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vagabondette said:I am sick of packing and unpacking my crap every day (perhaps if most people weren't carrying an extra 10-15 lbs of useless crap the previous two wouldn't be an issue) .
Sojourner47 said:vagabondette said:I am sick of packing and unpacking my crap every day (perhaps if most people weren't carrying an extra 10-15 lbs of useless crap the previous two wouldn't be an issue) .
Moral of story - take less crap in future.....
Sojourner47 said:Well, as I have said before, this forum is a tiny sample of camino experience, and, as such could give newcomers a rosier view than reality.
I totally agree with this statement. As a "present" pilgrim, I can attest to that! After my excitement of finding the fabulous Forum and becoming an avid reader of all the daily info and more, I thought I had a clue to what the Camino is. Boy, was I mistaken! First, I had on my rose colored glasses, and was armed with everything I needed to be a pilgrim...have this incredible spiritual experience. Then I arrived in Spain. I navigated through my first day...going from Madrid airport to Pamplona by bus. It took almost as long to go by bus as it did to fly from the US to Madrid! But, hey...that was sort of okay, even though I'd have to stay in Pamplona that night because the only 2 buses out of town are at 2pm and 5! Of course, neither times fell within my schedule. I flew standby and well, it didn't work out! So next day, I'm on my way by bus to SJPP. I'm biting at the bit to get there, get accommodations and start up the mountain! I had purposefully not booked a room prior to get the full on experience of being free to be. I ended up struggling to make it up the hill to the Camino headqtrs...oh, no! And I haven't even started the real walking!!! I kept telling myself it would be okay. It must be the altitude! Not only did I stay the night at the loca Maddy's place next to the Camino headqtrs, my clothese didn't dry overnight as it started to rain. For the next 2 hellish days I thought I'd made a huge mistake! The torrential rain, the nightmare winds...my obvious lack of training in mountain 'hiking' - all made for a horrible beginning. No one really talks about how darn hard it is...and I'd trained! I'd lost 20 pounds! I was on a spiritual journey!
All this being said, this vegan (yes, I know) has reverted back to being a vegetarian until I finish in 10 days. I knew eating would be a challenge, but didn't believe how hard! I dreamed about kale and bok choy, tofu and nutritionally rich foods only to wake up with a growling stomach. I was convinced that Spaniards think jamon and tuna are condiments!
I hated the Camino! I was so sick from the 1st two days and hungry for real food! The Pyrenees nearly killed me...and even the big hills were a challenge. I wanted to quit, but every day I put on my boots and walked. Pretty soon I stopped thinking of ways to catch a bus or get a taxi. I just kept walking! I stopped staying in alberques and stay in pensions with a private bath or even treat myself to a $40 euro night some places. I try to find good food outside the pilgrim meals as much as I can. I walk by myself mostly (it suits my slower pace, but also gives me time to think) and have lots of interaction in the evenings.
I turned a corner one day last week. I made it "my Camino." I was stuck on " the rules" and I no longer am. I want to walk. I want to see this through...not because I'm not a quitter, but because I'm learning a lot about myself. I came here thinking I wanted to walk closer with God...and realize God is close all the time. It's me that I'm deepening my relationship with. Now, how cool is that!
I am sharing this because we are all on our own Camino...eeting some very incredible people who walk by us each day, wishing us a Buen Camino. The lovely people who rush out of their homes to put us back on the Way when we've missed our turn. This is what life should be and is...on the Camino. People who make time for each other because we're on the path together. Pilgrims seeking God or a personal best or for whatever reason we think we're here. Trust me, you'll learn something you never even thought about.
So, Buen Camino, pilgrims. It's your experience. It's your Camino.
Bozzie said:I hated the Camino! I was so sick from the 1st two days and hungry for real food! The Pyrenees nearly killed me...and even the big hills were a challenge. I wanted to quit, but every day I put on my boots and walked. Pretty soon I stopped thinking of ways to catch a bus or get a taxi. I just kept walking! I stopped staying in alberques and stay in pensions with a private bath or even treat myself to a $40 euro night some places. I try to find good food outside the pilgrim meals as much as I can. I walk by myself mostly (it suits my slower pace, but also gives me time to think) and have lots of interaction in the evenings.
I turned a corner one day last week. I made it "my Camino." I was stuck on " the rules" and I no longer am. I want to walk. I want to see this through...not because I'm not a quitter, but because I'm learning a lot about myself. I came here thinking I wanted to walk closer with God...and realize God is close all the time. It's me that I'm deepening my relationship with. Now, how cool is that!
I am sharing this because we are all on our own Camino...eeting some very incredible people who walk by us each day, wishing us a Buen Camino. The lovely people who rush out of their homes to put us back on the Way when we've missed our turn. This is what life should be and is...on the Camino. People who make time for each other because we're on the path together. Pilgrims seeking God or a personal best or for whatever reason we think we're here. Trust me, you'll learn something you never even thought about.
So, Buen Camino, pilgrims. It's your experience. It's your Camino.
peregrino_tom said:Hi Vagabondette
You know I did wonder if this was going to happen. You came onto the forum a while back and rolled up your sleeves and really got involved in the discussions. Pulled out and processed all the useful information like a good project manager and often passed it on to others, joining up many of the discussions in the posts in a really helpful way. But I did wonder when you defended so strongly (assertively?) your need to be IT connected the whole time to manage your life and career. Then there's been the conference thing. At times it all seemed like an opportunity to maximise your work time in Spain - happening to fit in a camino along the way. That's all fine, it's just that it gives you too many options when the low times hit, as almost invariably they do - and the hardest are often not the physical challenges but the mental ones. The thing is that if you don't have a plan B or C, when the hard times and the doubt arrives, you usually just have to soldier on and get through it perhaps adopting one of the excellent strategies proposed above - but with no Scottie to beam you up and away. But I feel you've got a great series of safety nets that make it now all seem so logical just to move on to the next thing.
Don't get me wrong, you've been a great asset here and put in a real shift for the forum. But just consider for a second that there may be another way to get this thing done. Come back some day (how ever far away that is) when you can give the camino your full undivided attention and your only goal is to reach Santiago or Finisterre - and see what happens. Take care and best wishes, tom
That's why so many of us say it's the best thing we've ever done. The psychological/spiritual discoveries are so much more important than the difficulty or otherwise of the walk.Bozzie said:I turned a corner one day last week. I made it "my Camino." I was stuck on " the rules" and I no longer am. I want to walk. I want to see this through...not because I'm not a quitter, but because I'm learning a lot about myself. I came here thinking I wanted to walk closer with God...and realize God is close all the time. It's me that I'm deepening my relationship with. Now, how cool is that!
The word has its roots in the notion of leaving one's home or country, and originally referred to a traveller or sojourner. The religious connotation came later, and while it might be the general tendency to think of pilgrimage being undertaken for a special purpose, that purpose might not necessarily be religious in any conventional sense.PingHansen said:Anyway, common for all of the references that I have seen, is the stated, implied, or hinted at religious/spiritual purpose - which coincides nicely with the common perception of a pilgrim.
They can rely on two things. First that the word pilgrim can just mean one who travels. Second, that whatever their publicly stated purpose, they alone can tell what their internal motivations might be. (I am discounting the venal purpose of merely using the name to gain a credencial and through that use albergues, etc.)PingHansen said:When people clearly state that their walk has neither a religious, nor a spiritual purpose, but that their only reason is that they want to enjoy the walk itself, should they then, in view of the definition of the word, claim to be pilgrims?
I think one is on incredibly thin ice to suggest that we can judge who is walking for a higher purpose. I know it harks back to the notion that spirituality and through it, religion, is the search for a higher purpose. However, I don't think that someone who walks for spiritual or religious reasons can be said to walk for a higher purpose merely because of that.PingHansen said:I think that's lessening those who are walking for a "higher purpose". In the old days, such people were called false pilgrims - and considered a problem.
PingHansen said:their only reason is that they want to enjoy the walk itself, should they then, in view of the definition of the word, claim to be pilgrims?
Personally, I think not. I think that's lessening those who are walking for a "higher purpose". In the old days, such people were called false pilgrims - and considered a problem.
Now, you may want to go look up the definition of tourist.
Edit: perhaps I should state that I don't have a problem with non-pilgrims walking the Camino. I just happen to think that they shouldn't call themselves pilgrims.
I've got nothing against God - it's some of the fan-clubs I can't stand..
dougfitz said:,...... and originally referred to a traveller or sojourner. :lol: :lol: .......
Well, David, I did read it again. If you really believe what I have quoted here, you might wish to check to see who was ghost writing the earlier post on your behalf. It is far from observational - it contains unsubstantiated judgements and is redolent with criticism of the OP in what I think was a quite unnecessary and un-supportive way.David said:If you read my post again you will not find judgment, only observation, you will find a supportive suggestion of how to perceive the problem in a different way
David said:Oh dear .. please .. I was not being judgmental at all, I don't 'do' judgmental .. what I was doing was mentioning the two ways we live in this world - external sensual gratification, the world as a fairground, and from an inner perspective where the world is what we inhabit but is not what is important. We have to live it but we don't have to be attached to it.
Now, that is not judgmental - if anyone feels that because they are one side of that perspective they feel they are being judged I cannot do anything about that - the world is as it is, not as we want it to be.
If you read my post again you will not find judgment, only observation, you will find a supportive suggestion of how to perceive the problem in a different way and you will also see that I say that if a new experience - a new fairground - is what she wants then she should go and do that.
All is well :wink:
Of course - that is what makes this forum such an interesting and compelling experience.David said:- But, she didn't put that post up for folk to just agree with her, otherwise she would have just left ... so . I responded
David said:I do apologise, . her answer is to leave, to go to another country where she will experience fresh and new experiences - this is the fairground thought process ... and if that is what she wants to do she is right to do it.
Switch a television on and watch any program or any advert - they are ALL about superficial sensual gratification ... about living in the fairground where we can avoid really living, being awake, think of package holidays - exactly the same - and then we die - what a waste, don't you think? :|
As for my idea of forgetting thinking about oneself so much and instead focusing on thinking about others and how that might feel quite different ...
Buen Camino
dougfitz said:Perhaps its time to desist from publicly voicing judgements on Vagabondette. She appears to have left the Camino for now. I hope she finds the courage to return if that is what she wants, and should she need support, I hope she gets it.
In the meantime, Annie has provided a beautiful post for us to reflect upon. Can we?
Regards,
npak907 said:The camino, from what I learned, I just returned, is an experience. Maybe it's not your vacation but it isn't a vacation. It's a full time job and its life. You wake up, pack, go, eat, unpack, sleep. If you wanted a vacation I would say Hawaii would be good for you.
npak907 wrote:
Organize your things into, clothing bag, toiletries bag, sleeping bag, and misc. bag. Plastic bags are light but irritating and loud. I chose small light pillow cases.
falcon269 said:After I poured water from my boots after a long day in heavy rain, I thought how much more helpful were the words from those who told how they were able to do it, than the words from those who could not. Their is insight in knowing what stops some folks, but there is real wisdom in knowing how to carry on!
i so understand you!I was really looking forward to walking the Camino and I have enjoyed it - especially some of the people I have met - but I am pretty sure I am leaving it after tomorrows walk to burgos because I am just bored with it all.
I am sick of packing and unpacking my crap every day (easily my least favorite part of travel, and why I generally stay in one spot for a few months at a time), the scenery - while pretty - is getting monotonous, I am sick of the food (so excited to be going to a Muslim country next where I won't have to see ham all the time!), I am tired of the endless discussions about blisters, stages, what aches (perhaps if most people weren't carrying an extra 10-15 lbs of useless crap the previous two wouldn't be an issue) and who is/n't going 'all the way'.
Who knows. I am going to get a private room for a night or two and I might feel differently when not stuffed in a room full of inconsiderate people who don't get the concept of packing in the hall so as to not wake those who don't want to walk at 5 am.
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