Unplugged vs. fully plugged in

[jo webber]

Hubby just made sure he can use his tablet, which he is taking, to get to his laptop and main computer at home. He has told clients he will be available, it's only Spain so no problem. He is all set up with phone, data etc.

I will have my phone off unless I really need to do something. And I will have an EU chip so we can make reservations if needed. Two people will have my number if there is an emergency.

We are walking different Caminos.

 

[markmcilroy]

....last year I took my tablet, never turned it on as I could do everything on my phone. I'm leaving it at home this time. As long as hubby carries it let him take what he wants Jo!

 

[november_moon]

I preferred the middle-road - I had my phone with me and checked FB occasionally, posted pictures, called albergues for reservations, talked to a couple people at home occasionally, kept track of friends who were also on the Camino - but NO work at all. None. Zip

 

[Kitsambler]

Since taking care of his clients might be the way your Camino is funded, it's a good thing that you're able to take a different approach for yourself. You might look for some ways to deepen that experience - activities you can do while he is working with clients - say journaling or somesuch.

 

[Deleted member 67338]

....last year I took my tablet, never turned it on as I could do everything on my phone. I'm leaving it at home this time. As long as hubby carries it let him take what he wants Jo!

You stole my reply lol

 

[markmcilroy]

What is the obvious question no one is asking?

...why is Jo taking her husband at all?...is that the question Jesper?

 

[Isca-camigo]

....why are they doing their Camino's together?...

That was my first question when reading the OP. Good luck I hope you both find a way to meet between your two aspirations.

 

[GPeachy]

Sounds like you are both set up for your different Caminos. I think that it is wonderful that you are doing it together. I used a table. With Skype and earbuds, I also used it as a phone. I checked in with my husband every night via FaceTime to tell him about my daily adventures. I also posted a short note and some pictures on FB every day. That allowed my friends and family to follow along with me, and now that I've been home for over a year, I have a digital diary of the whole experience.

 

[hel&scott]

I'm old enough to still think postcards are a convenient and timely way to communicate... Though it is getting harder to find stamps. Since I threw away my cell phone when we moved to the nut farm nothing could make me go back to one. Always found being off grid on the Camino to be one of its joys.

 

[oursonpolaire]

I'm old enough to still think postcards are a convenient and timely way to communicate... Though it is getting harder to find stamps. Since I threw away my cell phone when we moved to the nut farm nothing could make me go back to one. Always found being off grid on the Camino to be one of its joys.

One of the secrets of Spain is that stamps can be easily found at tobacco shops where, coincidentally, postcards can often be obtained.

 

[hel&scott]

One of the secrets of Spain is that stamps can be easily found at tobacco shops where, coincidentally, postcards can often be obtained.

True, but they usually stock only the ones for sending to Europe, not to the end of the earth (NZ).

 

[John Sikora]

Let's not be too critical of the guy and his laptop. I worked in an industry for most of my career that really required 24/7 and vacations were considered only slight down time. That's not fun but it paid the bills. That said, when I walked my Camino (after I retired), I found that everything else (other than my feet and stomach) became less and less important as the days went on. The Camino will work it's magic if you let it.

 

[alexwalker]

True, but they usually stock only the ones for sending to Europe, not to the end of the earth (NZ).

You know someone in Finisterre to send postcards to?

 

[Lurch]

I'm old enough to still think postcards are a convenient and timely way to communicate... Though it is getting harder to find stamps. Since I threw away my cell phone when we moved to the nut farm nothing could make me go back to one. Always found being off grid on the Camino to be one of its joys.

You moved to the nut farm?? Maybe you want to amplify this a bit before we assume you are an escapee from the psych ward!!!

 

[cher99840]

Hubby just made sure he can use his tablet, which he is taking, to get to his laptop and main computer at home. He has told clients he will be available, it's only Spain so no problem. He is all set up with phone, data etc.

I will have my phone off unless I really need to do something. And I will have an EU chip so we can make reservations if needed. Two people will have my number if there is an emergency.

We are walking different Caminos.

Sharing a beautiful journey while being true to thyself without imposing one's will on the other. Sounds like the same Camino to me.

 

[Susana Julia]

Hubby just made sure he can use his tablet, which he is taking, to get to his laptop and main computer at home. He has told clients he will be available, it's only Spain so no problem. He is all set up with phone, data etc.

I will have my phone off unless I really need to do something. And I will have an EU chip so we can make reservations if needed. Two people will have my number if there is an emergency.

We are walking different Caminos.

I walked with my husband, who stayed connected, and I was more unplugged. We did walk different caminos, but we each got what we needed from it. I suspect we will do it again, and be more united when he is ready to let go and listen more to what God has to say through the beauty, the slowness, the pain, the friends we make, the songs, the churches each step of the way. Enjoy your camino.

 

[oursonpolaire]

True, but they usually stock only the ones for sending to Europe, not to the end of the earth (NZ).

That's not my experience-- I am usually buying stamps for Canada. There is often shock that I want more than one or two, and I have caused a great deal of discussion when buying ten at a time. They are so unused to this that I had a post office (I think in Lugo, where they have great lion-heads for the letter boxes) employee swearing up and down that they made no stamps for Canada, and one of her colleagues, hearing this, intervened and pointed out to her that they had a rack of packages of international stamps. They had quite a showdown over this, to the entertainment if not the edification of all. In small villages, the estanco-lady would carefully look up the price and assemble little packages of lesser stamps for me to make up the rate. I like to think the postcard recipients enjoyed all of the stamps.

 

[mvanert]

Hubby just made sure he can use his tablet, which he is taking, to get to his laptop and main computer at home. He has told clients he will be available, it's only Spain so no problem. He is all set up with phone, data etc.

I will have my phone off unless I really need to do something. And I will have an EU chip so we can make reservations if needed. Two people will have my number if there is an emergency.

We are walking different Caminos.

I did that last year, took my Surface tablet and did just 2 or 3 pre-scheduled work items per week lasting no more than two hours after a day of walking. Ran into a few wi-fi issues but for the most part it worked especially since there is an 8 hour time difference here on the west coast of Canada and Spain. And it did help pay my way. I'll be doing the same thing next year.

Good luck!

 

[AlwynWellington]

You know someone in Finisterre to send postcards to?

Yeah, funny ha ha.

Some time next month I expect to be walking within 100 km my antipodes.

We have an expression here, in relation to troops going into battle in European countries many years ago: "to the uttermost ends of the earth".

On the other hand, @alexwalker , if you have walked from your home to Fisterra in Galicia then you could claim to have gone to the ends of the European world, beyond which be dragons.

Ki kaha (take care, be strong)

 

[hel&scott]

You know someone in Finisterre to send postcards to?

If you look at most maps you will find little old NZ at the very edge of the world about to fall off, that's if they have managed to include it at all!

There is a great old photo called the geography lesson, in which a tall man with a cane stands in front of a map pointing it to the far bottom edge to show the group of rag tagged locals their place in the world. If you stand at Cape Reinga and look out across the vast ocean that seperate us from the rest of the world its every bit as earry and contemplative as Finisterre....

Tablets, cellphones and laptops may have shrunk the world and provide us with instant connections, but sometimes it's worth remembering how large the world is and move at a apace we were designed to. I think that's why so many of us enjoy walking the Camino.

 

[hel&scott]

You moved to the nut farm?? Maybe you want to amplify this a bit before we assume you are an escapee from the psych ward!!!

Yeah, both are probably true. It's very hard to be taken seriously when you list your occupation as a nut farmer, when I am feeling posh I say I own a walnut orchard. Scott loved to fill his departure card with "swine herd" now that did raise a few eyebrows.

 

[Richmond Gardner]

I'm old enough to still think postcards are a convenient and timely way to communicate... Though it is getting harder to find stamps. Since I threw away my cell phone when we moved to the nut farm nothing could make me go back to one. Always found being off grid on the Camino to be one of its joys.

I love that you threw away your cell phone and move to a nut Farm. But perhaps the husband will grow less interested in this technology as he walks. I had a book with me and simply left behind after a while because my mind was on other things. And, maybe this is the only way both of them can go on the walk. So we can leave room for them to discover whatever they will, perhaps a place in the middle

 

[Addicted]

Starting Norte tomorrow, taking one phone between my wife and I. Limited contact with family back in Canada but emergencies do happen. Rarely used for reservations as we tend to " hope for the best " and it seems to work out well.

Buen Camino

 

[carriecohill]

I'm old enough to still think postcards are a convenient and timely way to communicate...

Dear hel&scott:
One of my favorite memoirs of the Camino de Santiago is Grandma's on the Camino: Reflections on a 48-Day Walking Pilgrimage to Santiago by Mary O. Wyman.
"Grandma" begins each day's entry with the postcard she wrote and mailed home to her then 5-year old granddaughter. I love this idea!

 

[hel&scott]

Dear hel&scott:
One of my favorite memoirs of the Camino de Santiago is Grandma's on the Camino: Reflections on a 48-Day Walking Pilgrimage to Santiago by Mary O. Wyman.
"Grandma" begins each day's entry with the postcard she wrote and mailed home to her then 5-year old granddaughter. I love this idea!

I bet her ganddaughter ran to the mail box every day to collect them!