For 2024 Pilgrims: €50,- donation = 1 year with no ads on the forum + 90% off any 2024 Guide. More here. (Discount code sent to you by Private Message after your donation) |
---|
I'll be walking my first Camino next spring and am wondering what people's thoughts are on being connected to home throughout the Camino. I'm leaning towards trying to limit my connections, but have definitely not made any decisions yet. One friend who recently walked recommended taking an iPod Touch for photos and for uploading pictures to Fbook etc. Any thoughts on your own experiences?
Thanks!
I'm well know for being joined at the hip to my 'two' Blackberry's! But vowed NOT to take anything on Camino! My wife took her phone as we had kids and family at home so couldn't be cut off 100% but found that being totally "Off Grid" was wonderfull! Take a camera to record those views, faces of new friends and experiences but tey being alone form Cyber-world!!!I'll be walking my first Camino next spring and am wondering what people's thoughts are on being connected to home throughout the Camino. I'm leaning towards trying to limit my connections, but have definitely not made any decisions yet. One friend who recently walked recommended taking an iPod Touch for photos and for uploading pictures to Fbook etc. Any thoughts on your own experiences?
Thanks!
Firmly in the camp of taking a phone (or smartphone), but using it only in ways that you feel will enhance your pilgrimage. As a safety device for self or to aid others, as @mspath rightly notes above, it's indispensable, even if left off the entire trip because nothing went bad.
If you use a Kindle or Audible instead of physical books (Bible, guidebook, phrasebook, personal reading, etc.), you'll save some weight and have the things you feel will enhance your pilgrimage. There are apps instead of carrying the breviary, if you have the desire or obligation to pray the Office. There are electronic guidebooks, including from our own @wisepilgrim on this forum that integrate with GPS on the smartphone. A good translation app and dictionary was killer for me when trying to communicate at albergues and hostals. MP3 library, camera, blog updates, transferring money, paying bills, etc. It's a long list of possible benefits, but the bottom line is always that we control the on/off switch, and we make the decisions on what to use, when to use it, and how much. Or not.
Based on the principle that "you do what you think is best"- it's your camino.
I have weighed up the options too and my decision is to go authentic - without anything - no camera, no phone, no iPod.
I'll be walking my first Camino next spring and am wondering what people's thoughts are on being connected to home throughout the Camino. I'm leaning towards trying to limit my connections, but have definitely not made any decisions yet. One friend who recently walked recommended taking an iPod Touch for photos and for uploading pictures to Fbook etc. Any thoughts on your own experiences?
Thanks!
I'll be walking my first Camino next spring and am wondering what people's thoughts are on being connected to home throughout the Camino. I'm leaning towards trying to limit my connections, but have definitely not made any decisions yet. One friend who recently walked recommended taking an iPod Touch for photos and for uploading pictures to Fbook etc. Any thoughts on your own experiences?
Thanks!
And carrying one roughspun wool tunic, one wool loincloth, possibly one wool cloak, one gourd for water, one pair leather sandals, one wooden staff, one leather satchel/scrip filled with fervor for the pilgrim's intentions. And nothing else except maybe some moldy bread and cheese.Go authentic? Really? So, you are walking from home?
when I walked into the bar area of San Martín Pinario, it was quite a shock -- every single person in that bar, more than 15, was engaged with their phones, not with another human being. It really was a change from the "vibe" I remembered from that area from several years earlier.
Speaking from experience Kanga, its just about ok, but then again its probably heavily overloaded. Most people I saw there were on skype telling their familys/friends they had arrived safely, and that the WIFI was not great, not realising that they were using up all the bandwith.Let us hope it was because the bar had the best/cheapest/only wifi in town so those who specifically wanted to use their smartphones went there.
saltwaterpearl-- I think that you are getting a bit worked out about nothing!I can't imagine disrupting the peace & flow of our pilgrimage with daily frantic searches for wi-fi in order to post pictures of my meals or chat with strangers or blog my every step.
saltwaterpearl-- I think that you are getting a bit worked out about nothing!The first time I did the Camino was in May 1997 (Leon to Santiago; rain, rain, rain!). Since then, I have walked the Camino every year since 2011 and I never (EVER!) saw anybody (not one!) person frantically looking for wi-fi so that they could post pics, etc...I didn't even seen people talking on cell phones. The issue is bringing means to stay connected or not; nowhere near an issue of disruption while on the trail.
BTW, a medieval pilgrim would have been horrified watching you walking your Camino in the year 2000. Did you sleep in a bed under a roof every night? Did you have at least one meal/day? Well, what a cushy Camino you walked!......according to a medieval pilgrim.
To answer the original poster, I would advise taking a phone at the very least. Personally, I would not dream of putting myself out of touch with my immediate family. I don't actually use my phone much for keeping in touch with friends so I don't get many, if any calls other than from my daughters and my partner. Because I kept in daily contact with my partner during my recent camino, he felt much more part of the experience and didn't miss me as much as he would otherwise have done. I think it is rather selfish to cut yourself off from those who love and worry about you. Most of us who have partners who stay at home whilst we walk are extremely lucky for the support they give us. I know my partner misses me terribly when I am away, but he has never, even for a moment, done anything but encourage me to follow my heart.
Moving on to other comments on this thread, I don't understand why people who don't have the desire to keep in touch, should wish to belittle or 'feel sorry' for those that do, by whatever means they choose. I started a blog to record my camino Frances last year. I expected my family and maybe a couple of friends to look at it occasionally, but the main reason for writing it was to have a record of my adventure. I have an appalling memory and knew that I would forget all sorts of details if I did not record them on a daily basis. As it happens, I was very surprised and absolutely delighted when I found that not only friends and family were following my progress but also many other people from all over the world were reading and commenting on the blog, giving me encouragement. In turn I have also been told that the blog has inspired people to consider the camino for themselves.
This year I have walked the camino Portuguese, from Lisbon. The stretch from Lisbon to Porto is not very well documented by bloggers, and the majority of those I did find were rather negative and didn't include much useful information. So I have tried hard this year to give details of where I have stayed, what the ambience of the hostels was like, how stages can be split up to be more manageable, and document by words and photos what sort of countryside I have passed through, what the road surfaces are like, how scary it is to walk on and cross some of the roads. It is not at all like a travel guide, just a personal experience of my walk, the amazing and lovely people that I met, and, yes, even a few shots of very good meals I ate along the way.
During my 27 days walking the Portuguese route I received an incredible 26,000 views on the blog, with the most wonderful comments from people from all over the world and close to home, I feel I have a whole new bunch of friends, although I will never meet most of them.
Blogging is a discipline, it is an effort to write an interesting account of your day and upload photos to accompany your story, after walking 30+ km's in the pouring rain, or the blistering sun. I still maintain that I have written it for myself, but if anyone else finds it useful then that pleases me more than I can say. I think I have written a useful personal view of a camino where personal views are few and far between. I admit that I have spent many hours sitting in bars, drinking wine and enjoying tapas whilst I write and upload my blog. But, hey, I am a woman, I can multi-task, I can communicate with others whilst getting on with the job, and even had assistance from one charming Portuguese 6 year old girl who pressed the button for every photo upload one evening.
I don't need anyone to feel sorry for me for choosing to write an informative blog and for allowing my family to contact me if they want to hear my voice. I love them - I don't want to shut them out. I am already experiencing a huge change to my normal daily life by embarking upon a such an amazing adventure and don't feel the need to cut myself off. Technology is here for us all to use if we wish, or not if we don't. Why is it necessary for people to put others down because they make different choices that do not impact negatively on others.
To each their own - and long may it last!
I would just encourage anyone, before heading out on pilgrimage, to examine their expectations of pilgrimage and their motivations (and perhaps fears?) attached to the technology and technology habits they carry with them.
I have done that. After thirteen compostelas, I still take my iPhone and look for computers.
Haven’t walked yet, hopefully next year. My partner has heart issues so may not be able to walk as far as I can. I said to him the other day he should start learning some Spanish. Mine is ok, but he’s always relied on me, when we’ve been in Spain previously. I should thing coverage is ok, but things happen, phones go flat. My plan would be if we get separated is to meet at the first bar at the town we’re aiming for, backup will be the first bar to the right of the cathedral/main church in the main square. I’ve used this approach before in the old days when we travelled without phones lolMy husband and I will be walking the Camino this fall. I expect we will mostly walk together but there may be times we want to walk separately for whatever reason. We are wondering what strategies other pilgrims have used for staying in touch. Text if you’re going to stop to visit something and will be late meeting up? Planning on waiting 15 minutes and then moving on if the other person doesn’t show Up? Just plan on meeting at the designated stop for the night? At what point do you worry? How good is the cell service on the Camino?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?