Craig Oliver
New Member
- Time of past OR future Camino
- October 2016
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What a perfect post @marylynn - I wish I wrote that!...share their peace of mind after a month on the Camino how they adjusted to returning to work/business and family/friends. Was there a period of adjustment.
I walked for the month of May in 2011 with a friend from Leon to Santiago. My friend went on further and faster after a few days and I walked with a few different wonderful people, and had enough time to also walk from Logrono to Burgos. When I got home I not only had the Camino Blues bigtime, but I realized I was actually experiencing grief - for the loss of walking, the landscape, and my Camino friends and community. Ever since I was ten years old, I have traveled a lot by car and by bike in North America and in Europe, but my month on the Camino was like no other trip in my life. After a few weeks of strange, unexpected bouts of tears and flashbacks of special moments and the faces of new friends, I realized that I could go back! I returned to the Camino a few months later in October 2011 and walked the parts I had missed in May. The landscape and the friends I made this time were as wonderful as on my first trip. Then I realized I needed to walk the Camino Frances from St. Jean to Santiago in one uninterrupted walk...and it was again an amazing trip. Fortunately, I am retired so I can just keep going back again...and again...and again.
How did your new reality affect you?
Each walk has been wonderful in its own way, with special memories of landscapes and experiences, and special people becoming part of my life each time. I don't grieve any more because I know I will return each year, as long as I am able, and I keep in touch with special Camino friends--and have reconnected with several in their country or mine. At home, I have a growing community of friends who have walked the Camino and we get together often; and it has been fun helping new friends plan their first Camino. To me, the joy of the Camino is the ability to connect - to the land, to new friends, and to myself - and to keep those connections alive at home. The Camino has changed my life in terms of how I spend my time, but it has also enriched my life. The Camino Blues are real. You may or may not experience it, but be aware that you may feel unsettled and out-of-sorts upon your return. If you can find ways to keep important Camino connections alive, then the return to your everyday life will be easier. The best plan is to just join the crowd--keep reading the Forum and keep going back! Good luck!
Hi Craig, I really hope you enjoy your camino this year. I guess the experience will be different for everyone. As you can see, we have walked a few caminos on and off for 11 years but for some reason, and I don't know why, it is only with the Camino Frances that I get the Camino blues on returning home and find it so hard to settle down again! I go around the house nailing all my newly acquired trinkets to a spare wall and half of the street have now got Camino key rings! I really do feel that as soon as I get in the door, I could cheerfully walk out again and off on the Camino. I dream about it, think about it continually for some time and have a dreadful "longing" for it with an "ache" in my heart . My husband just settles right back in and I suppose that in itself is a good thing. I guess so many of us are on this form because we just "can't let go" of the Camino. And would not want to anyway! We are off to walk from Lucca to Rome in 2 weeks time so that should suffice for a little while!! Best wishes AnnetteAs a Canadian on my first Camino (October 2016), I was planning to work in November and meet up with family and friends in Europe. Can anyone share their peace of mind after a month on the Camino how they adjusted to returning to work/business and family/friends. Was there a period of ajustment. How did your new reality affect you?
Thank-you,
I think you have seen from the above postings that peace of mind is not necessarily the primary emotion in pilgrims finishing our camino and heading for home and daily life. Be warned; you may come to feel a "divine restlessness" that is a sign of things (or caminos) to come. I think that it takes time for many of us to absorb the feelings and experiences of the camino. You may be a little introverted when you get home, or you may be one of those who cannot talk about anything else for months. Are you a different person as you return from who you were when you left? Today, while hospital visiting, I saw an elderly women weeping and was longing to console her. I think I am changing. Part of this was the camino. I am not finished yet, and I am going again this fall. I cannot say how the camino will change you, but if you are open to deep change it may happen. It may not make much sense to those at home, or to you. It's a risk.Can anyone share their peace of mind after a month on the Camino how they adjusted to returning
Hi Craig, I'm a fellow Canuck. Did my first in Sept 2015. Great question and I had it on my mind before I left . I knew I'd be in some sort of 'state' so prepared my return by planning my return to work carefully to avoid certain types of meetings and activities. Most importantly, I planned to check in with 4-5 key people who would 'get it' . One does annual retreats, ones been on the Camino, others were chosen for other key skills or experience. My idea was to creat a soft 're-entry' into Earth's atmosphere. Best thing I ever did.As a Canadian on my first Camino (October 2016), I was planning to work in November and meet up with family and friends in Europe. Can anyone share their peace of mind after a month on the Camino how they adjusted to returning to work/business and family/friends. Was there a period of ajustment. How did your new reality affect you?
Thank-you,
Hi Craig, I'm a fellow Canuck. Did my first in Sept 2015. Great question and I had it on my mind before I left . I knew I'd be in some sort of 'state' so prepared my return by planning my return to work carefully to avoid certain types of meetings and activities. Most importantly, I planned to check in with 4-5 key people who would 'get it' . One does annual retreats, ones been on the Camino, others were chosen for other key skills or experience. My idea was to creat a soft 're-entry' into Earth's atmosphere. Best thing I ever did.
Still thinking all the time about it and trying to ensure I keep Camino lessons in my mind and in my daily routines. So maybe I'm still adjusting! I made sure to keep in touch with the special people I met and that way the Camino continues in a different way.
Hope it helps. Everyone's different but it's good to plan your return , not just the trip.
Buen Camino!!!
I'll ask a friend who went to school in Santiago (if you're ending there) if she has ideas for secure storage. Mailing it to yourself comes to mind as the post office will hold packages for a little whileThanks David. As someone about to embark on this great adventure for the first time, I appreciate your feedback. I plan to work after the Camino in Europe for a few weeks. If I can only figure out where to leave my laptop and work attire while I'm on the Camino?
Ps I see Ivar is advertising luggage storage for up to 60 days in the ads around this thread so I'd definitely check that out. Good man, that IvarI'll ask a friend who went to school in Santiago (if you're ending there) if she has ideas for secure storage. Mailing it to yourself comes to mind as the post office will hold packages for a little while
Thanks David. As someone about to embark on this great adventure for the first time, I appreciate your feedback. I plan to work after the Camino in Europe for a few weeks. If I can only figure out where to leave my laptop and work attire while I'm on the Camino?
... Mailing it to yourself comes to mind as the post office will hold packages for a little while
However if you use their new system they will keep it for additional days at 1 euro per day. See their web for more info.Normally only for 15 daysSY
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