to walk
with me the last 100 km. We both are reasonably fit, both in our late 50s and keen to embrace a new,
active and meaningful stage in our lives. I just retired from running my own business for the last 25 years
in Sydney and consider myself an active semi-retiree.
In planning the journey, spiritually and physically, I have many Qs. Lets start with the physical aspect first.
the right outfit, backpack, essential items etc ??.....would like to get as much in-put from seasoned and
experienced caminos as possible.
I'm starting to brush up on my very "dusty" Spanish already...believe this is essential too.
Luv to hear from many of you
Buen Camino
and cheers from Bem in Sydney

 

[Arn]

Bern and wife...welcome!

I've only been on this site a bit over a week and, let me tell you, although I've hiked around the world...I have never found a site as user friendly, or better organized (Thanks Ivar). You will come across nearly every topic you can imagine in the Misc section, with experienced authors such as: Sil, Vinotinto, Cecelia, Br. David, Rafferty, and Johnny Walker…who first welcomed me to this site. Also, consider joining the conversation with other peregrinos making their Camino next year…the Class of 2008! Here you’ll share information, concerns and practical discussion with those who you may very well meet on Your Camino. Look over the thread and join with Atlanticheart, Marlane, dir47, Liliha, Brendan, Cyd and others who will be with you along the Milky Way!
Buen Camino!
Arn

 

[WolverineDG]

Hi Bem from Sydney! I think there is an equipment section where you can get more information about packs & packing lists, etc. Feel free to ask away! Everyone has a different opinion, though, so take your time & pick what's best for you. Example: To use a walking stick or not use a walking stick. :mrgreen: The wiki entry for the Camino has links to various blogs so you can get an idea of what Camino life is like day to day. As for what to take: as little as humanly possible. No more than 3 shirts/pants/pairs of socks/shorts/underwear, an ultralight sleeping bag or sleep sack, basic toiletries, journal, camera, towel.

Take the time & get the best backpack you can afford & the best pair of walking shoes (boots/shoes--oh dear, there's another running debate) you can afford & you really don't need much more beyond that.

Kelly

 

[Janeh]

Hi Bem,
if you enter the keywords "sydney, camino, meeting" on this forum's seach button (top right of page) you will come across some others in sydney who are planning their caminos. You may be able to join them or at least make contact - I know lillypond is part of this group, plus others.
welcome to the forum. I have learnt so much here, hope you do too!
cheers, Jane (adelaide)

 

[brendan nolan]

Hi Bem and Wife(!) ,( name?) :wink,
Welcome to the Forum. Congratulations on your retirement!
I'm sure you will get great assistance from the folks on this forum; 4-5 weeks is a reasonable time to reach Santiago from St. JPdeP, without rushing too much.
Just a thought re you starting from St.Jean and your wife, (name please?), joining at Sarria - by then you will be a really tough, hardened walker of about 3-4 week - and those weeks do make a difference!
Arriving at Sarria, and meeting somebody beginning to walk, you will then have to slow down/ accommodate a new walker. So, something you may not have thought about - during your pilgrimage from St.JPdeP, you will meet people, and become part of an itinerant 'community' with members leaving and rejoining as you move along the road, you will make relationships and friends. As somebody close to you on the 'Camino', you may well lose/become detached from this community' and this can produce its own tensions towards the end of the pilgrimage. These thoughts are NOT to discourage any plans, but just to help you both to be aware of the strains/stresses that can accompany pilgrimage. In 2005, I walked to Santiago from home - 4 months - and it took about 6 months, both working together, to re-establish relationships .
Buen Camino
Brendan

 

[Bem]

Thanks for your replies

Great to read your replies to my initial introduction, Thank you Arn Kelly Jane and Brendan.
Try to head all your recommendations...still trying to find my way through this amazing web-site.
I'm chewing on Brendan's words. You are quite right, there could be real problems envolved with my
wife joining me in Sarria, haven't thought about the different dynamics under those circumstances.
Anyone has experience in a similar situation?? By the way my wife's name is Erna. We are both keen
bushwalkers, just came back from Tasmania, did the Freycinet Nat. Park circuit in November and last March
Cradle mountain. But 800km on the Camino is just a DIFFERENT DIMENSION. I'm not too worried (yet),
but Erna has concerns for herself.
Thanks again. Looking forward to hearing more from you
Buen Camino Bem in Sydney

 

[WolverineDG]

Bem & Erna, what you can do is plan to take rest days in the larger towns (Pamplona, Logrono, Burgos, Leon) which interestingly enough seem to be where everyone needs a rest day (or two). Estella is another option, because you can walk into Estella, then the next day, walk to the hotel at Irache (about 5 k IIRC) & take a nice rest day there as well. Take time to stop & smell the roses. I found that 20k/day was the best option for me. I didn't feel rushed & I had time to stop & take a gander whenever I felt like it, plus had time to wander around whatever town I ended up in too. There are several places where you can take the bus from town to town (handy if someone pulls a muscle or gets tendonitis & needs a rest), & even the one into Burgos so you don't have to walk 8k through the city's outskirts (I have a post on my blog about). Always make plans to meet up at the next open bar, in case you get separated. There are ALWAYS people along the camino, so you are never alone or without help for very long.

Kelly

 

[sillydoll]

Hello Bem,
I twisted my husband's arm to join me in Sarria this September and he loved it! I am a long distance walker -he is not. At almost 65 years of age he has never walked more than 10kms in his life and was quite nervous but he loved the experience - even staying in the albergues.
He booked an Open Jaw ticket to Santiago on Iberia (we hired a car and drove back along the camino for a week to Pamplona for our flight home) - got a taxi from Lavacolla airport to the hotel we had booked in Sarria and we started walking together from there the next day.
I had worked out an easy schedule for us from Sarria. 13,2km the first day, 17km the next two days, 15km and 13.6kms etc. It didn't work out like that! The albergue we walked to on the first day had a notice on the door advising pilgrims who had started in Sarria to move on to the next town as the albergue was for people who had started further back. They even had a list of telephone numbers for taxis on the door! So, we had to walk to Portomarin which is about 23kms from Sarria, and then to Palas de Rei the next day - 26kms.
Finn was a star! We stayed in a new albergue in Portomarin that has a restaurant/bar where we met up with a South African who is renovating an old building just outside the town. He was able to watch some rugby, have a few frosties and forgot all about his 23kms! Because we thought the same thing might happen the next day, we phoned ahead and booked beds at the Albergue Buen Camino in Palas de Rei. This meant we could take our time getting there.
An American pilgrim (from Miami) told us that they call the 100km-only pilgrims, Pussy Peregrinos, but I was very proud of my man! And he was proud of himself - and he has a Compostela to prove that he did it!
Abrazos,

 

[vinotinto]

Take time to stop & smell the roses

That's a key approach I heartily recommend. After all, how many times in your life will you actually walk through a country? If you have the time, then by all means use it. Rushing through the Camino defeats its purpose - taking time to relish the Way fulfills its potential... :arrow:

 

[Deirdre]

Hi Sil,
As an American, I apologize for that comment. I am personally embarassed that such a remark would have been made to your husband. Since it is a typically "american' term I can't imagine who else would refer to any Pilgrim that way but Americans...Once again we Yanks never miss an opportunity to flaunt our collective ignorance!

I'm sorry if I offend other Americans, but I"ve spent plenty of time in Europe and seen lots of the"ugly American"... In fact it is one of the things I discuss most with my students before bringing them abroad.

In addition, since most Americans have never even heard of the Camino, let alone walked a single kilometer of it, how dare anyone pass comment on someone elso who has made the effort??? As we all see on this forum, people make significant journeys and significant sacrifices to experience the Camino. I think none of us has the right to pass judgement on any other. What's right for me is not necesarily right for you... and vice-versa.

I applaud both your and Finn's effort...
Buen Camino,

 

[vinotinto]

As an American, I apologize for that comment.

Yeah, that kind of sounds like something one of us Americanos would say - sorry for the negativity. But to be honest, I admit I also kind of struggled with the 100K folks, because their presence did change the vibe of the Camino, and I was sad to see that happen. I guess they made me feel like a crusty old man walking in a sea of young, energetic whippersnappers... :wink:

But as Dierdre said, at least they were doing something constructive as part of the culture. And a little exposure to the Camino now might lead to a greater immersion later. So, despite my reservations I tried to learn from them and see things in their light. And I did meet some nice 100K folks... :arrow:

 

[WolverineDG]

I cringed when I read that. I'll be starting up again at Sarria. Would I be a "Pussy Pilgrim" too, even though I've already walked from SJPdP to Leon? I learned on my trips to never judge what people do on THEIR Caminos. Many who walk the last 100k do so because of various limitations--health, physical fitness, time contraints, money. Besides many of my friends wouldn't walk 2 blocks if they could use their cars instead, so walking 100K is a unimaginable to them.

Kelly

 

[sillydoll]

Hey guys, there are arrogant snobs in all societies. But, perhaps we can learn from them?
We all get miffed when we see groups of tourogrinos starting off in Sarria with their sparkling clean clothes and day packs, talking loudly on the trail and taking up all the beds in the refuges. But if you see an old guy with a full pack and clean clothes looking nervously at his wife for guidance, cut him come slack. (In Bem's case it would be a peregrina with a backpack and clean clothes looking nervously at her husband for guidance!)

 

[jl]

Hi Bern and Erna,

As an Australian who has bushwalked in Cradle, the Walls of Jerusalem and to Lake Pedder (before it was drowned) as well as the Grampians and the Flinders I feel compelled to let you know that your Camino will be nothing like that sort of walking. I have been reflecting on the differences between walking the Camino and the walks you talk of in Tassie etc. and I think the first thing that will surprise you will be the ease with which you will be able to do it. If you scaled Cradle, Mt Ossa and Barn Bluff on your Cradle walk I am fairly confident that you will find anything you have to do on the Camino pretty comfortable. Yes, there will be hard days, the difficulty will coming from the distance you travel as much as anything, but the feeling of distance will be tempered by the sights you see as you walk through the terrain. The fact that on most (but not all!) days you will pass through a village every 5 - 8 kilometres and therfore be able to organise food as you need it rather than carrying suppies for the entire journey makes a huge difference, as does the fact that good drinking water is so plentiful - no need to do water drops etc! Perhaps the biggest difference is the age of the buildings in the villages you pass through and the fact that not only will you see your fellow travellers, but the locals working (and playing) as they have for centuries. It is fascinating to see the shepherds in the fields, and the farms with no fences etc. True, you won't pass through pencil pine forests 800 years old, but, depending on the path you take, you will see some lovely old oaks, and even older churches, bridges and such like!

I trust you thoroughly enjoy your experience and and that you find it as refreshing and invigorating as I have found the 2 Caminos I have done (2005, 2007). I am now planning my third - for 2009. When thinking packs you might like to look at the WBA One Planet - I have heard really good reports of it and it is made in Melbourne, and I used an Aarn Natural Balance (NZ) last time. Good luck with your planning - enjoy it!

Regards, Janet

 

[Bem]

Hi everyone,
thanks again for all your thoughts and recommendations, especially Janet, a fellow Australian, for your
enlightening comparison and differentiation of walking in Tassie and walking the Camino.
On many of our walks in Australia, especially Tas and Central Australia, we felt the spirituality of
the place, the depth of meaning and purpose what nature means for life and living. It certainly touches
our souls. And this is what I hope to find and I believe will find on the Camino ....the spirituality
of the place, the people, the common bond, the depth of time and history, reflected as you say, Janet,in
the old buildings, churches and locals, working in many ways as their forebears.
One word to the ugly side of tourists, being ignorant Americans, loud and all-knowing Germans or any other arrogant snob of any other nation. I'm of German background, but live in Sydney for almost 30 years now. We travel frequently and cringe regularly when meeting CERTAIN Germans on "the road" It would be wrong to generalize, silly and unpleasant people we find in all parts of the world, near and far, and many are right in our neighborhood, and sometimes we display attitudes of this kind ourselves, there is good and bad, modest and arrogant, wise and silly in all of us. The 2 sides, the Jing and Jang!!!
Why I (we) want to walk the Camino, one reason is spirituality, to find humility and humanity
within ourselves is another.
My spirit is all geared up for the task, if only the physical aspects don't let me down....it is a big deal.
All your encouragement is very welcome.

Buen Camino Bem and Erna(still hesitating)