- Jun 16, 2015
- 158
- 761
- Time of past OR future Camino
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Sanabres spring 2024
Hi!
I am Jim Geier, or more formally, James Geier from San Diego, California; I was named after Saint James. I first heard of the Camino de Santiago a number of years ago. The idea of walking the Camino popped up in my life occasionally, and I dismissed it. On my return trip from my mother's funeral services a year ago, the Camino came up again, and I thought maybe there is a reason the Camino keeps coming up. Maybe I should do this, if for no other reason than to honor my parents who named me after Saint James. So I did. I walked the Camino Frances from St. Jean Pied de Port to Santiago de Compostela and then on to Finisterre starting this past April 18, my father's birthday.
What an unbelievable journey! With all the reading I did, nothing prepared me for how difficult it is physically and emotionally to walk 6-7 or 8 or more hours a day, every day, sometimes in the sun, sometimes in the rain, sometimes alone and sometimes with others. At the same time, nothing prepared me for how uplifting it was - walking through beautiful landscapes, up hills and down, across the meseta, and always onward; with the camaraderie of the other pilgrims, and the unending support of the people in the towns through which we passed. A truly amazing and unforgettable journey. I frequently think of my favorite two quotes:
Sir Edmund Hillary: "It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves."
This was so true so often on the Camino.
The last sentence in the book “Up Country” by Nelson DeMille:
The journey home is never a direct route;
it is, in fact, always circuitous, and somewhere along the way,
we discover that the journey is more significant than the destination,
and that the people we meet along the way will be the traveling companions of our memories forever.
All true...an amazing journey with so many wonderful, unforgettable people.
Because of a window in my work next spring, I shall return to walk the Camino Frances again. I want to see how I experience it differently. The draw to return is far stronger than that I felt preparing for my first Camino.
And a hearty THANK-YOU to this Camino Forum...this forum was very, very helpful in my preparations. I am so very grateful to all of the members.
Buen Camino!
--jim--
I am Jim Geier, or more formally, James Geier from San Diego, California; I was named after Saint James. I first heard of the Camino de Santiago a number of years ago. The idea of walking the Camino popped up in my life occasionally, and I dismissed it. On my return trip from my mother's funeral services a year ago, the Camino came up again, and I thought maybe there is a reason the Camino keeps coming up. Maybe I should do this, if for no other reason than to honor my parents who named me after Saint James. So I did. I walked the Camino Frances from St. Jean Pied de Port to Santiago de Compostela and then on to Finisterre starting this past April 18, my father's birthday.
What an unbelievable journey! With all the reading I did, nothing prepared me for how difficult it is physically and emotionally to walk 6-7 or 8 or more hours a day, every day, sometimes in the sun, sometimes in the rain, sometimes alone and sometimes with others. At the same time, nothing prepared me for how uplifting it was - walking through beautiful landscapes, up hills and down, across the meseta, and always onward; with the camaraderie of the other pilgrims, and the unending support of the people in the towns through which we passed. A truly amazing and unforgettable journey. I frequently think of my favorite two quotes:
Sir Edmund Hillary: "It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves."
This was so true so often on the Camino.
The last sentence in the book “Up Country” by Nelson DeMille:
The journey home is never a direct route;
it is, in fact, always circuitous, and somewhere along the way,
we discover that the journey is more significant than the destination,
and that the people we meet along the way will be the traveling companions of our memories forever.
All true...an amazing journey with so many wonderful, unforgettable people.
Because of a window in my work next spring, I shall return to walk the Camino Frances again. I want to see how I experience it differently. The draw to return is far stronger than that I felt preparing for my first Camino.
And a hearty THANK-YOU to this Camino Forum...this forum was very, very helpful in my preparations. I am so very grateful to all of the members.
Buen Camino!
--jim--
