Walking again, alone this time?

[sonas]

Hi, I walked the Camino Frances last year with my then boyfriend. It was always my 'thing' and something I really wanted to do. He just came along because he wanted to spend time with me. It was a great experience but we mostly spent time by ourselves and didn't really make the effort to talk too much with other pilgrims. We've since split up at the beginning of this year and when I look back I feel that my memories of the Camino are somewhat tainted by the fact that we are no longer together and because I feel I didn't make the most of it. I'm thinking about going back this summer and doing even part of it again. I'm just wondering if it's a bad idea as there'll be so many memories of times/places we were together, or if it will be a good experience where I make my own memories of the Camino, especially as it has been something I wanted to do for years. Can anyone give an opinion please??

 

[mspath]

Many of us veteran pilgrims do walk again and again as our lives continue.

"The end of one journey is simply the start of another. You have to see what you missed the first time, see again what you already saw, see in springtime what you saw in summer, in daylight what you saw at night, see the sun shining where you saw the rain falling, see crops growing, the fruit ripen, the stone which has moved, the shadow that was not there before. You have to go back to the footsteps already taken, to go over them again or add fresh ones alongside them. You have to start the journey anew. Always"
Jose Saramago, A Journey to Portugal

 

[wayfarer]

Walk it again. Its a new Camino, new people, new friends, new experiences.
Buen Camino

 

[PANO]

Hi, I walked the Camino Frances last year with my then boyfriend. It was always my 'thing' and something I really wanted to do. He just came along because he wanted to spend time with me. It was a great experience but we mostly spent time by ourselves and didn't really make the effort to talk too much with other pilgrims. We've since split up at the beginning of this year and when I look back I feel that my memories of the Camino are somewhat tainted by the fact that we are no longer together and because I feel I didn't make the most of it. I'm thinking about going back this summer and doing even part of it again. I'm just wondering if it's a bad idea as there'll be so many memories of times/places we were together, or if it will be a good experience where I make my own memories of the Camino, especially as it has been something I wanted to do for years. Can anyone give an opinion please??

Hi Sonas
I for one had great problems with déjà-vu experienced on my second (abandoned-) attempt, but it seems to work well for so many. In your case, the repeat will be burdened by your memories of (obviously happier) times spent. My opinion? Do a Camino by all means but choose another route. (Or mix the CF with a variant). That way, it will be the fresh experience you're looking for.
Whatever you decide, have a really buen camino.

 

[Peter Fransiscus]

Hi, I walked the Camino Frances last year with my then boyfriend. It was always my 'thing' and something I really wanted to do. He just came along because he wanted to spend time with me. It was a great experience but we mostly spent time by ourselves and didn't really make the effort to talk too much with other pilgrims. We've since split up at the beginning of this year and when I look back I feel that my memories of the Camino are somewhat tainted by the fact that we are no longer together and because I feel I didn't make the most of it. I'm thinking about going back this summer and doing even part of it again. I'm just wondering if it's a bad idea as there'll be so many memories of times/places we were together, or if it will be a good experience where I make my own memories of the Camino, especially as it has been something I wanted to do for years. Can anyone give an opinion please??

Hy , walk this Camino thinking as it your first. Make new friends and experience it again. Have a great time and a Buen Camino, Peter.

 

[Chacharm]

You can't step in the same river twice. It will be familiar enough that you're comfortable and new/different enough that you're not thinking of the X the whole time. Maybe it would help if you tried not to think of the Camino as one thing. It is a series of things - days and sights and people. The peregrinos you meet, the albuergues you choose, the route you take - each choice, each new person met, each new bed you sleep in will alter the atmosphere and the experience. Just go and reclaim it and take it on its own merit!

 

[Former member 42123]

The Camino brings different things to each of us.As you say it was always "your thing" to walk the Camino,then it may be your destiny to return aand walk it alone to find what it has in store for you.I hope you decide to go,and I wish you God Speed and Buen Camino.

 

[dougfitz]

I feel I didn't make the most of it

Do you also think that you will make more of it if you did it again? That would be a wonderful thing for you, and a pretty good reason to walk again.

Whether or not your experience will be clouded by memories of your previous camino is impossible to tell. Your attitude will play a large part in that. I doubt that you will be able to completely avoid recalling that time, but how you choose to deal with that is entirely up to you.