I've just completed the Camino Mozarabe from Almeria. My first Camino was the Camino Frances from SJPDP in October 2021.
I don't have a trip report as such. I know people who trip on mushrooms are advised to have no expectations, but secretly they want something to change in their life. Well, such has been my trip, without the psychedelic effects.
I sold my home in Ireland as frankly I wasn't happy living there. Not saying I won't return to Ireland, but I didn't like the house. I had decided several times over the year to sell. I left a horrible job and travelled, and upon returning decided I would clean the house, rent a skip for junk, and then sell the house. Well, a month went by of staying in bed til 5pm until I finally rang the estate agent, lighting a fire under myself to get things moving. I started a temp job during this time, and when i had the moving date i put stuff in storage, gave the job notice, and booked a flight to Almeria to begin the Camino Mozarabe.
I left Almeria on 20/1/2024 and walked to Merida, spending an extra day each in Granada and Cordoba. The scenery was beautiful and temps remained below 22 degrees. Cold or icy temps didn't materialise as it was unseasonably warm. I met a handful of other pilgrims but it was rare. The only bad weather was rain on leaving Cordoba which caused floods.
Merida to Salamanca was the next plan, with the Mozarabe joining the VDLP at Merida. While in Merida I signed up for a 3 week Spanish course in Salamanca. These stages were longer - some could be split, but i followed Gronze and figured a few long days wouldn't hurt. One long stage was made longer as gronze ended a stage on an albergue that was shut.
Unfortunately, my old manager from the temp job reached out to offer me 2 month's work if I could access a laptop. I told him I would be available to put in a few hours in Salamanca and then could keep on top of things until his new hire started.
VDLP was much busier so i started meeting more pilgrims. Also some of the stages were somewhat set, so you could meet the same person a few days in a row. Most people I met were secretly hoping to shake off a pilgrim they clashed with, given the opportunity walking longer or shorter days and hoping the person wouldn't be there at the day's end. With salamanca approaching, having other voices in the evening, and the plans of work and study, My mind got busier, and i was distracting myself with my phone, or often ruminating or overthinking, sometimes electing to listen to a podcast or guided meditation to calm it a little. The weather was quite dull, with overcast days and cold mornings.
I arrived in Salamanca and my camino was now on hold. The weather was awful, with sleet the first weekend although it improved in week 2 and 3. The Spanish course was ok, although an excellent lecturer for the main subject (spanish language) was replaced by someone less experienced, terrible at creating lesson plans, and seemed to have ADHD.
My old manager let me down with his promise of work. Until the last minute he was promising to finalise things, and i planned to stay on in salamanca an extra week to do a catch-up on the work. He didn't even have the manners to phone me so at the end of the week i text him to say I was sending my laptop onward "first thing in the morning". I won't say it was a setback, but it was disappointing.
I resumed the Camino from Salamanca after Palm Sunday. Generally my evenings were spent with people and I had more pilgrim menu's than previously. I still walked alone most days by my mind was busier. I probably did beat myself up a bit for not being present, or using my phone, or looking at the map or distance remaining, etc. Small groups (camino families) had formed and a few times i slowed down or sped up to get away from seeing the same people every evening. The weather was pretty dull and wet many days. I took the Verin variant of the Sanabres and had a few nice, quite days.
The weather improved, and arriving in Ourense the forecast was 32 degrees by 3pm for a few days. I spent a couple of days here, plus one extra because i slept in and didn't want to walk in the afternoon heat. The next few albergues were busier, with larger groups walking the final 100km or 200km together. As much as I tried to avoid "camino families" i really don't like the dynamic of groups of 4-10 people walking together. They tend to be cliquey, and inconsiderate at times (staying up late, or waking up earlier and chatting in the dorm). Well, to prolong my camino i did shorter stages the last few days knowing it would all end soon.
And so it has. I arrived to Santiago 2 days ago.
As for my experience and can any learnings be integrated into my life.. I don't know. A lot of times I felt anxious. A lot of times I ended up having imaginary arguments with someone or another from my past. Some days i drank too much. Some days I regretted an interaction with someone. I didn't speak Spanish enough. I wasn't present enough or didn't meditate enough. I spent too much money. And flicking through my journal (that i filled in sporadically) I see some points I wrote down and immediately forgot about.
Seneca - “They make one journey after another and change spectacle for spectacle. As Lucretius says, 'Thus each man ever flees himself.' But to what end, if he does not escape himself? He pursues and dogs himself as his own most tedious companion. And so we must realize that our difficulty is not the fault of the places but of ourselves."
But, my point of doing a long camino was exactly to confront some of these feelings. I had time to reflect on interactions with people - both in the past, and as they occurred.
I don't think I nailed anything down. I had a good bit of space to consider my parents and siblings and my relationship with them. I also became more relaxed about waiting without feeling indignant about bad service or rude staff (and in fairness, most experiences were fine). And, generally albergues were modern and spacious and not overcrowded, but for the most part i was able to sleep well using ear plugs and an eye mask which surprised me. Some of what I jotted down made so much sense that it even allowed me to stop thinking about it for a while, at least until the next time I was tired or irritable and my brain found a different angle to drag up an old topic. But yea, another Camino in the bag. I have no immediate plans for anything right now, other than to spend a few weeks doing a self-directed online course that I paid quite a bit to do and will expire this year if I don't start and finish it.
I don't have a trip report as such. I know people who trip on mushrooms are advised to have no expectations, but secretly they want something to change in their life. Well, such has been my trip, without the psychedelic effects.
I sold my home in Ireland as frankly I wasn't happy living there. Not saying I won't return to Ireland, but I didn't like the house. I had decided several times over the year to sell. I left a horrible job and travelled, and upon returning decided I would clean the house, rent a skip for junk, and then sell the house. Well, a month went by of staying in bed til 5pm until I finally rang the estate agent, lighting a fire under myself to get things moving. I started a temp job during this time, and when i had the moving date i put stuff in storage, gave the job notice, and booked a flight to Almeria to begin the Camino Mozarabe.
I left Almeria on 20/1/2024 and walked to Merida, spending an extra day each in Granada and Cordoba. The scenery was beautiful and temps remained below 22 degrees. Cold or icy temps didn't materialise as it was unseasonably warm. I met a handful of other pilgrims but it was rare. The only bad weather was rain on leaving Cordoba which caused floods.
Merida to Salamanca was the next plan, with the Mozarabe joining the VDLP at Merida. While in Merida I signed up for a 3 week Spanish course in Salamanca. These stages were longer - some could be split, but i followed Gronze and figured a few long days wouldn't hurt. One long stage was made longer as gronze ended a stage on an albergue that was shut.
Unfortunately, my old manager from the temp job reached out to offer me 2 month's work if I could access a laptop. I told him I would be available to put in a few hours in Salamanca and then could keep on top of things until his new hire started.
VDLP was much busier so i started meeting more pilgrims. Also some of the stages were somewhat set, so you could meet the same person a few days in a row. Most people I met were secretly hoping to shake off a pilgrim they clashed with, given the opportunity walking longer or shorter days and hoping the person wouldn't be there at the day's end. With salamanca approaching, having other voices in the evening, and the plans of work and study, My mind got busier, and i was distracting myself with my phone, or often ruminating or overthinking, sometimes electing to listen to a podcast or guided meditation to calm it a little. The weather was quite dull, with overcast days and cold mornings.
I arrived in Salamanca and my camino was now on hold. The weather was awful, with sleet the first weekend although it improved in week 2 and 3. The Spanish course was ok, although an excellent lecturer for the main subject (spanish language) was replaced by someone less experienced, terrible at creating lesson plans, and seemed to have ADHD.
My old manager let me down with his promise of work. Until the last minute he was promising to finalise things, and i planned to stay on in salamanca an extra week to do a catch-up on the work. He didn't even have the manners to phone me so at the end of the week i text him to say I was sending my laptop onward "first thing in the morning". I won't say it was a setback, but it was disappointing.
I resumed the Camino from Salamanca after Palm Sunday. Generally my evenings were spent with people and I had more pilgrim menu's than previously. I still walked alone most days by my mind was busier. I probably did beat myself up a bit for not being present, or using my phone, or looking at the map or distance remaining, etc. Small groups (camino families) had formed and a few times i slowed down or sped up to get away from seeing the same people every evening. The weather was pretty dull and wet many days. I took the Verin variant of the Sanabres and had a few nice, quite days.
The weather improved, and arriving in Ourense the forecast was 32 degrees by 3pm for a few days. I spent a couple of days here, plus one extra because i slept in and didn't want to walk in the afternoon heat. The next few albergues were busier, with larger groups walking the final 100km or 200km together. As much as I tried to avoid "camino families" i really don't like the dynamic of groups of 4-10 people walking together. They tend to be cliquey, and inconsiderate at times (staying up late, or waking up earlier and chatting in the dorm). Well, to prolong my camino i did shorter stages the last few days knowing it would all end soon.
And so it has. I arrived to Santiago 2 days ago.
As for my experience and can any learnings be integrated into my life.. I don't know. A lot of times I felt anxious. A lot of times I ended up having imaginary arguments with someone or another from my past. Some days i drank too much. Some days I regretted an interaction with someone. I didn't speak Spanish enough. I wasn't present enough or didn't meditate enough. I spent too much money. And flicking through my journal (that i filled in sporadically) I see some points I wrote down and immediately forgot about.
Seneca - “They make one journey after another and change spectacle for spectacle. As Lucretius says, 'Thus each man ever flees himself.' But to what end, if he does not escape himself? He pursues and dogs himself as his own most tedious companion. And so we must realize that our difficulty is not the fault of the places but of ourselves."
But, my point of doing a long camino was exactly to confront some of these feelings. I had time to reflect on interactions with people - both in the past, and as they occurred.
I don't think I nailed anything down. I had a good bit of space to consider my parents and siblings and my relationship with them. I also became more relaxed about waiting without feeling indignant about bad service or rude staff (and in fairness, most experiences were fine). And, generally albergues were modern and spacious and not overcrowded, but for the most part i was able to sleep well using ear plugs and an eye mask which surprised me. Some of what I jotted down made so much sense that it even allowed me to stop thinking about it for a while, at least until the next time I was tired or irritable and my brain found a different angle to drag up an old topic. But yea, another Camino in the bag. I have no immediate plans for anything right now, other than to spend a few weeks doing a self-directed online course that I paid quite a bit to do and will expire this year if I don't start and finish it.
