- Time of past OR future Camino
- Camino Frances: September 24 - October 31 (2015)
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One of my favorite questions to ask someone who has experienced something new is to ask what the biggest surprise was. The answers usually lead to an interesting discussion. The biggest surprise of my first Camino was how addicting the walking became. I absolutely loved it. I feared I would get bored with the walking, but the opposite was the case. I fell in love with it.
So how about you? What was the biggest surprise of your Camino?
It helps if you mix a bit of egg with the potatoes.Ah, and that bread with potatoes inside actually tastes good
I don't understand them either. Nor why they really are so ubiquitous on the Camino. One of my surprises was that I could wear the same outfit, usually the same clothes, day after day for over a month, and feel ok about that. Of course, I washed them every single day, they dried in no time and off I went the next day. My outfit was a merino Icebreaker short sleeve shirt and walking "skort." I love my skort. That was a surprise, too!I was also a little surprised that literally every other person walking the Camino seemed to be wearing those convertible pants. I don't understand them.
I had them. On the few occasions I wanted to wear shorts I could. If I had brought shorts, I would have had to wear them a lot more frequently. Also, I found them really handy when I started to wear a knee brace. I could put in on or take it off without taking off my pants by unzipping my pant leg by the knee and then putting it back on after I had dealt with the knee brace.I was also a little surprised that literally every other person walking the Camino seemed to be wearing those convertible pants. I don't understand them.
I was also a little surprised that literally every other person walking the Camino seemed to be wearing those convertible pants. I don't understand them.
By convertible you mean the ones with zippers on the knees? I wear them
My reason is that then I don't need to carry shorts. I only carry those pants and, if it's hot and I want shorts, I just unzip the pants. Less weight on the backpack.
Go you....I love this story and had a little chuckle, sorry military hubby.That I adapted and was way more resistant/resilient than my military husband while walking the camino.
Before we started our trip, so much of our planning was around how I would cope with the walk, with the backpack and stuff. He is a very fit soldier, so we always thought he would be helping me, if needed.
On the first days, he had blisters. I never had none. Two days later he fell down with a heat stroke. I was the one carrying him and both backpacks for lots of kms until we found help. Although worried about him, it was quite surprising to see I was the one whose body just coped well with everything (jetlag, different food, walking). That I could actually do it, and even provide help to others.
It was quite... powerful.
Of course, my greatest joy was meeting you my Pilgrim princeOne of my favorite questions to ask someone who has experienced something new is to ask what the biggest surprise was. The answers usually lead to an interesting discussion. The biggest surprise of my first Camino was how addicting the walking became. I absolutely loved it. I feared I would get bored with the walking, but the opposite was the case. I fell in love with it.
So how about you? What was the biggest surprise of your Camino?
I am terrible at answering these types of questions (what's your favorite ..., etc.) but Peg asks your question to first time visitors to the States a lot so I asked her your question. She said "How kind and nice the Spanish people were."One of my favorite questions to ask someone who has experienced something new is to ask what the biggest surprise was.
One of my favorite questions to ask someone who has experienced something new is to ask what the biggest surprise was. The answers usually lead to an interesting discussion. The biggest surprise of my first Camino was how addicting the walking became. I absolutely loved it. I feared I would get bored with the walking, but the opposite was the case. I fell in love with it.
So how about you? What was the biggest surprise of your Camino?
Me too! I rarely drink it at home, unless I go out for a burger, but on the Camino I absolutely crave it!How much I needed Coke!View attachment 50676
Ah, and that bread with potatoes inside actually tastes good
Similarly, the Camino is the only place I drink coffee. In my 55 years, I've never been a coffee drinker. But on the Camino Frances in 2016 when I drank cafe con leche every day. Then I got home and stopped drinking coffee. Until my 2018 Camino Portugues when, once again, I drank coffee every day. Until the Camino was over and I stopped again.This is an odd one I know......But I have always bitten my finger nails. I don't know why. Nobody else in my family does and I am embarrassed about it.
Anyway, on the Camino I don't. Start to finish, 30 days, I just don't. I start again, without thinking, on the flight home. What is that about?
Hey, where's your hat? Didn't I see you at the Parador in Leon?How much I needed Coke!View attachment 50676
Yesss me too!!!This is an odd one I know......But I have always bitten my finger nails. I don't know why. Nobody else in my family does and I am embarrassed about it.
Anyway, on the Camino I don't. Start to finish, 30 days, I just don't. I start again, without thinking, on the flight home. What is that about?
I get a sort of peace in my soul. I focus on the day, meet people, chat and I'm not weighed down with a load of clutter. Just follow the yellow arrows. If only life were that simple elsewhere.
You are so right there. I limped into Los Arcos, my knee hurt the most but everything else went out in sympathy. The walk there was interminable and every step was agony. I honestly thought I wouldn't be able to walk the next day.I had a couple of surprises:
1. I was amazed at how a simple nights' rest heals the body. There were a couple of days where I was thinking there was NO WAY I could carry on the next day, yet in the morning, my body had miraculously healed itself enough to carry on (at least until the next night - lol!); and
2. How long it actually took us to walk distances. For example, at home, we could easily walk 10kms in a couple of hours, so we though, 'okay, if we leave to walk 25kms and leave the albergue at 8am, we will be at our destination by 12 - 1pm'. WRONG!) We didn't accommodate for the second breakfast stop, or that we would be stopping every couple of hours to air our feet out/change socks, etc..
Buen Camino!!
How much I needed Coke!View attachment 50676
How do you determine who is a 6th cousin?My biggest surprise happened after the Camino. During our Camino in 2011 from Le Puy to St Jean Pied de Port we overlapped for a bit with a couple from England. In 2012 we went to the UK to walk the Coast to Coast path and after that we stayed with them for a few days. During conversation over lunch we discovered that the wife and I were 6th cousins. The Camino does provide !
When her mother is your 5th cousin once removed.How do you determine who is a 6th cousin?
Still...I...don't...get...it.When her mother is your 5th cousin once removed.
Serious. And messing with you too.Still...I...don't...get...it.
Are you serious, Rick, or are you just messin' with me? You can't be trusted, and this is not the not thread.
Thanks for clarifying! You're the best!...sometimes!Serious. And messing with you too.
1st cousin: shared grandparent
2nd cousin: shared great-grandparent
3rd cousin: shared great-great-grandparent
4th cousin: ...
Siblings have common parentsHow do you determine who is a 6th cousin?
Not precisely correct. For example: if two people (A and B) are 5th cousins (to each other) then a child of person A is a 5th cousin once removed of person B (and vice versa).When her mother is your 5th cousin once removed.
I suppose one would have to go pretty far back in knowing their family tree to get to down to the 6th cousin.☺
My conversion to Christianity from Agnosticism -- I was certainly NOT expecting that one !!
I suppose one would have to go pretty far back in knowing their family tree to get to down to the 6th cousin.☺
After day one from SJPP to Roncesvalles coming to the surprising epiphany that I could and would finish the camino! Nothing tops that for surprise.One of my favorite questions to ask someone who has experienced something new is to ask what the biggest surprise was. The answers usually lead to an interesting discussion. The biggest surprise of my first Camino was how addicting the walking became. I absolutely loved it. I feared I would get bored with the walking, but the opposite was the case. I fell in love with it.
So how about you? What was the biggest surprise of your Camino?
Lol! The Dublin Boys made me a crisps sandwich, potato chips on bread and just like you I was surprised it actually was good!Ah, and that bread with potatoes inside actually tastes good
The best irish food ever.Lol! The Dublin Boys made me a crisps sandwich, potato chips on bread and just like you I was surprised it actually was good!
I noticed that as well - I loved the way families stroll the towns before dinner, stopping at the sidewalk cafes and saying hi to friends. In America now we drive everywhere and at cafes everyone buries their face in their phonesLots of things surprised me, but - happily - I am easily surprised!
Not the MOST by any means, but one that comes to mind just now... After spending the whole day outside in the elements, I would have thought that I would look forward to being inside sometimes. Other than to sleep, I never wanted to be inside. At bars and cafes, I quickly paid so that I could go sit outside. If it was raining, I found a covered place, but I still preferred to be outside.
In the bigger cities, I loved sitting outside in the big plazas, watching couples having a glass of wine while their toddlers ran all over the place, grandmas in wheel chairs, gaggles of old men on benches, huddles of teenagers. Whenever I get back to the US from practically anywhere else in the world, I feel like we are an isolated, lonely culture. People are mostly inside their houses, places of business or in their cars in my town.
I don't understand anyone who can't understand convertible pants. What's not to like about them? Synthetic (dry immediately, sweat or wash), lightweight, no need to bring a pair of shorts, lots of pockets. I've only worn the long legs a handful of times in the past 5000 miles of trekking. Always wear them walking.I was also a little surprised that literally every other person walking the Camino seemed to be wearing those convertible pants. I don't understand them.
End of last July I started at SJPdP and walked to Roncesvalles the next day. It was Sunday and I went to mass in the Church. After the mass there was a concert of Spanish medieval music. The musicians used different locations - the church, courtyard, cloister - for different pieces of music. It was brilliant and very beautiful. I walked as far as Leon and never met anyone else who was at the concert (to my disappointment) to talk about the event. It was a special start to the Camino for me.One of my favorite questions to ask someone who has experienced something new is to ask what the biggest surprise was. The answers usually lead to an interesting discussion. The biggest surprise of my first Camino was how addicting the walking became. I absolutely loved it. I feared I would get bored with the walking, but the opposite was the case. I fell in love with it.
So how about you? What was the biggest surprise of your Camino?
Can't beat a crisp sambo !!Lol! The Dublin Boys made me a crisps sandwich, potato chips on bread and just like you I was surprised it actually was good!
The biggest surprise of the camino was finding out that I'm actually quite a fun person, one that people like to be around. When I relayed that info to my wife back home, her reaction was something like "Well, duh...", or words to that effect. I have always felt clumsy and awkward in social situations, and as a result I think of myself as the quiet and solitary type. So that is how I started walking.
But I met a surprisingly large number of people who visibly enjoyed my company and made an effort to stick around a little longer. It was a bit bewildering, to tell you the truth, but also a very freeing feeling. I guess the time was right for 'seeing is believing'. I can honestly say that since my camino I have more friends than I had before, and up until now I'm making new ones at an almost alarming rate. I still feel clumsy and awkward, but it doesn't seem to limit me the way it did earlier.
And as a bonus, echoing @davebugg a little, walking the camino Ingles with my then 16 year old son a year later produced a similar result. I found out that he was way more adult, autonomous and responsible than I thought he was. Turns out that for me the camino is a quirky way to unravel assumptions...
One of my favorite questions to ask someone who has experienced something new is to ask what the biggest surprise was. The answers usually lead to an interesting discussion. The biggest surprise of my first Camino was how addicting the walking became. I absolutely loved it. I feared I would get bored with the walking, but the opposite was the case. I fell in love with it.
So how about you? What was the biggest surprise of your Camino?
So glad to hear your story. I donate to Veterans on the Camino because as a peacetime vet (Desert Storm) I can only imagine the environment you’ve been in. Glad to hear you’re on the road to recovery brother.That there is something strange about the camino which I still dont understand. That calling everyone talks about. I took of last year september thinking I would only do this once in a lifetime. When I came back I felt it a lot. Then the camino magic started to happen. Or as they say the camino started providing even more then it already did, I know some of you dislike these clichés but I cant call it anything else. First I got the opportunity to volunteer in Grado, then I got selected for “veterans on the camino” and then I got a call if I was able to volunteer in roncesvalles. From having a hard time comming home to spending nearly the whole spring and summer on the camino. Even all the dates perfectly fitted together. Now that surprised me a lot and still does. Its kind of against all odds.
My most precious surprise however was comming home and having less nightmares. Less anxiety. Less PTSD. This is why I started the walk in the first place. I spent over 4 years in a war which didnt leave me untouched. I tried everything and nothing worked. The camino brought magic. Big (bad word) surprise!
ditto Australia, we are losing (lost?) that community feeling. Shopping mall culture really doesn't cut the mustard. Hats off to the Spanish.Lots of things surprised me, but - happily - I am easily surprised!
Not the MOST by any means, but one that comes to mind just now... After spending the whole day outside in the elements, I would have thought that I would look forward to being inside sometimes. Other than to sleep, I never wanted to be inside. At bars and cafes, I quickly paid so that I could go sit outside. If it was raining, I found a covered place, but I still preferred to be outside.
In the bigger cities, I loved sitting outside in the big plazas, watching couples having a glass of wine while their toddlers ran all over the place, grandmas in wheel chairs, gaggles of old men on benches, huddles of teenagers. Whenever I get back to the US from practically anywhere else in the world, I feel like we are an isolated, lonely culture. People are mostly inside their houses, places of business or in their cars in my town.
My biggest surprise on my first camino was how easy it was, physically and financially. I had allowed myself far more time and money than I needed, and had to hang around at the end for almost two weeks waiting until my return flight would leave. I never had a blister or sore feet, I never lay awake in dormitories listening to others snoring. Well, I did have two nights of not much sleep on the whole camino, the first being my first night on the camino, at Orisson, where someone who arrived earlier had shut all the windows and it was too hot to sleep. And one other night later, when a sturdy and vigorous young man spent the whole night tossing energetically in the top bunk and I didn't get much sleep in the bottom. Physically, it was easier than any hiking trip I had ever taken, and that was key. Not much to carry, many years of experience in mountain walking, which made the pilgrim routes seem like "a walk in the park." And I was 67 at the time. Now I hope to walk until I am 90.
One of my favorite questions to ask someone who has experienced something new is to ask what the biggest surprise was. The answers usually lead to an interesting discussion. The biggest surprise of my first Camino was how addicting the walking became. I absolutely loved it. I feared I would get bored with the walking, but the opposite was the case. I fell in love with it.
So how about you? What was the biggest surprise of your Camino?
One of my favorite questions to ask someone who has experienced something new is to ask what the biggest surprise was. The answers usually lead to an interesting discussion. The biggest surprise of my first Camino was how addicting the walking became. I absolutely loved it. I feared I would get bored with the walking, but the opposite was the case. I fell in love with it.
So how about you? What was the biggest surprise of your Camino?
All of these posts are so heartening to me as I anticipate my first Camino—the reason for walking being a sorely felt need for connection and healing. Thank you all!!That there is something strange about the camino which I still dont understand. That calling everyone talks about. I took of last year september thinking I would only do this once in a lifetime. When I came back I felt it a lot. Then the camino magic started to happen. Or as they say the camino started providing even more then it already did, I know some of you dislike these clichés but I cant call it anything else. First I got the opportunity to volunteer in Grado, then I got selected for “veterans on the camino” and then I got a call if I was able to volunteer in roncesvalles. From having a hard time comming home to spending nearly the whole spring and summer on the camino. Even all the dates perfectly fitted together. Now that surprised me a lot and still does. Its kind of against all odds.
My most precious surprise however was comming home and having less nightmares. Less anxiety. Less PTSD. This is why I started the walk in the first place. I spent over 4 years in a war which didnt leave me untouched. I tried everything and nothing worked. The camino brought magic. Big (bad word) surprise!
YES! Thank you! Isolation from sense of community is what I felt returning to US. My cafe memories are so wonderful.Lots of things surprised me, but - happily - I am easily surprised!
Not the MOST by any means, but one that comes to mind just now... After spending the whole day outside in the elements, I would have thought that I would look forward to being inside sometimes. Other than to sleep, I never wanted to be inside. At bars and cafes, I quickly paid so that I could go sit outside. If it was raining, I found a covered place, but I still preferred to be outside.
In the bigger cities, I loved sitting outside in the big plazas, watching couples having a glass of wine while their toddlers ran all over the place, grandmas in wheel chairs, gaggles of old men on benches, huddles of teenagers. Whenever I get back to the US from practically anywhere else in the world, I feel like we are an isolated, lonely culture. People are mostly inside their houses, places of business or in their cars in my town.
Indeed. The Camino is a metaphor of life when it comes to people and their doings.Lots of things surprised me, but - happily - I am easily surprised!
Not the MOST by any means, but one that comes to mind just now... After spending the whole day outside in the elements, I would have thought that I would look forward to being inside sometimes. Other than to sleep, I never wanted to be inside. At bars and cafes, I quickly paid so that I could go sit outside. If it was raining, I found a covered place, but I still preferred to be outside.
In the bigger cities, I loved sitting outside in the big plazas, watching couples having a glass of wine while their toddlers ran all over the place, grandmas in wheel chairs, gaggles of old men on benches, huddles of teenagers. Whenever I get back to the US from practically anywhere else in the world, I feel like we are an isolated, lonely culture. People are mostly inside their houses, places of business or in their cars in my town.
tomnorth, the biggest surprise for me was that "the Camino gives me what I really need, not for what I was praying for."
Purky, maybe you would like to check in to the Myers briggs personality test Chris is into at the moment on the not serious thread. It is actually a very useful tool, not a definitive declaration , but does give an insight into how people operate. I did it many years ago, and for what it is worth, it can help you to understand not only yourself, but others as well. If you are still at work, it is really useful in team work relationships.The biggest surprise of the camino was finding out that I'm actually quite a fun person, one that people like to be around. When I relayed that info to my wife back home, her reaction was something like "Well, duh...", or words to that effect. I have always felt clumsy and awkward in social situations, and as a result I think of myself as the quiet and solitary type. So that is how I started walking.
But I met a surprisingly large number of people who visibly enjoyed my company and made an effort to stick around a little longer. It was a bit bewildering, to tell you the truth, but also a very freeing feeling. I guess the time was right for 'seeing is believing'. I can honestly say that since my camino I have more friends than I had before, and up until now I'm making new ones at an almost alarming rate. I still feel clumsy and awkward, but it doesn't seem to limit me the way it did earlier.
And as a bonus, echoing @davebugg a little, walking the camino Ingles with my then 16 year old son a year later produced a similar result. I found out that he was way more adult, autonomous and responsible than I thought he was. Turns out that for me the camino is a quirky way to unravel assumptions...
This ought to be required reading for the control freaks and worriers out there who are planning their first Camino. I was nervous about all these things too, but it all worked out beautifully.To find out I actually could "let go". As a control freak, I thought it would be so hard not to plan, not to book hotels in advance. But I did itAnd I loved it. The sense of "I have no idea where I am now in this very second" or "I wonder where I will sleep tonight" was absolutely wonderful.
Funny, I just posed a question about convertible pants the other day.I was also a little surprised that literally every other person walking the Camino seemed to be wearing those convertible pants. I don't understand them.
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