The only sure-fire cure for the "Camino Blues" is to do it again. However, time and money being finite, I recommend spending your time "between Caminos," as I refer to my time at home; learning more, participating in this forum, helping others who would like to do a Camino. I also have been doing a fair amount of reading about the Camino. However, having been there and done that I am not concentrating on books that tell one "how to do it." There are a ton of books out there.
I seriously thought of writing a book of my experiences and perceptions. Then I realized that what the world did not need was another "look at me" book. My Camino is a private, personal experience. I share it only with those who ask questions. Then the dam breaks...
We know how you feel...you return home, sometimes reluctantly, and no one around you has changed. You are more or less expected to re-assimilate into the same society you left, as though you never left, or you just returned from a customary holiday to the sea shore or some typical tourist destination. It does not fit.
I like to use the metaphor of a stone tossed into a placid pond. The ripples made by the stone expand in concentric circles - outwards. The ripples dissipate eventually and the pond returns to it's placid state. Was the stone ever there? I also use this metaphor for an individual life...how to make a difference. The prescription is simple. Do a Camino. Repeat as necessary...
Yet the Camino has profoundly affected me/you. It is not like going on a "holiday" for a month. What you did is HUGE. It has historical connections that go back over a thousand years. You experienced things that only a miniscule number of people, when viewed against the number of people who have lived on earth over the past 1,300 years or so, have seen and experienced. Trying to encapsulate that experience as well as the deep, profound and life-altering affect your Camino had on you is not easily done.
I found that people, though interested, were only "so" interested. After 15 minutes or so, their attention waivered and their eyes glazed over. I sensed that I was being tiresome. THAT is why I keep returning to this forum. I found the fastest way to clear a room of relatives or friens was to ask if anyone wanted to see my Camino pictures.
Remember, we are the happy travelers, the privileged pilgrims who share the experience. We were there, we saw, felt, tasted and smelled it. We GOT it. It GOT us. It is our solemn experience to hold in our hearts and souls, to share with those who were also there, or who are affected by our affectation.
The rest of the world cannot relate. They may try. But, until they have actually done a Camino, they cannot understand the depth and scope of the changes it makes in a person. I would further opine that someone who has done a Camino, and who did not come away profoundly affected, was simply not paying attention, or was wearing headphones and listening to music the whole way. I mean, how could you be paying attention and NOT be affected to the core of your being?
In some ways, it is like being a soldier in combat. World-wide, there are millions of soldiers, but few have ever been in active combat and in fear for their lives. Among those soldiers - the combat veterans - there is a similar, albeit different sort of bond. Until you've experienced the tastes, smells, sounds, and stress of combat, you cannot possibly relate to someone who had the experience. I speak from experience, however limited. The experience of the Camino was the closest, related set of feelings, albeit much more positive and wholesome than the other. It also smells much better...
The friendships, travails, camaraderie, and shared experiences are replicated. Only the intensity of the experience - traumatic versus peaceful - separates the two. It is the DEPTH of feeling that I am trying to correlate. If any of you in the forum community have had the prior, unique experience of serving in combat, I think you will understand.
For the majority of you who have not had this rather dubious pleasure, let me just say that the Camino is the best experience I have ever had among like minded individuals - in my life (I am 60)! I was desolate when I returned home, fell into a depression, and had to work for months to get out of it. It remains a daily effort.
(Oh, I should be very truthful and state that I suffer from a lifetime of moderate depression that manifests itself as anhedonia and dysthymia. I also have PTSD and anxiety. So the Camino was HIGHLY theraputic for me.)
My path to sanity is paved with plans for my next Camino. I have read, researched, shopped, and tested gear, clothing, alternative packing strategies and perhaps a new rucksack. Currently, I am waiting for spring train schedules to be posted online, so I can start researching "better" routes to St. Jean Pied de Port, and from Santiago. I have the air portion sorted. I am using an open jaw into Paris from Washington, DC, and returning from Madrid. After January, I will make hard reservations.
Thanks for the opportunity to vent. I needed it today. Another long-time former colleague passed and the funeral was yesterday. I NEED my Camino.
I do hope this helps someone, somewhere better understand why many of us do what we do, and how we feel about it.
