- Time of past OR future Camino
- Frances (2014)
Frances (2017)
I was 55 when a friend suggested that I join him on a trek to Everest Base Camp. I was slightly overweight, not all that fit, and a trek like this probably didn’t make it into the top 1000 items on my bucket list. But somehow I found myself in Nepal, all kitted out in my new clothes, backpack and walking sticks. I’m sure most people thought I was crazy, that I was irresponsible and had no right to undertake this venture. But with the support and encouragement of friends, family and the wonderful guides and trek mates who helped me along the way, I made it and my life has never been the same since.
Full of enthusiasm I was inspired to undertake another adventure, but it took a while, Everest Base Camp is a hard act to follow. Then I started hearing about this trek called The Camino and thought it sounded like fun. So with my daughter for company, I launched myself into my next adventure.
How did I go on the Camino? In response I’d like to give another perspective to some very valid opinions expressed on this forum and offer these reasons why you should walk a camino
Find the opportunity to become more spiritually aware. Religion has not played a major role in my family lives. But I am interested in other people’s lives and cultures, and through the stories of pilgrims past and present I heard and read along the camino, my respect for, and understanding of those who walk in the footsteps of others for spiritual reasons grew. I like to think that my journey was respectful of their beliefs and endeavours.
Learn to balance expectations I didn’t know what to expect from the Camino. I knew it was going to be hard, I hoped I wouldn’t get blisters, and that I would make it to Santiago. It was harder than I ever thought it would be and my blisters grew daily, along with the realisation that I couldn’t walk as far in a day as I had hoped. I learnt to set more realistic expectations of what my day would look like. I didn’t expect, or have, a great spiritual awakening, but for me and my daughter, it became a life-changing experience that crept up on us unexpectedly as each day passed.
Get to know your body I come from a town in Australia which is conspicuously lacking in hills, let alone mountains. Training for my first camino mainly consisted of a daily 5 km walk on flat ground carrying my backpack which I took along on the camino and weighed a mere 7kg. It contained everything I needed. Every so often I did a 20 km walk What I learnt along the way was the importance of listening to your body. If it’s telling you to slow down, rest for a day, seek medical advice, even get your backpack sent on if the day ahead is particularly gruelling, then do it. Another thing I learnt was that the body is an amazing thing. That you can go to bed with feet, knees and calves burning, sure that you will not be able to do anything the next day except take a bus or train to the nearest airport, but then you wake ready to hoist the backpack, pick up the walking sticks and hit the trail. Yes, the realisation that you are going to do this day after endless day can be daunting, but I liked the comfort of not having to make any decisions other than where are we going to sleep and what are we going to eat. As for the logistics and planning, I am the mother of 4 children, now adults, I think I’ve got that nailed.
Develop the ability to roll with the punches You may not start with this ability, but you will learn. Because the alternative is to take off your backpack, put down your walking sticks and go home. It may be a steep learning curve. In one small town I saw a couple arrive too late to get accommodation and were told they had to walk a further 10 kms to a larger town. The young lady had a huge screaming and crying melt down in the street. I knew how she felt, I hope she felt better afterwards.
Accept and value the path you have chosen On the walls of a monastery we read the following “A tourist demands, a pilgrim is grateful” It rang such a loud clanging bell with us. Every evening from then on we would ask each other three questions What was the high point point of your day? What was the low point of your day? What are you grateful for? The low point may seem like a strange question, surely you want to talk about the high points. But we learnt from the low, from our mistakes, and often had a good laugh about our dummy spits.
Having said all that, I guess the camino may not be for everyone. But I am grateful to Shirley McLaine , Martin Sheen and the lady down the street whose niece did the camino and it sounded like fun. I am grateful for all that I learnt about myself, about other people, about tolerance and respect, and to just to have had that that opportunity. I saw my daughter develop from someone who wouldn’t pick up the phone to order pizza, to a confident young lady who could walk into a town she didn’t know, in a country where the language was foreign, and the customs were different, and book accommodation for herself and her Mama (who was probably still walking) and order a beer and pizza. Someone who went on to tackle the 1300 km Shikoku pilgrimage in Japan on her own.
You never know what the Camino will bring you unless you take that first step.
Full of enthusiasm I was inspired to undertake another adventure, but it took a while, Everest Base Camp is a hard act to follow. Then I started hearing about this trek called The Camino and thought it sounded like fun. So with my daughter for company, I launched myself into my next adventure.
How did I go on the Camino? In response I’d like to give another perspective to some very valid opinions expressed on this forum and offer these reasons why you should walk a camino
Find the opportunity to become more spiritually aware. Religion has not played a major role in my family lives. But I am interested in other people’s lives and cultures, and through the stories of pilgrims past and present I heard and read along the camino, my respect for, and understanding of those who walk in the footsteps of others for spiritual reasons grew. I like to think that my journey was respectful of their beliefs and endeavours.
Learn to balance expectations I didn’t know what to expect from the Camino. I knew it was going to be hard, I hoped I wouldn’t get blisters, and that I would make it to Santiago. It was harder than I ever thought it would be and my blisters grew daily, along with the realisation that I couldn’t walk as far in a day as I had hoped. I learnt to set more realistic expectations of what my day would look like. I didn’t expect, or have, a great spiritual awakening, but for me and my daughter, it became a life-changing experience that crept up on us unexpectedly as each day passed.
Get to know your body I come from a town in Australia which is conspicuously lacking in hills, let alone mountains. Training for my first camino mainly consisted of a daily 5 km walk on flat ground carrying my backpack which I took along on the camino and weighed a mere 7kg. It contained everything I needed. Every so often I did a 20 km walk What I learnt along the way was the importance of listening to your body. If it’s telling you to slow down, rest for a day, seek medical advice, even get your backpack sent on if the day ahead is particularly gruelling, then do it. Another thing I learnt was that the body is an amazing thing. That you can go to bed with feet, knees and calves burning, sure that you will not be able to do anything the next day except take a bus or train to the nearest airport, but then you wake ready to hoist the backpack, pick up the walking sticks and hit the trail. Yes, the realisation that you are going to do this day after endless day can be daunting, but I liked the comfort of not having to make any decisions other than where are we going to sleep and what are we going to eat. As for the logistics and planning, I am the mother of 4 children, now adults, I think I’ve got that nailed.
Develop the ability to roll with the punches You may not start with this ability, but you will learn. Because the alternative is to take off your backpack, put down your walking sticks and go home. It may be a steep learning curve. In one small town I saw a couple arrive too late to get accommodation and were told they had to walk a further 10 kms to a larger town. The young lady had a huge screaming and crying melt down in the street. I knew how she felt, I hope she felt better afterwards.
Accept and value the path you have chosen On the walls of a monastery we read the following “A tourist demands, a pilgrim is grateful” It rang such a loud clanging bell with us. Every evening from then on we would ask each other three questions What was the high point point of your day? What was the low point of your day? What are you grateful for? The low point may seem like a strange question, surely you want to talk about the high points. But we learnt from the low, from our mistakes, and often had a good laugh about our dummy spits.
Having said all that, I guess the camino may not be for everyone. But I am grateful to Shirley McLaine , Martin Sheen and the lady down the street whose niece did the camino and it sounded like fun. I am grateful for all that I learnt about myself, about other people, about tolerance and respect, and to just to have had that that opportunity. I saw my daughter develop from someone who wouldn’t pick up the phone to order pizza, to a confident young lady who could walk into a town she didn’t know, in a country where the language was foreign, and the customs were different, and book accommodation for herself and her Mama (who was probably still walking) and order a beer and pizza. Someone who went on to tackle the 1300 km Shikoku pilgrimage in Japan on her own.
You never know what the Camino will bring you unless you take that first step.