- Time of past OR future Camino
- Francés, Norte, Salvador, Primitivo, Portuguese
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I think you're onto something here. The Camino experience, with its communal living, and community support, absence of office work, not to mention abundant physical exercise and minimal personal possessions, must echo that primal life we lived as humans for thousands of years. Our genes are built for this life!in reality I believe I was living real life
I shifted to a somewhat minimalist lifestyle (I say somewhat because there are much more serious minimalists than me) 8 years ago after a major life changing (at the time) "sad"event. I'm grateful for that event because it brought me back to a gentler, softer, simpler, kinder and more compassionate lifestyle. A sister commented that I was escaping "real" life while on the Camino......in reality I believe I was living real life vs most Westerners who are caught up in the grind of a "strive and acquire" lifestyle. Consider myself extremely fortunate to be now a member of the Camino Family and look forward to my next.
I walked the CF alone in May. My husband was waiting for me in Santiago with a beautiful bracelet he had had made for me. It has a scallop shell charm with "Ultreïa! Et susseïa!" and "Deus adjuvat nos." inscribed. I wear it always, so the Camino is always with me.This is one of the reasons why I have worn a small silver scallop shell pendant since my first long camino - every time I look in the mirror I am reminded that whatever else I am and how I succeed or fail in 'normal life', I am also that person who did that and belongs there.
My sentiments exactly - I also find it hard to slip back in the "norm" of life after a camino.Before my first Camino last year so much of it - sleeping in dorms, carrying everything I needed on my back, wearing just the same two outfits for over a month, no hair dryer or makeup, walking 20 to 30 km a day - was totally out of my comfort zone. But now, it's where I feel comfortable and happy. While it's very different from my regular life, there is so much about Camino life that is comforting. The regular routine of waking up, walking, finding a place to sleep, wash clothes, then hang out with Camino friends.
And, as opposed to regular life, it's so easy to meet people and form friendships, because we all have a common goal. You can stop at any bar along the way and strike up a conversation with a fellow pilgrim. Try that at Starbucks!
And then there's the feeling that everyone is really equal, and it doesn't matter your age, sex or job. In my regular life I tend to judge myself compared to others, and dwell on my shortcomings, but on the Camino I feel competent and strong.
Before my first Camino last year so much of it - sleeping in dorms, carrying everything I needed on my back, wearing just the same two outfits for over a month, no hair dryer or makeup, walking 20 to 30 km a day - was totally out of my comfort zone. But now, it's where I feel comfortable and happy. While it's very different from my regular life, there is so much about Camino life that is comforting. The regular routine of waking up, walking, finding a place to sleep, wash clothes, then hang out with Camino friends.
And, as opposed to regular life, it's so easy to meet people and form friendships, because we all have a common goal. You can stop at any bar along the way and strike up a conversation with a fellow pilgrim. Try that at Starbucks!
And then there's the feeling that everyone is really equal, and it doesn't matter your age, sex or job. In my regular life I tend to judge myself compared to others, and dwell on my shortcomings, but on the Camino I feel competent and strong.
I am in the "escape" camp. Reality is that without our cushy home jobs we wouldn't be on the Camino, walking with no worries and all the luxury we could want: someone cleans up after us in the albergues, we walk with our carbon poles, 200$ Hoka One Ones, ultra tek trousers and merino tops, eat out 3 times a day, keeping in touch with our 1000$ Iphones.
At least the vast majority of is do.
None of this would be possible without the rat race at home.
Just look at the responses people get every time someone mentions wanting to move to Spain to open an albergue.
We are all at our best when stress free, enjoying the pleasures of life. The rest test is when the bleep hits the fan. Who are we under stress? When everything is not going our way? What are our impulses then?
When ever I get off the boat after two weks at see scuba diving enjoying the natural wonders this world has to offer I cry and wonder why I am going back to regular life. Well, to be able to affoard the next 2 weeks of heaven. Because working on such a boat is hard work, it doesn't pay, you have to tolerate clients with a smile, and when you step off the boat you have nothing to show for all this work.
Who wouldn't enjoy life long retirement? Or being a trust fund baby? My next door neighbour, a highschool English teacher, once said to me he was born to be retired. I told him I was born to be kept.
I also think this thinking is very much a feeling from the Frances, where the path is easiest, with lots of infrastructure and lots of people to meet and distract us. The lesser walked Caminos oush you more and, like the rat race, makes your true colours shine through.
All this being said, after watching so much of the news in the last 10 days in North America, I have to admit that the thought of selling everything and buying a stone ruin on a lesser Camino to restore has been a lovely thought to fall asleep to.
"Life is Camino."A lot of good, thoughtful content in this thread that really resonates with me. Explains why my wife and I have been on a Camino in each of the last four years.
Steve McQueen once said, 'Life is Racing, Everything else is just waiting'... so is 'Life is a Camino, Everything else is just waiting?'
„And then there's the feeling that everyone is really equal, and it doesn't matter your age, sex or job [...] on the Camino I feel competent and strong.“
This.
For me, the way people interact on the Camino is how it's supposed to be. Pilgrims look at each other as equals, everybody is a potential friend. If you get judged, it is for how you act towards others, not for social status, money, or career. It's about who you are as a person, and how you can grow to be a better person as well as helping others to do the same. That's a beautiful thing.
It makes me sad when people see the Camino as just another kind of holiday, as escapism, as a parallel world that is not real. It's there, it's real. It is walked by real people with real lives and real emotions, and for many it has a very real impact on their lives. Why trivialise that?
The fact that after a while you have to go back to a job to earn money doesn't make it any less real. Never understood that argument.
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