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Since you'll be in the market for a new phone, might as well get an unlocked phone of your choice and bring it with you and buy a local SIM card, all these "burner phones" that people buy for a short trip are just adding the mountain of E-waste that gets bigger by the day.
Pay phones around the world are going the way of the dodo bird.
Like the saying goes, "better to have one and not need it.......
Thanks everyone, may I ask what is meant by "burner phone", are you meaning I should buy a cheap phone once I am in spain? Or buy a cheap unlocked phone here in Canada before I go over?
Either way great information and after reading some replies I will most surely be taking a phone of some sorts.
Thanks!
took with me a nokia UNLOCKED phone, the same i use here in US. placed my mobile phone services on 'suspended' during my 2 months euro-time (10$ monthly fee) and bought a 12euro SIM card in lisbon that i could 'restock' w/ euros in many places on the way when needed. served me perfectly. only my portuguese/euro contacts had my phone number, everyone else could contact me via email if they wanted.Thanks everyone, may I ask what is meant by "burner phone", are you meaning I should buy a cheap phone once I am in spain? Or buy a cheap unlocked phone here in Canada before I go over?
Either way great information and after reading some replies I will most surely be taking a phone of some sorts.
Thanks!
How risky is it to walk the camino with no cell phone?
How risky is it to walk the camino with no cell phone?
Matt.
Good morning everyone!
How risky is it to walk the camino with no cell phone?
Matt.
I walked all the way to Muxia and then Finisterre with no device whatsoever. Not only was it NOT risky, it was also incredibly liberating.
Q:What do Magellan, Columbus and Vasco de Gama have in common?
A: NoGPScellphonetabletiphonecomputerthingy. And look what they did...
But @Anniesantiago who will be in front or behind in January? Even on the Frances there will be very few people around.
Take a cell phone.
I have not been to Europe for several years now, but we were hoping we might be able to use someone else's used "burn" phone from a Camino the year prior? I am aware that in Spain you have to register when you purchase a phone due to anti-terrorism laws. If we buy a used phone from a friend will that work or is it illegal?Buy the cheapest one you can - if its not going to be usable back home I am sure Ivar will know someone who will take it off your hands at a price close to what you originally paid.
Thanks for this. When I lived in Germany it was similar and had hoped this would be the case.I don't think it's the phone that gets registered, it's the number and the card that goes into the phone. I bought a Spanish phone many years ago and bring it back with me every year to the Camino. I have to show my passport and fill out forms to buy the card, but no one ever does anything about the old device itself.
Risk
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other uses, see Risk (disambiguation).
Risk is the potential of losing something of value. Values (such as physical health, social status, emotional well being or financial wealth) can be gained or lost when taking risk resulting from a given action, activity and/or inaction, foreseen or unforeseen. Risk can also be defined as the intentional interaction with uncertainty. Risk perception is the subjective judgment people make about the severity and/or probability of a risk, and may vary person to person. Any human endeavor carries some risk, but some are much riskier than others.
In my experience and opinion:
There may be circumstances during your Camino where you could need a phone. Yes.
Is the risk large enough that not taking a phone is a dangerous and unwise decision. No.
You will be walking in areas which are rural (mostly), and the local population is very aware of pilgrims and their needs.
As quoted, it differs from person to person, so if one has special conditions or needs, then of course a phone may be a necessity.
Risk. Planning to walk across South America from Brazilian Atlantic Coast to Peru Pacific Coast.
Don't bring a phone. Bring two!
Lettinggo
(Have walked winter Camino with no phone and had no problem. Locals or other pilgrims was sufficient help).
I work in Adventure Therapy and there is one of many theories that we ascribe to regarding risk and adventure: The first is Risk vs. Hazards. Risk can be managed to some degree hazards are elements beyond our control. For example, lightning, rock fall, floods, fire, insects etc. Risk is the way that we manage the hazard. For example, we know that the high peaks are often stormy after about noon so we base our peak ascents on summiting by noon and heading down BEFORE the hazard of lightning becomes too great.
OK, really what we are doing is manipulating how our students perceive the risks.
The third part of this is the Adventure Experience Paradigm. You can find it online. It's a graph that shows competence on one axis and risk on the other. We want to facilitate the Adventure Experience by pushing competence ever so slightly without going too far.
Phone or no phone. We all perceive the world as a dangerous and scary place and that without the ready availability of technology we are doomed. Not true. Have a true pilgrim experience, trust the Camino to give you what you need. I never went without food or shelter even in the most crap weather ever!
Although I take a phone just because I like it to be able to be in contact, there is absolutely no risk of walking without a cell phone, especially if you are not worried about emergencies. 20 years ago no one usesd a phone, I don't think the number of people who died or got seriously wounded because they had to wait for rescue dropped since then. The camino is the most densely walked path everywhere.
CaminoMatto, the started of this thread wrote: 'I am not too worried about needing a phone for emergencies'. That is what I quoted.Quote from above -"...,especially if you are not worried about emergencies.....". Really? I doubt there are a lot of people who embark on an 800 Kms walking adventure in Northern Spain in the middle of the winter without the thought of a possible emergency scenario in the back of their minds...
"We all perceive the world as a dangerous and scary place and that without the ready availability of technology we are doomed."I work in Adventure Therapy and there is one of many theories that we ascribe to regarding risk and adventure: The first is Risk vs. Hazards. Risk can be managed to some degree hazards are elements beyond our control. For example, lightning, rock fall, floods, fire, insects etc. Risk is the way that we manage the hazard. For example, we know that the high peaks are often stormy after about noon so we base our peak ascents on summiting by noon and heading down BEFORE the hazard of lightning becomes too great.
OK, really what we are doing is manipulating how our students perceive the risks.
The third part of this is the Adventure Experience Paradigm. You can find it online. It's a graph that shows competence on one axis and risk on the other. We want to facilitate the Adventure Experience by pushing competence ever so slightly without going too far.
Phone or no phone. We all perceive the world as a dangerous and scary place and that without the ready availability of technology we are doomed. Not true. Have a true pilgrim experience, trust the Camino to give you what you need. I never went without food or shelter even in the most crap weather ever!
Hey, Matt, this thread is relatively short by our standards.Thanks for the replies everyone, lots and lots of good information, both for and against taking a phone.
I never intended this thread to go on so long, I hope I didn't stir anything up as that was never my intention.
Since posting the original question, I've decided to take a phone. My iphone 4 is now unlocked and ready to go and my parents and wife feel much better knowing I am not simply vanishing off the face of the earth for six weeks.
Thanks again!!
Matt
Your phone will be ok. Just put it somewhere that is dry and it will dry out overnight or a few days. I dropped mine in water and I thought it was finished but when I picked it up late the next day it was working!!!!Good morning everyone!
Just this morning as I was getting into my truck to drive to work, I dropped my cell phone into a huge snow drift. It's now totally dead which isn't a huge deal as it was very old and ready to be exchanged basically anytime. However, I was planning on bringing my phone on my camino in January. I could just buy a new phone, but before I rush into that I thought I should ask...
How risky is it to walk the camino with no cell phone?
I am a young guy, fit, healthy, not accident prone and I have a good guide book. Is it reasonable to think I could just ditch the cell phone entirely and go on a phone-free camino?
I am not too worried about needing a phone for emergencies (although maybe I should be), my main concern is alburges being closed during the winter season and ending up being stranded somewhere with no roof over my head and no phone to call other lodgings. Is this a valid concern or could one get by on a winter camino with no cell phone.
Matt.
Hi Matt,Good morning everyone!
Just this morning as I was getting into my truck to drive to work, I dropped my cell phone into a huge snow drift. It's now totally dead which isn't a huge deal as it was very old and ready to be exchanged basically anytime. However, I was planning on bringing my phone on my camino in January. I could just buy a new phone, but before I rush into that I thought I should ask...
How risky is it to walk the camino with no cell phone?
I am a young guy, fit, healthy, not accident prone and I have a good guide book. Is it reasonable to think I could just ditch the cell phone entirely and go on a phone-free camino?
I am not too worried about needing a phone for emergencies (although maybe I should be), my main concern is alburges being closed during the winter season and ending up being stranded somewhere with no roof over my head and no phone to call other lodgings. Is this a valid concern or could one get by on a winter camino with no cell phone.
Matt.
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