Saying Goodbye: Leaving From Home or the Airport?

[JustJack]

Just curious if you say goodbye to your family at home, and make your own way to the airport, or say goodbye at the airport?

The minutiae of some of my questions must be annoying to many, but I'm leaving in May, and I'm focused on the little things now .

It feels right to me to say goodbye to my family at home, as I want to walk out my front door and start my camino there and then. Having them accompany me to the airport just doesn't quite feel right. I will make my own way to the airport, and will make my own way back home from the airport when I return. Alone door-to-door is what feels right to me.

I certainly appreciate that this is a bit of a silly question, and perhaps not even something others would give a thought to. I also certainly appreciate that I'm overthinking things! I've been well aware of my over-thinking for the past couple years now. Just a few more months and I'll be able to stop asking such mundane borderline-ridiculous questions. But until then I'm a hopeless pilgrim-wannabe, and I've got questions. So many questions. And truly, this is the place to come for an empathetic ear.

 

[Bradypus]

I flew from London Stansted to Biarritz a few days ago to start my current Camino. My wife drove me to a bus stop a few miles from our home in west Wales and we parted there. Expecting her to make a 450 mile round trip on New Year's Eve just to wave me goodbye at airport security would have seemed a bit excessive.

 

[Grousedoctor]

Hey JustJack, not a silly question at all. But, with that said, I think you’ve already answered your own question by knowing what feels right for you. It’s that same feeling or belief that you’ll call upon time after time as you walk The Way. From my experience, your own insight will often be the best path to take. It’s probably true that we all overthink to some degree our first Camino; only natural and part of the whole process toward taking those first steps. Your Camino begins where it feels best to you.

 

[JustJack]

I flew from London Stansted to Biarritz a few days ago to start my current Camino. My wife drove me to a bus stop a few miles from our home in west Wales and we parted there. Expecting her to make a 450 mile round trip on New Year's Eve just to wave me goodbye at airport security would have seemed a bit excessive.

Yes that definitely makes sense when traveling from a city like London where the airport is far away and expensive to get to.

 

[Vacajoe]

With TSA security, traffic, and parking challenges, it’s far easier to say goodbye at your front door than at the airport if you have an alternative means of transportation to it. I love walking out my front door and doing transit to/from the airport - less stress on everyone (and I only live 12 miles away from my airport!)

 

[lalaone]

I don’t think it’s a silly question. (I am also prone to overthinking, so there’s that caveat haha)

We’ve done it both ways. My husband waved me off at airport security. I waved him off from our driveway, for an Uber to the airport. In both cases, it fit the journey.

For me: I saw a couple I had not seen since my youth, who were very kind during difficult times. They were immediately recognizable, coming home from who knows where, arriving at the same gate where I was leaving. The moment was too fleeting to stop for reintroductions and a conversation. But their smiles were huge; the unexpected sight was a reassurance and a blessing. For my husband: his Uber driver turned out to be a perfect and unexpected guide, with serendipitous wisdom to share for the Camino. I know it’s hackneyed to say that the Camino provides, but sometimes it really feels that way, whatever options you choose. Wishing you a serendipitous departure and a very Buen Camino.

 

[Bradypus]

Yes that definitely makes sense when traveling from a city like London where the airport is far away and expensive to get to.

My wife has just pointed out that while she has never said goodbye to me at an airport she  did walk from Canterbury to Dover with me on the first stage of the Via Francigena. And then joined me in Rome by train when I finally got there a couple of months later!

 

[C clearly]

I am inclined to be a very practical person without imbuing events with a lot of ceremony. I never viewed the Camino (even my first) as being a potentially transformative event with emotional implications that needed to be considered.

I think the answer should be practical, while respecting everyone's emotional needs. In practical terms, if your family comes to the airport, finds a parking spot, pays for it, everyone gets out of the car to walk into the airport, they watch you print out your boarding card at the kiosk, and then walk you to the entrance to security. Does this give enough added value to everyone to compensate for the cost of parking, and the time spent when they could also be getting on with their lives? Or does it actually do the opposite and create an awkward situation for everyone?

Since we have good bus service to the airport, I usually just say goodbye to my husband and walk out the front door - backpack comfortably on my back, walking shoes on my feet, and I'm a pilgrim. If for some reason, he were to drive me to the airport, we would pull over in the drop-off zone in the departures area, step out of the car, kiss goodbye, and I'd walk through the auto doors to the terminal while he got back into the car to drive off and start his vacation without me!

 

[trecile]

and I only live 12 miles away from my airport!)

I'm less than 7 miles from my airport. I suppose that I could walk.

 

[Anamiri]

Just curious if you say goodbye to your family at home, and make your own way to the airport, or say goodbye at the airport?

The minutiae of some of my questions must be annoying to many, but I'm leaving in May, and I'm focused on the little things now .

It feels right to me to say goodbye to my family at home, as I want to walk out my front door and start my camino there and then. Having them accompany me to the airport just doesn't quite feel right. I will make my own way to the airport, and will make my own way back home from the airport when I return. Alone door-to-door is what feels right to me.

I certainly appreciate that this is a bit of a silly question, and perhaps not even something others would give a thought to. I also certainly appreciate that I'm overthinking things! I've been well aware of my over-thinking for the past couple years now. Just a few more months and I'll be able to stop asking such mundane borderline-ridiculous questions. But until then I'm a hopeless pilgrim-wannabe, and I've got questions. So many questions. And truly, this is the place to come for an empathetic ear.

It depends on whether I've had to catch a taxi to the airport (goodbyes at home ), or being dropped at the airport by family. Last time as we took our grandson with us, we had a family contingent to see us off and collect us afterwards. Normally I caught a cab.

Edited to clarify that my goodbyes are more about making sure instructions to look after my dogs are clearly understood - the most important part of my Camino preparation. (My dogs dont understand a goodbye for a long period, they probably just think I'm going off to work or something. But they sure are happy to see me come back.)

 

[Tincatinker]

A slight spin on your question. In the traditions of my tribes saying “goodbye” is just not done. The wanderer does just that. Gets up and is gone. It’s a given that your intentions are known and “goodbye” carries implications. “True voyage is return” as Ms Le Guin so aptly put it

 

[EL LECHERO]

Just curious if you say goodbye to your family at home, and make your own way to the airport, or say goodbye at the airport?

The minutiae of some of my questions must be annoying to many, but I'm leaving in May, and I'm focused on the little things now .

It feels right to me to say goodbye to my family at home, as I want to walk out my front door and start my camino there and then. Having them accompany me to the airport just doesn't quite feel right. I will make my own way to the airport, and will make my own way back home from the airport when I return. Alone door-to-door is what feels right to me.

I certainly appreciate that this is a bit of a silly question, and perhaps not even something others would give a thought to. I also certainly appreciate that I'm overthinking things! I've been well aware of my over-thinking for the past couple years now. Just a few more months and I'll be able to stop asking such mundane borderline-ridiculous questions. But until then I'm a hopeless pilgrim-wannabe, and I've got questions. So many questions. And truly, this is the place to come for an empathetic ear.

Follow your heart.

 

[NorthernLight]

If ‘goodbye’ is about saying all the things in your heart that you want to reinforce before you go, like ‘I love you’, then doing so at home gives you more time.

Accompaniment to the airport is just a form of malingering.

 

[David Tallan]

I think when my son and I set off on our 2016 Camino, we said our goodbyes at the local train station where we caught the train that took us downtown, where we changed trains and caught the train to the airport. For my 2018 Camino, my wife drove me to the subway station where she said goodbye to me and hello to my son who was arriving. I took the subway myself to the train station downtown, where I caught the train to the airport. For my 1989 Camino I was already living in Spain at the time without family there.

 

[Marbe2]

How will our answers be of assistance? There are so many factors that go into this decision. How far is the drive and the traffic? Using public transport? Places to wait at airport with loved ones? Do you desire to go alone, or do they, want to accompany you? Not sure how our responses help you?

 

[C clearly]

Accompaniment to the airport is just a form of malingering.

Good description!

Just last week my husband and I babysat our young grandchildren so their parents could go out. Everybody had tearful goodbyes at the front door, with appropriate hugs and kisses. Then my husband made the mistake of taking them upstairs to wave again from the upstairs window. The parents had said their goodbyes and then took their time in the driveway, cleaning the windshield, organizing themselves, doing whatever else had to be done for another 5-7 minutes. Do you know how long 5-7 minutes is while tearful 4 and 6 year olds are whimpering and bemoaning the departure of their parents, fueling each other? I kept telling my husband to wave goodbye once, and then move them away from the window, as it was creating more angst than necessary! I guess I am just cold-hearted.

 

[JustJack]

How will our answers be of assistance? There are so many factors that go into this decision. How far is the drive and the traffic? Using public transport? Places to wait at airport with loved ones? Do you desire to go alone, or do they, want to accompany you? Not sure how our responses help you?

Sorry, I thought I was clear in my post. I'm not looking for assistance - I've made my decision. As I mentioned, I was just curious what others do, and why. Thanks for asking though.

 

[Robo]

At home.
We can say goodbye without rush.
And then as I depart alone I feel my Pilgrimage has started.

 

[Bala]

My husband drove me to the airport and stayed with me until I was at the security line. It never occurred to either of us to do anything else. Getting a ride to the airport is far more convenient and cost effective than taking the airport van, plus it gave us that much more time together . As far as other family members, we say goodbye on the phone. Sometimes days in advance.

 

[Marbe2]

Sorry, I thought I was clear in my post. I'm not looking for assistance - I've made my decision. As I mentioned, I was just curious what others do, and why. Thanks for asking though.

All questions serve some function

 

[JabbaPapa]

Not a silly question at all, and I would say that it is a dynamic between the personal preferences of each of the two individuals, married or otherwise.

I walked with two peregrinas on my 2005 and we had to say goodbye. Both of them told me that they hated goodbyes, but in both cases it was clear that they needed some symbolic ending to our walking together.

Both happened at bus stops, one in Lodève, the other in Ponferrada.

The French girl in Lodève, I made sure she was on the bus, gave a hand sign, then walked away before the bus departed.

The Lebanese, who hated goodbyes a bit more, I said goodbye to as soon as the bus pulled in, then left her to it.

I think it's overlong and too sentimental goodbyes that some people hate, but treating them as just an ordinary parting of the ways without great fuss is all that the more independently minded might want.

My favourite goodbye though was on my 2014 - - one of the friends I needed to say goodbye to was most certainly of the more sentimental persuasion, but the Camino provided ; in that it happened at a "chance" meeting on the threshold of the Parador in Compostela, and I was able to tell her, well, the farewell is inevitable ; but is there a better possible place for it ? There is beauty in a proper farewell, and particularly if you can be sensitive enough to what the other needs from it.

 

[GuyA]

I get the question totally! First Camino dropped off at the airport. Since then many variations however last year my wife Dawn drove me 1 km to subway station…after all walking 1 km with a backpack would be way too tiring and we said goodbyes there. This was my favourite way to do it.

Oh and my 3 daughters…all in their 30s…living close by likely did not even realize I was gone. I suppose my first blog posting (at least I think they read these ) on the Camino Primitivo likely caused them to clue in and ask Dawn…”What’s he doing now?”

Guy

 

[mike105]

I like to say goodbye to my wife at home and my girlfriend at the airport, for obvious reasons.

 

[linkster]

Denice dropped me off and picked me up in Miami for my first Camino (~2.5 hour drive one way). Since then I have rented a car and drove myself. Denice was sad but supportive on my first Camino. She remains supportive, but does not fully comprehend why I go and just accepts that I need to go. It is easier for her to say goodbye at home.

There is a real difference between saying goodbye and saying hello for me.

The goodbye, maybe a bit melancholy ... missing family and friends, anxious about the unknown, excited about the adventure all combined or at different moments.

The hello, I really feel the jet lag coming back home (travelling east) and I am usually tired after the flight and then a several hour drive. I come home to a warm welcome, but I am tired. I am also decompressing from the Camino and all of the associated emotions. My family patiently listens to my Camino experiences, but they want me to be back home and not living the past on the Camino. They have been in the real world while I have been in the world of the Camino for the last couple of months. I internalize much of the transition and assimilate life back home.

Do what feels right. Be patient with yourself and the people around you.

 

[USSusan]

Just curious if you say goodbye to your family at home, and make your own way to the airport, or say goodbye at the airport?

The minutiae of some of my questions must be annoying to many, but I'm leaving in May, and I'm focused on the little things now .

It feels right to me to say goodbye to my family at home, as I want to walk out my front door and start my camino there and then. Having them accompany me to the airport just doesn't quite feel right. I will make my own way to the airport, and will make my own way back home from the airport when I return. Alone door-to-door is what feels right to me.

I certainly appreciate that this is a bit of a silly question, and perhaps not even something others would give a thought to. I also certainly appreciate that I'm overthinking things! I've been well aware of my over-thinking for the past couple years now. Just a few more months and I'll be able to stop asking such mundane borderline-ridiculous questions. But until then I'm a hopeless pilgrim-wannabe, and I've got questions. So many questions. And truly, this is the place to come for an empathetic ear.

I think you should do what feels right for you.

 

[JohnRRogers]

Interesting post and responses. I will be starting my first Camino in April and I’m certain my wife will give me a ride to the airport. We always take each other to the airport as there isn’t any convenient mass transit from where we live. No parking and going inside, just pull up to the curb, and a quick hug. Uber’s are available but providing a lift to each other is just something we do. Kinda like making each other’s coffee in the morning.

 

[Celi Anatrella]

Just curious if you say goodbye to your family at home, and make your own way to the airport, or say goodbye at the airport?

The minutiae of some of my questions must be annoying to many, but I'm leaving in May, and I'm focused on the little things now .

It feels right to me to say goodbye to my family at home, as I want to walk out my front door and start my camino there and then. Having them accompany me to the airport just doesn't quite feel right. I will make my own way to the airport, and will make my own way back home from the airport when I return. Alone door-to-door is what feels right to me.

I certainly appreciate that this is a bit of a silly question, and perhaps not even something others would give a thought to. I also certainly appreciate that I'm overthinking things! I've been well aware of my over-thinking for the past couple years now. Just a few more months and I'll be able to stop asking such mundane borderline-ridiculous questions. But until then I'm a hopeless pilgrim-wannabe, and I've got questions. So many questions. And truly, this is the place to come for an empathetic ear.

You are funny and amusing. I have not read all your 'silly questions' as you called them, but I sure put myself in your shoes. My opinion is to just let your family know what feels right to you and if they are of a totally different opinion, maybe compromise and meet in the middle. When I left for my long 5 week camino, I let my hubby take me to the airport and drop me off there, not parking, just drop off. After watching the movie, The Way, I even told him that if I were to die, to think that I died doing what I love most, walking with Jesus! This was my second camino, so I know this is what I love doing the most! That being said, I tried to understand that perhaps he wanted to take me all the way to the gate, but we compromised. Yes, I'm horrible. but it worked for both of us, I think!

 

[JustJack]

You are funny and amusing. I have not read all your 'silly questions' as you called them, but I sure put myself in your shoes.

Oh believe me, there are some really silly ones I've asked in the past. Pure cringe. It's funny, but discussions about the camino, and sitting reading this site, causes me to lower my defences, and ask questions and say things I would never normally do. Rightly or wrongly, it feels like this preparation is an important part of my (first) camino. I know I'll look back and likely roll my eyes at some of my questions, but it is what it is .

 

[Thejonsez]

April '21, Our adult daughter works at a Starbucks on the way to the airport. She had told coworkers about us and our adventure, so we rode with her to her work and wearing back packs, etc, greeted everyone, got our beverages, said good-bye and headed to the bus stop. (We'd already gone over the dog and cat instructions at home. Leaving the pets was the hardest thing! )

 

[RJM]

I've walked it so many times and as most of the time I fly out as early as possible, all my goodbyes to family are at home as nobody even blinks anymore when I say I am walking another Camino . They know it's not like it's an overseas tour in a war zone or anything even remotely regarded as dangerous or hazardous (for the most part, you know what I mean obviously). So there's no worries or concerns.

 

[Sue127]

I guess I was lucky for my first Camino. No flights involved. Holiday in the Massif Central followed by a night on the camp site in SJPP and OH waved me off as I was led towards Orisson . Second time, driven to airport with grandson. I don't like prolonged goodbyes and would rather just go alone, but then I think it's only fair to accept the longer goodbye as I desert him for a few weeks.

 

[Martin-B]

I usually walk alone, so the illustrious OH drops me at the airport (40miles) , now this could be for many reasons?
1: She want's to make sure I've actually gone so she can relax in the knowledge the tv remote is in her control for the next few weeks/months.
2: She wants to make sure I've gone because she has a lover!
3: She wants to make sure I'm not taking any inappropriate company with me.
4: She has a peculiar fixation with the way Manchester airport extract monies for the simple task of dropping a loved one off.
5: She might just be fond of me and want's to show that by taking me to the airport.
It may be any combination or even all of the above but if I'm honest I'm glad she does...!

I'm planning to walk the Via Francigena early April so she'll be driving me to Canterbury, that a nearly 600 mile round trip but we'll have a couple of days in Canterbury before I set off. We're not joined at the hip and we enjoy our time apart but we also like to make the most of our time together so for us it's just what we do.

Everybody does what feels right for them, people are different so I/we make no judgement on other peoples solutions.

 

[CWBuff]

I'm less than 7 miles from my airport. I suppose that I could walk.

That's less than SdC Airport from the city proper
Definitely walkable

 

[trecile]

That's less than SdC Airport from the city proper
Definitely walkable

The problem is that flights from my small airport that will get me to SFO usually leave at 6 am or earlier!
Plus I bring a small suitcase to ship to Santiago for my before/after Camino travels.