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You cannot avoid comparing. It will go away (mostly). Special places often are special because of people, weather, and your physical state. They all change, so special places won't be so special except in your mind. You know this, so you are as prepared as you can be. One advantage: you can skip the places you REALLY did not like. I swear every time that I won't walk down from the Iron Cross, but still get lured into it. I will have the choice again next time; I'll see what I do!!!
My worries, precisely, so I'll follow up the answers and advise your thread is getting. Please also give us your report after completion of your 2nd. Buen CaminoI walked the Camino Frances from St Jean in May/June 2012, and recently confirmed my flights for doing so again in July/August of this year.
I'll be flying into Biarritz on July 2, staying at Auberge du Pelerin in St Jean that night, starting my walk the next day, stopping at Orisson overnight before reaching Roncesvalles, and then letting the path take me where it will.
I wouldn't say that I feel anxious about the prospect of the walk, I've done it before, after all. But if I feel any anxiety at all, it relates directly to that very fact. I know it will be a mistake if I undertake the walk constantly in comparison mode, since so much of what makes the Camino so special is the people you meet along the way. I have many fond memories of moments and nights spent with the many wonderful people I met first time around, but I'm aware that it would be unwise to tell myself that I must stop in town X for the night because I had such a good time there in 2012. Generally speaking, after the first few days, my working plan is to try to stop at different albergues and/or different towns wherever feasible, so as to avoid the possible "curse of comparisons".
It seems to me that the tendency to compare is an occupational hazard with walking the Frances (or any other route) a second time, but I don't want to find myself spending too much time in 2014 thinking about 2012, as that would certainly defeat one of the purposes of the Camino - constantly being present in the moment and aware of your surroundings.
I know that walking the same path a second time will take away that sense of newness attached to the first experience, and that's unavoidable to a certain extent, though perhaps all it will take to make things seem new is slightly different weather and perhaps foliage appearing differently in high summer as opposed to early summer.
All in all, I'm sure I'll have another amazing experience, but I'm curious as to what advice long-time walkers would offer to avoid the tendency to compare one walking experience with another and if there are any common potential pitfalls associated with walking the same Camino a second time, and if so how to look to circumvent/pre-empt them?
Thanks in advance!
My worries, precisely, so I'll follow up the answers and advise your thread is getting. Please also give us your report after completion of your 2nd. Buen Camino
No - not 'back' in St Jean - there for the first time!!! Beginner's Mind!Will do! Won't be long now - 36 days until I'm back in St Jean!
No - not 'back' in St Jean - there for the first time!!! Beginner's Mind!
I found that I did remember the trail ahead and knew what was coming most of the time. Not always a good thing..
I also do not use any transportation (so far) and just try not to think too much about upcoming stretches that I remember as less than ideal.
Have you considered walking a different route? There are so many trails going to Santiago. I've been Camino-ing for 13 years and never done the same one twice - for the very reasons you describe! You still have time to change your reservations, or you could start as you've planned from St Jean through Roncescalles and then take the detour up to the Norte. The great advantage, as you're travelling in July, is that the Norte is a little cooler and very handy for a dip in the ocean
Yes it definitely is a place where you need plenty of water! This year it was quite hot as we walked it in May, but I would rather have it like that than last year where it was a sea of mud and taxing to say the least!. BTW Ages is after St Juan. It is a quite little village with a lovely bar/shop playing jazz.So true. Just reading that post made me flashback to the 10km or so of forest-type terrain between Villafranca and San Juan de Ortega. I had started from Ages (I think) that morning, and by the time I reached Villafranca was slightly low on water. I mistakenly thought there would be a couple of fuente opportunities between there and San Juan, and so did not top up my cannister before heading into the woods. What followed was a very difficult few hours that felt like a lot longer. I was down to the dregs of my water very early on, and so had to ration it so carefully as to barely drink any at all (you know the old truism, never drink your last drop!), and did not see another living soul until I reached San Juan.
This time around I'll make sure I'm at maximum on the water front moving on from Villafranca!
Carol,My biggest worry is that when I return next year I will be walking with my husband. I have to get my head around the fact that I will have more than just me to think about. It will be very different Camino.
Terry said that his 2nd Camino (with me) was very different, as he was expecting it to be. We put some of our 2011 post Camino thoughts etc here 'Walking with a Companion' and many others have added very helpful posts. It was meant specifically for folk walking with a spouse or very close long term friend rather than finding a 'Camino family' companion.My biggest worry is that when I return next year I will be walking with my husband. I have to get my head around the fact that I will have more than just me to think about. It will be very different Camino.
So am I, same thoughts..... Will he walk faster than me, do we have to talk, could he carry my poncho etc.? He is starting four weeks before me so when we meet up hopefully he will either be tired or built up reserves so he can carry my backpack!!My biggest worry is that when I return next year I will be walking with my husband. I have to get my head around the fact that I will have more than just me to think about. It will be very different Camino.
Yes it definitely is a place where you need plenty of water! This year it was quite hot as we walked it in May, but I would rather have it like that than last year where it was a sea of mud and taxing to say the least!. BTW Ages is after St Juan. It is a quite little village with a lovely bar/shop playing jazz.
LOL. I stayed there last year at the large albergue as you enter the town. There was an awful thunderstorm that lasted all evening and some of the night. As there was nothing to do another forum member (Erica) and I may well have had the same problem as you - an evening sharing some wine?Yes, I had a feeling I was a bit off with the Ages reference. The night before the haul through the forest was actually spent in Belorado. It's odd I would get that wrong, given that the Belorado night was one of my best (and longest!). That came back to haunt me a little bit after Villafranca!
LOL. I stayed there last year at the large albergue as you enter the town. There was an awful thunderstorm that lasted all evening and some of the night. As there was nothing to do another forum member (Erica) and I may well have had the same problem as you - an evening sharing some wine?
Hi Mark - know how you feel but don't worry. My husband and I have done the Frances Camino 2 and 1/2 times 2009 2011 and 2012. 2009 was a disaster, both of us got ill with flu and had to go home to South Africa after 1 week. So we went again and again. The 2011 was unbelievable, 2012 Camino was magical as we met up with pilgrims we had met in 2011 along the way just before Itero d la Vega. Then, in the church at O'Cebreiro, an Australian pilgim called out my name absolutely incredulous. Each Camino is so different. Evan if you have walked the same route three times, it is always different. Sometimes harder, sometimes easier. Its such a long way from St Jean that you really don't know what is around the corner and that is what makes us come back and even do the same route.I walked the Camino Frances from St Jean in May/June 2012, and recently confirmed my flights for doing so again in July/August of this year.
I'll be flying into Biarritz on July 2, staying at Auberge du Pelerin in St Jean that night, starting my walk the next day, stopping at Orisson overnight before reaching Roncesvalles, and then letting the path take me where it will.
I wouldn't say that I feel anxious about the prospect of the walk, I've done it before, after all. But if I feel any anxiety at all, it relates directly to that very fact. I know it will be a mistake if I undertake the walk constantly in comparison mode, since so much of what makes the Camino so special is the people you meet along the way. I have many fond memories of moments and nights spent with the many wonderful people I met first time around, but I'm aware that it would be unwise to tell myself that I must stop in town X for the night because I had such a good time there in 2012. Generally speaking, after the first few days, my working plan is to try to stop at different albergues and/or different towns wherever feasible, so as to avoid the possible "curse of comparisons".
It seems to me that the tendency to compare is an occupational hazard with walking the Frances (or any other route) a second time, but I don't want to find myself spending too much time in 2014 thinking about 2012, as that would certainly defeat one of the purposes of the Camino - constantly being present in the moment and aware of your surroundings.
I know that walking the same path a second time will take away that sense of newness attached to the first experience, and that's unavoidable to a certain extent, though perhaps all it will take to make things seem new is slightly different weather and perhaps foliage appearing differently in high summer as opposed to early summer.
All in all, I'm sure I'll have another amazing experience, but I'm curious as to what advice long-time walkers would offer to avoid the tendency to compare one walking experience with another and if there are any common potential pitfalls associated with walking the same Camino a second time, and if so how to look to circumvent/pre-empt them?
Thanks in advance!
We are going in 2015. April is our month and Camino Frances is the route. Again - God willing.Hi Mark - know how you feel but don't worry. My husband and I have done the Frances Camino 2 and 1/2 times 2009 2011 and 2012. 2009 was a disaster, both of us got ill with flu and had to go home to South Africa after 1 week. So we went again and again. The 2011 was unbelievable, 2012 Camino was magical as we met up with pilgrims we had met in 2011 along the way just before Itero d la Vega. Then, in the church at O'Cebreiro, an Australian pilgim called out my name absolutely incredulous. Each Camino is so different. Evan if you have walked the same route three times, it is always different. Sometimes harder, sometimes easier. Its such a long way from St Jean that you really don't know what is around the corner and that is what makes us come back and even do the same route.
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