- Time of past OR future Camino
- 2017 Camino Frances,
2019 C. Portuguese (inland).
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Hi @LexicosIn an email. And to share something out of the ordinary. To give something, basically.
Is it possible that the email was too large and did not reach the recipients, or it went to their Junk mail? I would be cautious if I received photos and music links in an email from an acquaintance. (I don't have anywhere close to 20 friends that I would send a detailed personal email to.)I wrote an article on the Camino for 20 of my friends. I put text, photos and music on it. I put my heart and my soul into it.
Well said and I am sure that many of us can relate to this - not even my immediate family pay much heed to my amazing caminos - but who cares I am certainly the one who benefitted from them and I can't expect them to share my enthusiasm but you know what - my darling grandchildren do. Now I am taking them along one by one to feel the joy and experience what a camino is all about - one down two to go!! Oh I can't wait to get back on the road again!!XX@Lexicos yes, it's very disappointing to put heart and soul into something that means so much to you and recieve little response in return. I know only too well.But the sad fact is that no one cares about our journeys in the way we do, no matter how enthusiastic they may sound at first. I've had many friends say they absolutely can't wait to hear all about where I've been or what I've done, but after the first two, maybe three, photos the conversation turns to something else and never comes back.
It's not that they don't care. It's just that that they don't relate. They're very happy and very excited for me, and some have even bragged to others about my Camino. But a brief description and a photo or two is sufficient. And, honestly, I don't need much more than that on the trips or life events that in turn mean so much to them.
Well, that's a long-winded way of saying many of us relate to your disappointment and the lack of response from others to your work. Bottom line is you've created a beautiful document for yourself that recalls just exactly what you want to preserve. Perhaps you can post a link to your video on the forum, or on some of the Camino Facebook pages. Most of us camino addicts can't get enough.
Be glad that you have captured something so dear to you in a way that you can take it out, dust it down, pay attention to it, for years and years to come.
Finally someone else who understands! With 40 years as an Expat living and travelling in exotic and interesting countries, not one relative has ever asked me anything about life or experiences in those places. Whenever I'd try to show some videos or photos i was met with boredom after about 30 seconds. Finally i accepted that they just aren't interested at all and now whenever i go back to see the family i mostly keep my mouth shut, instead just reminisce with them about the old days like they all want to do. It used to bother me--i know if I'd had a relative who'd seen some of the world i would've been all ears. But apparently you and i are unique.I am not surprised by your experience ! I spent 25 years of my life as an expatriate with my family , in many different beautiful and thrilling countries ! I remember how disappointed I was each summer going back to my birthday place .. no one even close relatives would focus and listen to me more than the day of our arrival and I don’t speak about watching photos or videos !!
I learnt that I can only share with expatriates like me who went through the same kind of life
That’s why I just keep to myself my pictures of the Camino, the writings but I have it all nicely available for my connected friends on Facebook and once in awhile I have some likes or comments ! It s fine that way .. no energy to force anyone !
I think the way I had when a young woman to just shake the routine of friends and family who were not as lucky to travel , was too much to take
That's not uncommon, fellow traveller. But it makes sense, how else could it be? The more knowledge and experience you acquire, the more you see and do (and there's a lot to see and do in this big world) the more distance you put between yourself and the people around you. Anyone who has lived in another country for any length of time will know this to be true. The fact is, you pay a price for expanding your universe, it doesn't come for free. Nothing does, by the way. As you expand your "universe bubble" it takes you further and further from those little celestial bodies that are stationary, i.e. your family and friends. Their world, for the most part, stays the same. So when you talk to them about your Camino, your travels, your adventures, they're immediately out of their depth. It can be alienating for them, or threatening or it may pique their envy or cause discomfort because suddenly they contrast their lives with yours. It can't be a nice feeling to know that you've missed out on the big life. I mean life beyond our home, beyond our suburb, beyond our neighbourhood and beyond our country. And if you're highly educated to boot, in history and art and the classics, you've lived a thousand lives and a life well beyond the present. Let's be blunt, let's be frank; it puts you in a special class (I don't mean upper class). There's nothing lonelier I'm guessing than being a person who is highly educated, well travelled and versed in many languages. It puts you well beyond the realm of many people in terms of how you view and experience the world. Now try to explain that to someone who's never left, or never had the good fortune, to travel beyond their little back yard. You'll be wasting your time. Exactly as you have said. And that, my fellow pilgrim, is the price we all pay for our long, spiritual, cleansing and reflective walks along the Frances, the Portuguese, the El Norte and so forth.
In other words, it can get cold and lonely at the top of the mountain but Mon Dieu, what a view!
I wrote an article on the Camino for 20 of my friends. I put text, photos and music in it. I put my heart and my soul into it. One person said thank you. Nothing from the rest. In what kind of lifeless, spiritless and loveless world do we live? It makes me want to walk not only on the Camino, but all over the world!
But on this forum you will get all the attention you long for !
Not at all. My experience living as an expat for the last 30 years in two astonishingly wonderful places is mostly the same.Finally someone else who understands! With 40 years as an Expat living and travelling in exotic and interesting countries, not one relative has ever asked me anything about life or experiences in those places. Whenever I'd try to show some videos or photos i was met with boredom after about 30 seconds. Finally i accepted that they just aren't interested at all and now whenever i go back to see the family i mostly keep my mouth shut, instead just reminisce with them about the old days like they all want to do. It used to bother me--i know if I'd had a relative who'd seen some of the world i would've been all ears. But apparently you and i are unique.
......Old friends and family don't really care unless they've shared that time or experience with me.
I've met 2 old man of 80+ who had never travelled further than 10 miles from their homes in which they were born, never seen a town or city, no T.V. or many other things we take for granted. One was a crofter (small farmer) another a gamekeeper. Although "uneducated" they knew more about the real world than any anyone else I've ever met, and although they were men of few words I learnt more from them than anyone else and were two of the most interesting. I certainly don't think that they had missed out on the "big life" as you put it and despite the fact that I have spent my life continuously travelling and having adventures, I envy them and know that they lived lives a thousand times more than me. I would put them in a special class of their own. As one of them said "why travel, when if you stay in one place long enough, the whole world will come to you."It can't be a nice feeling to know that you've missed out on the big life. I mean life beyond our home, beyond our suburb, beyond our neighbourhood and beyond our country. And if you're highly educated to boot, in history and art and the classics, you've lived a thousand lives and a life well beyond the present. Let's be blunt, let's be frank; it puts you in a special class
Your post reminded me of a story of two crofter brothers.( I might have forgotten the exact words, but it is roughly as follows). Each evening they sat on the bench outside for a little while, just sitting, looking, listening, being there. One evening one of the brothers went off and came back 20 years later. The brother who had remained at home said "Where were you?" The one who had returned replied "Oot". Source: Scotland Laughing, by WB Burnett.I've met 2 old man of 80+ who had never travelled further than 10 miles from their homes in which they were born, never seen a town or city, no T.V. or many other things we take for granted. One was a crofter (small farmer) another a gamekeeper. Although "uneducated" they knew more about the real world than any anyone else I've ever met, and although they were men of few words I learnt more from them than anyone else and were two of the most interesting. I certainly don't think that they had missed out on the "big life" as you put it and despite the fact that I have spent my life continuously travelling and having adventures, I envy them and know that they lived lives a thousand times more than me. I would put them in a special class of their own. As one of them said "why travel, when if you stay in one place long enough, the whole world will come to you."
Sure it was always reassuring to come back home where nothing or so little had changed and meet again with people whose life i think had another kind of depth all the same as respectable and interesting , they gave me strength to leave again when i had too because i knew they would be there year after year !I've met 2 old man of 80+ who had never travelled further than 10 miles from their homes in which they were born, never seen a town or city, no T.V. or many other things we take for granted. One was a crofter (small farmer) another a gamekeeper. Although "uneducated" they knew more about the real world than any anyone else I've ever met, and although they were men of few words I learnt more from them than anyone else and were two of the most interesting. I certainly don't think that they had missed out on the "big life" as you put it and despite the fact that I have spent my life continuously travelling and having adventures, I envy them and know that they lived lives a thousand times more than me. I would put them in a special class of their own. As one of them said "why travel, when if you stay in one place long enough, the whole world will come to you."
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