Post Camino - the place to reflect on your journey

[DarrenCombrink]

Hi All

I completed my Camino on the 21st of June. I then took a bus down to Finisterre on the 23rd of June.
It felt rather odd that my Camino was over and I was simply not ready to leave.

I have found the solution for those of you not ready to go home.

I am staying at The Little Fox House.
http://pilgrimagetoheresy.blogspot.com. ... e.html?m=1
http://www.thelittlefoxhouse.com
Or refer to the Facebook group The Little Fox House

This has been the perfect place to stay and unwind. It's not an Albergue and it operates on a Donativo.

Regards,
Darren

 

[zammy]

Another way is to walk to Finistera 3.5 days
if you walked it and still need to reflect- walk back to Santiago .
Or walk to Muxia.

 

[DarrenCombrink]

Zammy,
That is a way but this is something different.
Some people do not want to walk further than Santiago or do not have enough time.
Staying at The Little Fox House gives you time to reflect on your journey before going home.
I walked along the river yesterday, it was so beautiful.
I can highly recommend this to anyone doing the Camino.

Regards,
Darren

 

[Kitsambler]

Even walking other sections of the Way of St James, in France, the Czech Republic, Germany and Switzerland, the need for a day or two of reflection and re-adjustment at the end of the journey is very important and needs to be incorporated into one's schedule planning.

The first French walk ended in Cahors, unfortunately on one of those every-place-in-town-is-closed days, and my gite was not a demi-pension, so dinner that last night was a tin of sardines and a carrot, the last of the "spare lunch" rations I was carrying. This is not the way one wants to end a journey.

The second French leg ended at SJPP. I felt like the pilgrims of yore: wow! a city! So strange! What is all this stuff? Why are these people looking at me so oddly? It was nice to have an extra day to adjust. I discovered the cathedral as a place of reflection.

The first central Europe section ended at Nuremberg, where I had many of the same reactions I had felt in SJPP. The Jakobskirche was my meditation refuge there.

The second central Europe leg ended at Einsiedeln, Switzerland. An smaller town, with an enormous abbey, a place of pilgrimage on its own, which was a wonderful place for my meditation day.

Our systems (physical, mental, spiritual) need quiet time to integrate these major experiences in life. Plan on allowing yourself that time. Pray, meditate, reflect, write up the journal, finish that last blog entry.

 

[pattymo97206]

Hi All

I completed my Camino on the 21st of June. I then took a bus down to Finisterre on the 23rd of June.
It felt rather odd that my Camino was over and I was simply not ready to leave.

I have found the solution for those of you not ready to go home.

I am staying at The Little Fox House.
http://pilgrimagetoheresy.blogspot.com. ... e.html?m=1
http://www.thelittlefoxhouse.com
Or refer to the Facebook group The Little Fox House

This has been the perfect place to stay and unwind. It's not an Albergue and it operates on a Donativo.

Regards,
Darren

Next Spring, after I have walked from SJPP to Santiago and a days rest, I want to walk to Finistere and Muxia and stay at least a couple days at The Little Fox House. I'm give myself 7 weeks..that should be enough time, dontcha think?

 

[soydechiapas]

I took the bus to Finisterre and finished my Camino the right way for me. We Peregrinos went to the lighthouse, burneditemsmused on the Camino, and I watched the sunset while reflecting on what happened to me. It was the perfect way to end it for me.

 

[Priscillian]

Wow! Just found this; and I like the way that this thread has progressed. And thank you so much Darren for posting it. It was a lovely surprise to discover it while you were sleeping so peacefully in the "Pilgrim Loft"! (And of course, I have to get in my two centimos worth... as usual!)
Posters thus far: you are right. You cannot walk this far, and meet so many people, and think so many thoughts without being changed. Clearly some point/way/place of transition is needed. "Post Camino Syndrome" was not included on the new DSMD:V; but as a psychotherapist I would not be at all surprised if it is included in the next one.
For me it is like the incubation period: you have just been (re-) born.
Certainly there is no ONE WAY to end your Camino just as there is no One Way to walk it. I do, though, counsel against going home too soon. Those of you who have walked will know what I am talking about. One (very young) pilgrim who stayed here did not tell anyone she was back - apart from her parents - until a week had passed. This to me has become such an obvious way to move into what I call "re-entry" (and yes you HAVE been in a different world) that if asked I have suggested it as a way to make the passage easier.
Don´t underestimate the power that your Camino will have over you. Most of the time it will be positive and you will - if not have found the answer to unspoken or unknown questions - at leat discovered questions you may not have known you had (and maybe that is why so many of us return again and again).
If your experience is "negative", i.e: not what you set out to achieve or if you had thought for whatever reason that the Camino would provide answers to questions yet unformulated, I would challenge you to find out what it is you TRULY want and whether the Camino was the place to find it/find out/ find....? It might not have been. Maybe your answers lie elsewhere.Or maybe you don´t yet know where the questions begin...
I was in Muxia today The little port was filled with pilgrims. The Camino is here to stay. As to who, what, where, when and why? Only you who are called to it will find out. Just, please, don´t go home too soon...

 

[lbpierce]

I had an unplanned time to reflect on my Camino. After arriving in Santiago, and a day of rest, I started to walk to Finisterre with plans to continue on to Muxia. I walked two days, the weather sucked (with even hail on the second day) and my legs were dead, dead, dead. So after day 2 on this route, I took a taxi back to Santiago and spent 6 days at the Hospederia San Martin Pinario, former monastery turned hotel for pilgrims. Very pilgrim friendly with a great breakfast, lovely sala de peregrinos, dining room etc. There was something about the feel of the place -- it really felt like a convent to me -- that was a perfect environment for me to rest and reflect.

I spent time writing in my journal, starting a blog about my experience, uploading photos, etc., taking walks, enjoying the mostly car-free old town, sitting at outdoor cafes or an hour or two, enjoying the many street musical performances, eating some great food. I didn't really socialize with others as they walked their Camino later than me and I hadn't met them.

Anyway, surprisingly, it was a perfect experience for a post camino reflection for me.

 

[DarrenCombrink]

After spending 4 beautiful days at The Little Fox I am now back in busy Santiago.
A very big thank you to Tracy Saunders for all the hard work you invest in pilgrims post Camino.

I am now staying at Hospederia San Martin Pinario and enjoying being a Tourist pilgrim.
Today I have wondered the streets, visited the museum and Cathedral. More to come later post siesta.

Tomorrow I depart relaxed and content with my full journey.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

Take the roof tour of the Cathedral. You will be glad you did.