- Time of past OR future Camino
- May 2022 - Porto to Santiago, Littoral-Spiritual
For 2024 Pilgrims: €50,- donation = 1 year with no ads on the forum + 90% off any 2024 Guide. More here. (Discount code sent to you by Private Message after your donation) |
---|
This should be required reading for all pilgrims!NY Times Guest Essay: Travel, Covid, Fear, the Camino
Link to the full article
Excerpt:
A quarter century ago I was walking across Spain on the Camino de Santiago, the ancient pilgrim route. Two weeks into my 500-mile hike I was anxious, lonely and miserable. Each day was worse than the one before. I felt like a failure and a weakling...
great article, very positive. I am always ready to go on another Camino, another adventure.NY Times Guest Essay: Travel, Covid, Fear, the Camino
Link to the full article
Excerpt:
A quarter century ago I was walking across Spain on the Camino de Santiago, the ancient pilgrim route. Two weeks into my 500-mile hike I was anxious, lonely and miserable. Each day was worse than the one before. I felt like a failure and a weakling...
A great article.NY Times Guest Essay: Travel, Covid, Fear, the Camino
Link to the full article
Excerpt:
A quarter century ago I was walking across Spain on the Camino de Santiago, the ancient pilgrim route. Two weeks into my 500-mile hike I was anxious, lonely and miserable. Each day was worse than the one before. I felt like a failure and a weakling...
We all have different boundaries about where we are safe and comfortable. I'm walking the Via de la Plata just now. I've spent a few nights sleeping outdoors in sub-zero temperatures and waking to find frost on my sleeping bag. I am now in an area famous for its wolf packs. That doesn't worry me but only because my earlier life has taken me into odd places. I'm more than ready to congratulate someone who steps a little beyond their comfort zone into the unfamiliar.Andrew McCarthy doesn’t sleep in shared dorms. Merely an observation about who can afford to let go of fear because they can build a better moat.
I do believe that qualifies for an...NY Times Guest Essay: Travel, Covid, Fear, the Camino
Link to the full article
Excerpt:
A quarter century ago I was walking across Spain on the Camino de Santiago, the ancient pilgrim route. Two weeks into my 500-mile hike I was anxious, lonely and miserable. Each day was worse than the one before. I felt like a failure and a weakling...
Me too. I’m not afraid of much. I’ve survived some incredible things. And there are a lot of people who cannot believe that I do things like drive a motorbike, maintain a shack in the woods that doesn’t always have running water when I am there and requires a quarter mile snow-shoe in during winter… with the cat on a toboggan… that I go on long treks alone… that I’m not afraid in bear encounters on hiking trails…We all have different boundaries about where we are safe and comfortable. I'm walking the Via de la Plata just now. I've spent a few nights sleeping outdoors in sub-zero temperatures and waking to find frost on my sleeping bag. I am now in an area famous for its wolf packs. That doesn't worry me but only because my earlier life has taken me into odd places. I'm more than ready to congratulate someone who steps a little beyond their comfort zone into the unfamiliar.
Realistically I don't think you'll find much in northern Spain in April that beats the conditions you describe at home. I've never walked the Norte so can't speak from personal experience. Better to have advice from someone who knows the route. As far as the VdlP is concerned the temperatures are no worse than I've encountered many times at home in Scotland, in Norway or Sweden or in Japan. Just check with websites like Weatherspark for the range of temperatures and precipitation to expect along the way and plan accordingly. I'm always cautious. My pack is quite a bit heavier than the "10% rule" would recommend but that rule wasn't devised by someone sleeping outdoors in -4CNow... With all that out of the way: a practical question because I’m super impressed by your current walking conditions.
By the second week of April, starting out of Bilbao— if I can find my way there as planned, what would you recommend I have in case I need to sleep outside on the Norte??? I have a down quilt and a silk liner sac, and I can probably fill my bottles with hot water for radiant heat inside the sack, sleep in my layers, including down puffer…. But maybe I am underestimating what I need.
I really want to finish this sentence with "I was raised by wolves."I am now in an area famous for its wolf packs. That doesn't worry me but only because my earlier life
My mother was a bit fierce at times but I'd never have dared suggest thatI really want to finish this sentence with "I was raised by wolves."
Realistically I don't think you'll find much in northern Spain in April that beats the conditions you describe at home. I've never walked the Norte so can't speak from personal experience. Better to have advice from someone who knows the route. As far as the VdlP is concerned the temperatures are no worse than I've encountered many times at home in Scotland, in Norway or Sweden or in Japan. Just check with websites like Weatherspark for the range of temperatures and precipitation to expect along the way and plan accordingly. I'm always cautious. My pack is quite a bit heavier than the "10% rule" would recommend but that rule wasn't devised by someone sleeping outdoors in -4C
Buen camino @Bradypus! And thank you for getting the thread back on track with the kind attitude.We all have different boundaries about where we are safe and comfortable. I'm walking the Via de la Plata just now. I've spent a few nights sleeping outdoors in sub-zero temperatures and waking to find frost on my sleeping bag. I am now in an area famous for its wolf packs. That doesn't worry me but only because my earlier life has taken me into odd places. I'm more than ready to congratulate someone who steps a little beyond their comfort zone into the unfamiliar.
I agree. I enjoyed this well written article as I've enjoyed many of his writings. A thoughtful piece given the last two years and about much more than the Camino. But on that, he walked the path well before the vast majority of us on this forum. How different it must have been then in some ways, but perhaps not in the ways that matter. And I can only imagine how special it must be to walk again with his 19 year old son a quarter of a century later. I'd love to think I could walk a Camino 25 years after my first. Thank you to @ICBWB for posting the link.Buen camino @Bradypus! And thank you for getting the thread back on track with the kind attitude.
I use a bivvy bag and a short self-inflating sleeping mat. I made the mistake of bringing a fairly new purchase - a cheap hooped bag - which seems to collect condensation quite badly. My old breathable fabric bag would have been a better choice. I am indoors most nights but with some albergues and hostals closed it has been useful to be able to break up the longer conventional stages.Do you carry a ground cover as well as sleeping bag? And recommendations?
I'm walking one just now. Nearly 32 years after my first.I'd love to think I could walk a Camino 25 years after my first.
Thanks @ICBWB for sharing this article and starting an interesting discussion.NY Times Guest Essay: Travel, Covid, Fear, the Camino
Link to the full article
Excerpt:
A quarter century ago I was walking across Spain on the Camino de Santiago, the ancient pilgrim route. Two weeks into my 500-mile hike I was anxious, lonely and miserable. Each day was worse than the one before. I felt like a failure and a weakling...
Congratulations! and enjoy the odysseyI'm walking one just now. Nearly 32 years after my first.
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?