Maeve Gallagher
New Member
- Time of past OR future Camino
- Camino frances 2017 and 2018
Camino Portugues 2018
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Hi everyone, I am creating a documentary on my journeys of the Camino de Santiago (in particular the camino frances) and my title for this is 'How has an ancient Christian pilgrimage from the middle ages become a popular holiday activity?'
I was wondering if it would be possible for you to comment in a word or short phrase what the camino truly means to you and can be featured in the documentary. Or even better, if you could get in touch with me and email me a short video of you saying your word or phrase?
Thank you all, buen camino!
Maeve Gallagher
Hi everyone, I am creating a documentary on my journeys of the Camino de Santiago (in particular the camino frances) and my title for this is 'How has an ancient Christian pilgrimage from the middle ages become a popular holiday activity?'
I was wondering if it would be possible for you to comment in a word or short phrase what the camino truly means to you and can be featured in the documentary. Or even better, if you could get in touch with me and email me a short video of you saying your word or phrase?
Thank you all, buen camino!
Maeve Gallagher
There are those who view walking a Camino -- the Frances Route included -- as a 'holiday' activity
I am one of many who undertake a Camino as a spiritual or religious journey
I am both. I think there is not necessarily a contradiction between walking the camino as a holiday activity vs. walking the camino as a spiritual or religious experience. It seems you have very negative connotations to the word holiday so maybe we use different definitions. My Dutch dictionary gives app 15 definitions (including a period of being free of obligations & a period of being free of work). A quick glance through English dictionaries (not my native language) learns me that a holiday can be defined as time when someone does not go to work or school but is free to what they want, or a day for celebration when many people are allowed to stay away from work or school. Imho a holiday activity does not necessarily mean tourings shops, collecting sea shells or getting drunk. A holiday can also be a period during which a person makes a spiritual/religious journey.
Anyway, the OP's question was whether it is possible to say in one word or phrase what the camino means to you. I find it weird that it's drifting towards a pilgrimage vs tourism debate (oops, I am guilty of that myself as well).
Answering the OP's question again. The camino started out as a holiday activity, which turned out to be a spiritual experience in a way I did not expect, and which unexpectedly reconnected me with my catholic roots, and during which I occassionally and happily get drunk. I hope my behaviour does not not have a negative impact on your camino experience
As you can see, you've touched a nerve with the phrase "holiday activity".Hi everyone, I am creating a documentary on my journeys of the Camino de Santiago (in particular the camino frances) and my title for this is 'How has an ancient Christian pilgrimage from the middle ages become a popular holiday activity?'
I was wondering if it would be possible for you to comment in a word or short phrase what the camino truly means to you and can be featured in the documentary. Or even better, if you could get in touch with me and email me a short video of you saying your word or phrase?
Thank you all, buen camino!
Maeve Gallagher
Those people definitely exist, as you experienced to your detriment (and I dare say, for a period of time, all of our detriment). I've also met and read of people who start the Camino for purely secular reasons but, by the time it is done, do find that it has had a deep and meaningful spiritual or religious impact on them. I think it would make an equally great documentary.Hi, Maeve....
There are those who view walking a Camino -- the Frances Route included -- as a 'holiday' activity, much as one spends vacation time collecting sea shells, touring shops in foreign cities, and eating as much food during a ship's cruise as one can stuff into their gullet. That is one facet of the Camino which seems to be rapidly gaining a following: having a cheap vacation.
But the above cohort is only one aspect, and is not reflective of the entirety of those who pursue a pilgrimage. I am one of many who undertake a Camino as a spiritual or religious journey. As such, I do not want to be included with those who view Camino as a way to be a tourist and have an inexpensive vacation.
In fact, in my singular opinion, the subject you wish to pursue would make a great documentary if it examined how those tourists, viewing Camino as a cheap holiday, are negatively impacting the Camino for those seeking the same broad type of historical spiritual experience for which a camino to Santiago de Compostela was first undertaken.
Just a thought.
Those people definitely exist, as you experienced to your detriment (and I dare say, for a period of time, all of our detriment). I've also met and read of people who start the Camino for purely secular reasons but, by the time it is done, do find that it has had a deep and meaningful spiritual or religious impact on them. I think it would make an equally great documentary.
and I heartily agree tooI agree
It is a fact that many start their Camino as a (cheap) holiday activity. It's a good thing.Those people definitely exist, as you experienced to your detriment (and I dare say, for a period of time, all of our detriment). I've also met and read of people who start the Camino for purely secular reasons but, by the time it is done, do find that it has had a deep and meaningful spiritual or religious impact on them.
No. A better documentary. And more close to reality.I think it would make an equally great documentary.
Hola, Maeve!Hi everyone, I am creating a documentary on my journeys of the Camino de Santiago (in particular the camino frances) and my title for this is 'How has an ancient Christian pilgrimage from the middle ages become a popular holiday activity?'
...
For me it was the simplicity. Everyday all I had to do was walk. Everything I needed was in my pack. Meeting new people and all of us starting with a blank slate was wonderful. I finished my Camino on June 8th and have been wanting to go again ever since. I may be able to do it again in May. I walked from SJPP to Santiago de Compostela in 31 days. I will go slower on my next one!Hi everyone, I am creating a documentary on my journeys of the Camino de Santiago (in particular the camino frances) and my title for this is 'How has an ancient Christian pilgrimage from the middle ages become a popular holiday activity?'
I was wondering if it would be possible for you to comment in a word or short phrase what the camino truly means to you and can be featured in the documentary. Or even better, if you could get in touch with me and email me a short video of you saying your word or phrase?
Thank you all, buen camino!
Maeve Gallagher
Yeah, someone's holiday tourist behavior had a very big impact on my last Camino, which I am still somewhat dealing with.Only too true, the tourist attitude increases every year and is ruining the Camino for serious seekers. I practically live wondering along the Camino's or gr routes and will no longer go onto the French way because of the amount of disrespect shown by mainly american pilgrims. I often watch pilgrims throwing rubbish and generally disrespecting other pilgrims. I've had people intruding on my camp to take photos, people attempting to feed my donkey all sorts of non donkey food, people trying to take selfies with her. I even had one american family trying to put their child on her whilst I was in a shop. I always expect unwanted attention but the level of arrogance shown by "tourist pilgrims" is unbelievable. And yes, this certainly does hit the nerve for me.
Brilliant and dead on!The level of pomposity in some of these replies is staggering. It’s a pilgrimage for some. It’s a holiday for many more. It can be both for people. The fact people deplore ‘tourists’ or ‘holidaymakers’ is ridiculous. As long as people behave nicely, surely it’s for everyone? Too many people here parading their virtue in response to an innocent question.
"Holiday activity" it is NOT!! Maybe I may "go off" here. Let's just say that perhaps your choice of words were not thought out carefully. A word or short phrase is rather difficult. It is much more than that. I do not want to dampen your spirits either, but if you believe it is a "holiday" maybe you may want to interview or re-direct your question/suggestions to the bus loads that start at Sarria or one of these tour companies that have recently begun to capitalize on what is supposed to be a pilgrimage.Hi everyone, I am creating a documentary on my journeys of the Camino de Santiago (in particular the camino frances) and my title for this is 'How has an ancient Christian pilgrimage from the middle ages become a popular holiday activity?'
I was wondering if it would be possible for you to comment in a word or short phrase what the camino truly means to you and can be featured in the documentary. Or even better, if you could get in touch with me and email me a short video of you saying your word or phrase?
Thank you all, buen camino!
Maeve Gallagher
The level of pomposity in some of these replies is staggering. It’s a pilgrimage for some. It’s a holiday for many more. It can be both for people. The fact people deplore ‘tourists’ or ‘holidaymakers’ is ridiculous. As long as people behave nicely, surely it’s for everyone? Too many people here parading their virtue in response to an innocent question.
The level of pomposity in some of these replies is staggering. It’s a pilgrimage for some. It’s a holiday for many more. It can be both for people. The fact people deplore ‘tourists’ or ‘holidaymakers’ is ridiculous. As long as people behave nicely, surely it’s for everyone? Too many people here parading their virtue in response to an innocent question.
For us " Not a Holiday " but a "Holy Day" A day or days when we can walk with and talk to, our God, a time for peace, a time to feel his grace, a time to listen to his call in our lives. Just simply a wonder. God Bless you and thank you or your post.Hi everyone, I am creating a documentary on my journeys of the Camino de Santiago (in particular the camino frances) and my title for this is 'How has an ancient Christian pilgrimage from the middle ages become a popular holiday activity?'
I was wondering if it would be possible for you to comment in a word or short phrase what the camino truly means to you and can be featured in the documentary. Or even better, if you could get in touch with me and email me a short video of you saying your word or phrase?
Thank you all, buen camino!
Maeve Gallagher
Pilgrims who are walking for deeper reasons have a huge amount of respect for the environment, the culture and especially other pilgrims. The so called "tourist" pilgrim lacks these basic human behaviors
No offence intended, however I should point out that I live here and spend 6 months a year hiking around the north of Spain......Are you serious? Seems a bit snobbish to me...
Answering the OPs question again. For me the camino is a holiday activity during which I learned not to make generalisations about people.
Hi Nomad PackNo offence intended, however I should point out that I live here and spend 6 months a year hiking around the north of Spain......
Hi everyone, thank you for your varied responses, it is very interesting to see the range of opinion. As someone who has spent almost 3 weeks on different legs of the Camino, my anecdotal experience is that the majority of people I talked to were not doing the Camino for religious reasons. I appreciate that the Camino is a pilgrimage or spiritual journey for many of you however in my research I have found the opposite. Thank you for your help and all new replies are greatly received!
Maeve
My brother went on the Camino in October of2013 .he never returned.after 700 kms in Triacastella he did not wake up. He was fit and healthy. He told someone and myself why he was on the Camino. My son had died in the May of 2013 so you can imagine how it was for me his sister, would you like his story. Please mail me if you would. Kindest wishes joanHi everyone, I am creating a documentary on my journeys of the Camino de Santiago (in particular the camino frances) and my title for this is 'How has an ancient Christian pilgrimage from the middle ages become a popular holiday activity?'
I was wondering if it would be possible for you to comment in a word or short phrase what the camino truly means to you and can be featured in the documentary. Or even better, if you could get in touch with me and email me a short video of you saying your word or phrase?
Thank you all, buen camino!
Maeve Gallagher
Of course it matters if peoples behavior is respectful. I don't care what reasons people have for doing the pilgrimage, only that they respect everything about it. Just like everybody here respects the forum and remains polite and civil to one another. Surely if I started hurling insults you would feel that my behavior and conduct is offensive?Hi Nomad Pack
It's good to see that you have so much time to walk and to hike...you are indeed a lucky man
We too have the time now that we are retired
However, most working people use their "holiday entitlement" in order to walk the Camino ..whether as a holiday or as a pilgrimage....does it matter really if their behaviour is respectful
Whenever the words
Pilgrim
Pilgrimage
Tourist
Holiday
True pilgrim.......etc etc is mentioned on this forum, things seem to turn nasty very quickly and then the post is stopped by the mods
The OP asked for opinions....
And we're all"at it" once more!!
Should make for a good documentary though!!!
Best wishes
Annette
When Annette London said that some people are still working and use their vacation allotment to walk the Camino and "does it really matter if their behaviour is respectful?", I dont think she was asking "does it really matter that their behaviour is respectful?" and implying that respectful behaviour is not important. Instead, I think she was asking "Does it really matter (that they are essentially vacationers, using their vacation allotment) if (that is, so long as) their behaviour is respectful?" I recognize the wording is ambiguous, but that is how I took it (as someone who was fortunate enough to get extended vacation from work to allow walking from Roncesvalles to Finisterre with his teenage son, and later another vacation from work to walk from Porto to Santiago).I
Of course it matters if peoples behavior is respectful. I don't care what reasons people have for doing the pilgrimage, only that they respect everything about it. Just like everybody here respects the forum and remains polite and civil to one another. Surely if I started hurling insults you would feel that my behavior and conduct is offensive?
I guess I'm lucky but only because I spend the other 6 months alone shepherding in the mountains.
Sorry about thatI
Of course it matters if peoples behavior is respectful. I don't care what reasons people have for doing the pilgrimage, only that they respect everything about it. Just like everybody here respects the forum and remains polite and civil to one another. Surely if I started hurling insults you would feel that my behavior and conduct is offensive?
I guess I'm lucky but only because I spend the other 6 months alone shepherding in the mountains.
Ah ha...When Annette London said that some people are still working and use their vacation allotment to walk the Camino and "does it really matter if their behaviour is respectful?", I dont think she was asking "does it really matter that their behaviour is respectful?" and implying that respectful behaviour is not important. Instead, I think she was asking "Does it really matter (that they are essentially vacationers, using their vacation allotment) if (that is, so long as) their behaviour is respectful?" I recognize the wording is ambiguous, but that is how I took it (as someone who was fortunate enough to get extended vacation from work to allow walking from Roncesvalles to Finisterre with his teenage son, and later another vacation from work to walk from Porto to Santiago).
Hi everyone, I am creating a documentary on my journeys of the Camino de Santiago (in particular the camino frances) and my title for this is 'How has an ancient Christian pilgrimage from the middle ages become a popular holiday activity?'
I was wondering if it would be possible for you to comment in a word or short phrase what the camino truly means to you and can be featured in the documentary. Or even better, if you could get in touch with me and email me a short video of you saying your word or phrase?
Thank you all, buen camino!
Maeve Gallagher
Ah ha...
Thank you for that David
Yes, that is what I meant to say. And I have edited the post as what I have written does sound dreadful doesn't it? ....as in....feel free to go wild on the Camino!!
We must be very lucky as we've never come across any bad behaviour on any of our walksy
Some high spirits maybe which could be due to the excitement of walking the Camino .
In future, I will make sure that I preview my posts!!!
Best wishes and again thank you
Annette
Hi everyone, I am creating a documentary on my journeys of the Camino de Santiago (in particular the camino frances) and my title for this is 'How has an ancient Christian pilgrimage from the middle ages become a popular holiday activity?'
I was wondering if it would be possible for you to comment in a word or short phrase what the camino truly means to you and can be featured in the documentary. Or even better, if you could get in touch with me and email me a short video of you saying your word or phrase?
Thank you all, buen camino!
Maeve Gallagher
Because, whether pilgrim or holiday walker, it is life affirming.'How has an ancient Christian pilgrimage from the middle ages become a popular holiday activity?'
Hi everyone, thank you for your varied responses, it is very interesting to see the range of opinion. As someone who has spent almost 3 weeks on different legs of the Camino, my anecdotal experience is that the majority of people I talked to were not doing the Camino for religious reasons. I appreciate that the Camino is a pilgrimage or spiritual journey for many of you however in my research I have found the opposite. Thank you for your help and all new replies are greatly received!
Maeve
Hi everyone.... 'How has an ancient Christian pilgrimage from the middle ages become a popular holiday activity?' ...
Maeve Gallagher
There is nothing cheap about going to Spain for me. At $3000 for 2 tickets plus the costs of pensiones, casa rurales, and albergues plus train tickets etc. We’re walking the Invierno route this year and it is much more expensive than the Primitivo we walked in 2017 or the Frances. So that’s my first point.
Second: taking weeks of vacation (4 to be exact) to go walk is a privilege enjoyed by very few in this world. I’m lucky and privileged to be afforded this luxury.
Third: it’s a vacation for me. Anything away from my work that is enjoyable and requires travel qualifies as a vacation for me.
Fourth: my husband and I both love Spain and long distance hiking. It’s my ancestral home so for us it’s touching history and being transported back in time to imagine life in the Middle Ages. And journeys made by pilgrims of old.
Fifth: we carry our own packs and walk, not bus.
Sixth: it’s not religious for us as we don’t buy into the legend of the bones mysteriously appearing in Spain. We are Catholic, btw. But for us it is a humanistic trip and not related to religion.
I consider ourselves pilgrims in search of the past and those who came before us. I have felt the presence of those souls on the Camino. It’s not a life changing experience as we aren’t looking to change anything. But it is a life enriching one.
I don’t really care about the opinions of others. The journey is ours and ours alone.
That might be more than the one word the OP wantedsorry.
Everyone who carries their own pack is a backpacker.Congratulation, that makes you an official backpacker!
dilly dillyEveryone who carries their own pack is a backpacker.
Everyone who carries their own pack is a backpacker.
I watched it on YouTube. It's for her GCSE. I enjoyed watching it.Will we hear from @Maeve Gallagher and maybe see a snippet?
Hi everyone, thank you for your varied responses, it is very interesting to see the range of opinion. As someone who has spent almost 3 weeks on different legs of the Camino, my anecdotal experience is that the majority of people I talked to were not doing the Camino for religious reasons. I appreciate that the Camino is a pilgrimage or spiritual journey for many of you however in my research I have found the opposite. Thank you for your help and all new replies are greatly received!
Maeve
Not that it matters much but that's a kind of simplified definition. It fits the contemporary camino walker but an ancient (medieval Christian) pilgrimage is a journey a pilgrim makes to a sacred place for the purpose of venerating the saint associated with this place or to ask for aid from the saint or to thank the saint.It is a walk towards a holy place.
When I return I spend no fewer than 30 days dreaming every night of walking-relishing the joy inherent in the experience.
...and read of people who start the Camino for purely secular reasons but, by the time it is done, do find that it has had a deep and meaningful spiritual or religious impact on them. I think it would make an equally great documentary.
That must have been a very difficult year for your personally, joanjf. To lose two such close family members could knock anybody back. I am sure your brother would have got a lot of joy and solace on his personal Camino. It is just sad that he never reached home and shared his experiences with you.Yes my brother who died on the 3rd of October 2013 on the Camino very young said he was going to thank god for all that he had in his life. He was happy to be free.
He went after my son died on the 11 Of May 2013.
I believe he got some greatness from the walk esp meeting like minded people
keep happy peregrines and be safe
2013-homage to fathersHi everyone, I am creating a documentary on my journeys of the Camino de Santiago (in particular the camino frances) and my title for this is 'How has an ancient Christian pilgrimage from the middle ages become a popular holiday activity?'
I was wondering if it would be possible for you to comment in a word or short phrase what the camino truly means to you and can be featured in the documentary. Or even better, if you could get in touch with me and email me a short video of you saying your word or phrase?
Thank you all, buen camino!
Maeve Gallagher
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