Participants of the Camino wanted please

[jesshoskins97]

Hello, my name is Jessica Cartwright, I am 20 years old and a Geography student at Staffordshire University, England.
I am interested in the Camino on a personal level and when researching it I realised there was not much academic research. Whilst walking the Camino myself this summer I wanted to find out and explore the impacts and reasoning of a 21st century pilgrimage and make it the subject of my dissertation.
I also wanted to try understand the development of a traditional pilgrimage into a tourist attraction.

This is a copy of the questionnaire that I handed out along the Camino this summer where I asked fellow walkers and pilgrims if they would be good enough to respond to the questions. For all sorts of reasons I didn't hand hand out as many as I expected, too busy enjoying the walk I think. For that reason I am trying to obtain more data from people who have made the walk.

It is very much appreciated if you could fill in the questionnaire buy clicking on this link
http://goo.gl/qFYlJZ

The questionnaire is completely confidential and you have the right to withdraw at any point throughout. I aim to use the information and any trends it throws up as the core of my work.

Many Thanks for your time
Jess

 

[TheTinkerBell]

...Hello, my name is Jessica Cartwright, I am 20 years old and a Geography student at Staffordshire University, England.
I am interested in the Camino on a personal level and when researching it I realised there was not much academic research. Whilst walking the Camino myself this summer I wanted to find out and explore the impacts and reasoning of a 21st century pilgrimage and make it the subject of my dissertation.
I also wanted to try understand the development of a traditional pilgrimage into a tourist attraction....

Hi Jess.
Just wondering how this all fits in to a Geography dissertation?
Not sure why information on expenditure on the Camino is required? Perhaps you could shed a little light in front of my blurry eyes?
Thanks
TTB

 

[jesshoskins97]

Hi TTB,
My course is based on human Geography and tourism. The reasoning behind the question regarding money is to determine a vague figure on how much each walker is spending on their holiday and therefore putting into the Spanish economy and the small towns that the Camino travels though. From walking the Camino this summer i became very aware that some of the villages that the Camino travels though are very small , and the Camino could be the main source of income for these villages.
Thank you very much for your time and question
Jess x

 

[David]

Sounds like a worthy project Jess - though .... you calling it a holiday might raise a few hackles as it is supposed to be a pilgrimage
you are right about the income for those providing to pilgrims (not 'holidaymakers') on the Caminos - it is a running river of gold for them, I am glad to say.

 

[Stephen Nicholls]

Not sure about a "river of gold" [apart from in Santiago itself], but it always has been a major source of income, from the earliest time [11th century]. Where the path was detoured around small villages, they probably ended in ruins. It still definitely is the main source of income for many places.
Jess - for details of my reasons for walking, check out Pilgrimage I on my web site [downloadable in Word format]
Good luck with your dissertation!

 

[TheTinkerBell]

Hi TTB,
My course is based on human Geography and tourism. The reasoning behind the question regarding money is to determine a vague figure on how much each walker is spending on their holiday and therefore putting into the Spanish economy and the small towns that the Camino travels though. From walking the Camino this summer i became very aware that some of the villages that the Camino travels though are very small , and the Camino could be the main source of income for these villages.
Thank you very much for your time and question
Jess x

Jess,
Thanks for the additional info on your course - it makes sense now!
The big thing that struck me on the Camino was the poverty in many rural areas of the Frances. This was evidenced by the dearth of young people in the villages and small towns. Many emigrate to the larger urban centres, or even abroad, for work purposes, returning to help out in their hometowns at harvest time. The face of Spain is changing and it's certainly true that things would be a lot worse for the people of Northern Spain without the Camino "industry".
Just filled out and submitted the form for you now. Good luck with your dissertation.
TTB

 

[Deleted member 3000]

The European union has put a lot of money into Spain with some very doubtful returns. The money went to the bankers, then trickled down to workers. The result was developments like the ghost town golf condominium project a couple of hours before Santo Domingo de la Calzada. Bankers get bonuses and second homes; everyone else gets very little. Workers got paychecks for a while, but built things that they could not afford with those paychecks. Supply did not create its own demand as Keynes predicted.

Pilgrim dollars go straight to the service providers along the route, mostly family owned restaurants, supermercados, and accommodations. For the bankers to get their hands on the money, it had to start out in the hands of the workers!

 

[AnnieH61]

Questionnaire done. Good luck Jess.
nnie

 

[jstys1]

Completed. Good luck on your research. Could you post summary results on this site? I know I would find the results interesting plus you might get some interesting comments that could really inform your conclusions.

 

[pauladams]

Good luck with the dissertation! Don't forget that pilgrimages like this always involved a mixture of motivations, often within the same person as well as among pilgrims. Think of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales! In addition to enabling pilgrims to do reparation for their sins, venerate St. James, and glorify God - my motivation like that of hundreds of thousands before me - the Camino was also (and often for the same people) the closest thing going to a vacation, a respite from work or a troubled domestic life, etc. The numbers were huge at its peak and there was always a commercial as well as a spiritual element. How could there not be? I suspect the new element is not the commercialization or the recreational aspect, but the individualism/personal searching of much New Age spirituality. Just my two cents.

 

[Wendy Lynn]

Hello, my name is Jessica Cartwright, I am 20 years old and a Geography student at Staffordshire University, England.
I am interested in the Camino on a personal level and when researching it I realised there was not much academic research. Whilst walking the Camino myself this summer I wanted to find out and explore the impacts and reasoning of a 21st century pilgrimage and make it the subject of my dissertation.
I also wanted to try understand the development of a traditional pilgrimage into a tourist attraction.

This is a copy of the questionnaire that I handed out along the Camino this summer where I asked fellow walkers and pilgrims if they would be good enough to respond to the questions. For all sorts of reasons I didn't hand hand out as many as I expected, too busy enjoying the walk I think. For that reason I am trying to obtain more data from people who have made the walk.

It is very much appreciated if you could fill in the questionnaire buy clicking on this link
http://goo.gl/qFYlJZ

The questionnaire is completely confidential and you have the right to withdraw at any point throughout. I aim to use the information and any trends it throws up as the core of my work.

Many Thanks for your time
Jess

Hi Jessica,
In case you haven't already uncovered this, here is the poster for a conference held at Concordia University in Montreal last spring, bringing together some of the academic activity on pilgrimage studies from various disciplines: http://theology.concordia.ca/documents/EcstaticJourney2013-Program.pdf . Probably some good contacts here for you. Good luck with the dissertation!

 

[jesshoskins97]

Thank you so much for all the information everybody, and filling in the questionnaire, it means alot.
Thank you Jess x

 

[hughb]

Hello, my name is Jessica Cartwright, I am 20 years old and a Geography student at Staffordshire University, England.
I am interested in the Camino on a personal level and when researching it I realised there was not much academic research. Whilst walking the Camino myself this summer I wanted to find out and explore the impacts and reasoning of a 21st century pilgrimage and make it the subject of my dissertation.
I also wanted to try understand the development of a traditional pilgrimage into a tourist attraction.

This is a copy of the questionnaire that I handed out along the Camino this summer where I asked fellow walkers and pilgrims if they would be good enough to respond to the questions. For all sorts of reasons I didn't hand hand out as many as I expected, too busy enjoying the walk I think. For that reason I am trying to obtain more data from people who have made the walk.

It is very much appreciated if you could fill in the questionnaire buy clicking on this link
http://goo.gl/qFYlJZ

The questionnaire is completely confidential and you have the right to withdraw at any point throughout. I aim to use the information and any trends it throws up as the core of my work.

Many Thanks for your time
Jess

Have completed your questionnaire as requested. My answers related to the Norte route. I decided to leave joining the France route to the last possible moment at St. Irene, 18km from Santiago. Boy was I in for a shock! Not just the sheer number of people, but the biggest disappointment in my fellow pilgrims was the graffiti, damage to property and vandalism. Every where you looked it was so saddening. On the Norte route I saw none so the sudden sight off it was a real eye opener and another reason for not choosing the France route next time. Maybe I was just unlucky but it was not pleasant. Hope your research goes well. Buen Camino

 

[Deleted member 3000]

disappointment in my fellow pilgrims was the graffiti, damage to property and vandalism.

I think it is unlikely that pilgrims are responsible for these. Litter perhaps, but I think the Spanish are responsible for the tagging/graffiti. Few pilgrims would carry the weight of spray cans simply to vandalize. Names on distance markers and under bunk beds is certainly pilgrims! The dueling x and j are the result of the battle between language groups. Spanish youth have nothing but time on their hands, so it is my bet that they do the spray paint. In a long discussion with some Spaniards over dinner, they said that it only takes a small number of youth to spread a lot of paint, so they were not ready to blame the Spanish youth, just some Spanish youth.

 

[stevenjarvis]

Done - good luck, will you be able to share your dissertation here ?

 

[Steve.Belfast]

Done. Good luck with your studies.

 

[sarsos]

Hello, my name is Jessica Cartwright, I am 20 years old and a Geography student at Staffordshire University, England.
I am interested in the Camino on a personal level and when researching it I realised there was not much academic research. Whilst walking the Camino myself this summer I wanted to find out and explore the impacts and reasoning of a 21st century pilgrimage and make it the subject of my dissertation.
I also wanted to try understand the development of a traditional pilgrimage into a tourist attraction.

This is a copy of the questionnaire that I handed out along the Camino this summer where I asked fellow walkers and pilgrims if they would be good enough to respond to the questions. For all sorts of reasons I didn't hand hand out as many as I expected, too busy enjoying the walk I think. For that reason I am trying to obtain more data from people who have made the walk.

It is very much appreciated if you could fill in the questionnaire buy clicking on this link
http://goo.gl/qFYlJZ

The questionnaire is completely confidential and you have the right to withdraw at any point throughout. I aim to use the information and any trends it throws up as the core of my work.

Many Thanks for your time
Jess

Great idea Jess and best wishes with your studies.
If I can be of any more help let me know.
S.

 

[Cejanus]

Hi Jess, completed it for you. Cheers

 

[MickMac]

Done Buen Camino from a fellow Caminoite with Caminoitis.

 

[hieudovan]

Completed. Good luck on your research. Could you post summary results on this site? I know I would find the results interesting plus you might get some interesting comments that could really inform your conclusions.

I had just completed mine also. I agree with the above sentiment. Best wishes.

 

[Sixwheeler]

Jess,
I've submitted your survey and hope a view from a less well used Camino is of interest. I'm afraid that I'm not a pilgrim in the truest sense but I do think that we all become pilgrims to a certain extent. In my own case I wanted a good walk, good food and the chance to practice my French.

You can see more at www.sixwheeler.net and I hope that you will have a read there.

Will you put a copy of your final dissertation on this forum? It would be very interesting.

Good Luck.

 

[k1ypp]

Is there a cut-off date for filling in the form?