Kiwi-family
{Rachael, the Mama of the family}
- Time of past OR future Camino
- walking every day for the rest of my life
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Funny Kiwifamily.I just spent half an hour looking through my photos from the Via de la Plata earlier this year. The few days in Seville were brilliant and amazing and I felt nostalgic. Then the day we started walking it started raining and did not stop for a week. By the time I got to the end of the week in photos, I was thinking fondly of some of the scenery we saw, but depressed at the wetness! It was actually horrible. A bad day on the camino is NOT better than being tucked up in bed with a good book! Not by day five of rain anyway. I am not in the least bit interested in returning!
And I am very grateful that our first few walks were not so hard or we would never have continued.
PS I'll be back;-)
I am shocked and dismayed, not to mention depressed!I am not in the least bit interested in returning!
In forty days we are sending our 14 year old to India for three months to tutor the children of a missionary family who are homeschooling.Funny Kiwifamily.
Where are you off to in 2017?
I just spent half an hour looking through my photos from the Via de la Plata earlier this year. The few days in Seville were brilliant and amazing and I felt nostalgic. Then the day we started walking it started raining and did not stop for a week. ... depressed at the wetness! It was actually horrible. A bad day on the camino is NOT better than being tucked up in bed with a good book! Not by day five of rain anyway. I am not in the least bit interested in returning!
And I am very grateful that our first few walks were not so hard or we would never have continued. PS I'll be back;-)
You are amazingly adventurous. And your son is following suit. Great walks in our city!Al the Optimist, you are so...well, optimistic! You are right - after the rain we hit the thirties. We spent the whole walk consciously not complaining about the rain or the heat!!! (Although it was disappointing to walk through the mountains of the Sanabres in pouring rain and only snatch glimpses of the splendor!)
In forty days we are sending our 14 year old to India for three months to tutor the children of a missionary family who are homeschooling.
When we booked his flights there were some Very Good Deals so hubby and I (and Grandpa) are going to meet him in Malaysia for a week on his return. (Hubby's mum was from there so we'll be visiting family and he lived half his childhood there - the other half across the ditch)
We have a walking goal to knock off every track in a book about our city!
Living in LA for decades turned out to be a good prep for walking the VDLP on a number of occasions during June and July. Very hot most days, no rain and no need for a jacket or a sleeping bag which helped with traveling light. Most days I started around 5 am, the sun was up by 9 and I was off the road by noon or 1pm. Washed hiking clothes daily. Clothes dried in an hour.Avoiding rain was the primary reason that I chose to walk August/September this year. I had a few days with rain, but not all day, and not too heavy. It was very hot in August when I started, but I quickly got used to the fact that I was going to be sweaty, and it made me appreciate that shower at the end of the day so much more.I also appreciated clear blue skies, allowing me to see the beautiful countryside I was walking through. And carrying my own shade in the form of a hands free umbrella made walking the Meseta in the heat much more tolerable.
However, I wouldn't walk the Via de la Plata in the summer. I do know my limits!
Decamp or wimp out?You walked in May I think? Hope it will be OK for us in April, a bit further north (Salamanca to SDC). If too horrible we'll decamp.
Luck plays a role in everything in life. I walked in May 2015, and every day was almost a heatwave! I was lucky, I suppose, and happy about it. There again, I have had (we all have) miserable wet, depressing vacations somewhere at some time or other. As the saying goes, "There is no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong clothes." I say, Never give up. Try again another time, and it can be as different as night and day.I just spent half an hour looking through my photos from the Via de la Plata earlier this year. The few days in Seville were brilliant and amazing and I felt nostalgic. Then the day we started walking it started raining and did not stop for a week. By the time I got to the end of the week in photos, I was thinking fondly of some of the scenery we saw, but depressed at the wetness! It was actually horrible. A bad day on the camino is NOT better than being tucked up in bed with a good book! Not by day five of rain anyway. I am not in the least bit interested in returning!
And I am very grateful that our first few walks were not so hard or we would never have continued.
PS I'll be back;-)
I LOVE it and whole heartedly agree! I could use a little reminder of that myself...realized today that i may need to wear my waterproof hiking boots and PANTS as well...I know that "the rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain" and that the weather in May can be unpredictable...my research has run the gamut....rain, snow, cold, hot...expect the unexpected but don't over pack...quite the challenge...my list changes daily. Well, at least everytime I try to hike up a mountain with a full pack anywaysI am just remembering one of my first great lessons on the Camino.
I recall walking in heavy rain for several days and discovering that it was not so bad, and I would survive. How great was that? Reconnecting with nature, getting real. It also intensified to the point of ecstasy the pleasure of warmth and being dry at the end of the day. Something that had become ho-hum and I normally take for granted.
I recall walking in heavy rain for several days and discovering that it was not so bad, and I would survive. How great was that? Reconnecting with nature, getting real. It also intensified to the point of ecstasy the pleasure of warmth and being dry at the end of the day. Something that had become ho-hum and I normally take for granted.
I suspect that is why you found the memories a bit depressing. You were not simply "enjoying" your own resilience-building adventure; you were feeling responsible for how your children felt. It is harder to be philosophical about discomfort or inconveniences when you are suffering both for yourself and others.I was just really surprised at the emotion evoked as I looked through our dreary photos! And having to detour because of a swollen river resulting in a 42km day in constant rain was truly hard for the youngest (10 years). She hobbled the last five kilometers into town, at one stage a big silent tear rolling down her cheek - but she refused my offer for me to walk on quickly and come back with a taxi! She complains about lesser things at home;-)
That's exactly it! Although the kids came eagerly and coped admirably, I wanted (I realize now) more pleasant experience for them, not so much "growth"! I wanted them to want to walk again, but they don't. It was not just the rain. There were more difficult people this time, they were somewhat alienated from others for the first two weeks because there were no Spanish or English speakers (only German, Polish and Italian), there were not the same close connections they'd had with one or two particular people on previous walks.....quite possibly the post-walk anti-camino sentiments they now have influence my emotions too.I suspect that is why you found the memories a bit depressing. You were not simply "enjoying" your own resilience-building adventure; you were feeling responsible for how your children felt. It is harder to be philosophical about discomfort or inconveniences when you are suffering both for yourself and others.
Socks make great gloves, esp. wool.I wanted to skip my gloves of my list on my first Camino Frances in May 17, ...back on the list
I walked 5May to 9June 2016 and had gorgeous weather. My friends who walked April 2016 got very wet/muddy.Y'all are marshing my mellow. I am starting my Camino the second week in May and I was letting all the talk of rain get to me.... So today I decided to walk about 4 miles out in a rain storm in 50 degrees and I am feeling somewhat better now.... It is a pilgrimage after all and it is about letting go of control and trusting...I am getting quite excited... My son was going but now he has bowed out gracefully... I am scared to go alone but encouraged by this forum!
How is walking the meseta in April? I'm thinking of starting in Burgos this time and had wanted a spring experience since my first Camino was autumn.
I recall walking in heavy rain for several days and discovering that it was not so bad, and I would survive. How great was that? Reconnecting with nature, getting real. It also intensified to the point of ecstasy the pleasure of warmth and being dry at the end of the day.
Day 8 on the Via Gebennensis was torrential rain all day. The kind of rain that pours down at a 45 degree angle and hits you right in the face no matter how you try to avoid it. There's no ducking in to doorways or waiting it out in a cafe, you must walk on. Clothes get wet right down to your underwear and boots fill up and overflow. Each step brings a sloshing, squishing rush of cold water between your toes. At several points you laugh out loud, really loud, almost a roaring against the storm...because there just is no alternative.your post highlights something that perhaps made our time difficult for us - some days there was no warmth at the end of the day, no hot shower and cold showers are miserable when you are already shivering....and putting wet clothes on again the next day never gets easier!
Kiwis, sorry to hear about the depression. Not sure when you walked, but I walked from last week of May until the first week of July, and only had two rainy mornings. There were about four rainy nights, but I didn't care about that because I was asleep.I just spent half an hour looking through my photos from the Via de la Plata earlier this year. The few days in Seville were brilliant and amazing and I felt nostalgic. Then the day we started walking it started raining and did not stop for a week. By the time I got to the end of the week in photos, I was thinking fondly of some of the scenery we saw, but depressed at the wetness! It was actually horrible. A bad day on the camino is NOT better than being tucked up in bed with a good book! Not by day five of rain anyway. I am not in the least bit interested in returning!
And I am very grateful that our first few walks were not so hard or we would never have continued.
PS I'll be back;-)
Ah the dreams we have for those old buildings!@kaixo your story is the kind of hallucination we had about Day 5-in-a-row of rain! By day 7 we had designed an awesome albergue;-)
Thanks for sharing the nice picturesI started on the first of February 2016, done the Astorga this time. It was great, I attach a link of a short Youtube slide show I made. Pour a glass of Spanish Wine and enjoy the Virtual journey.
Hi, I'm blocking out a few days planning for my upcoming Camino, would you have kept any contacts for the wonderful sounding place in Revel-Tourdan with Yves as your host. It sounds like just the place we would like to stay in.And then you finally arrive to Revel-Tourdan and Yves opens the door to the warmth of his ancient, stone, restored home .
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