I'm not religious , I'm walking the Portuguese camino in September but my family background maternal and paternal is from Galicia and I want to honour them .. I'm 67 from Queensland Australia.
When I did my first camino by bike from Pamplona it was purely for the challenge but since then I have walked the Frances to Finesterre and Muxia and the Portuguese from Porto to Santiago and I find now that it's the simplicity of life on the camino that keeps me coming back, everything is just so laid back, I love it
Very much looking forward to my first Camino--probably Portugues. I love hiking and backpacking, but I don't see this in the same way--this will be a walking adventure versus a wilderness experience. With unexpected Camino magic and surprising moments thrown in, with people, history, and culture, along with the physical challenge of never having walked or hiked that far. It is also a time of transition for me--I was burnt out after some 25 years of high school teaching and my soul was crying out for a change. I resigned last year and expected to find my landing pad very quickly, which hasn't happened. I am still trying to transition--a year of job hunting I am still looking for my next niche. In 2023 doing the Camino will still be very much about who I am and where I am going in this next phase of my life (hopefully by then I will have a job to pay for it!). It will also allow me time for reflection, introspection, and nature.
It seems to me that one’s reasons for walking the Camino would change from before and after the first experience. And I get the feeling from Rob is that his rationale is constantly evolving as well. I was a teenage fundamentalist, and evolved in college to a Neumann Club ‘participant’ although I never converted. Then I discovered my truest faith was in my ability to understand, observe and take joy in the natural world that science has discovered, even if science likely cannot ever discern how & why the universe was created or came to be. So, my motivation - two months in advance of my first Camino (Frances) - is to anticipate and celebrate being in a community of pilgrims / peregrinos who, both collectively and as individuals, are seeking meaning and a life-affirming experience, as am I. From my knowledge of meeting a few with experience or determined ambition to complete a Camino, there are many who are motivated by challenging themselves to undertake a great physical test and prove their endurance to themselves, others, or to their God, I suspect. Maybe that is enough, and maybe I am among those who at the deepest level seek that affirmation. Another hope or fantasy I have now is to demonstrate or manifest to those who know me, my principle (the core subject of a would-be book) that nothing is served by individuals alone, nor is any community really capable without raising up each of its members to their fullest potential. Thank you, Rob, for the opportunity to comment, and for your insights and productions.
Hello. I just recently found your channel (I subscribed) and have only recently learned what the Camino de Santiago is. My time in life is getting shorter (I will soon turn 70 but am in excellent health) and I am finding myself at a crossroad. Do I sit in my leisure chair watching youtubes for the rest of my life or do I set a goal for adventure and follow through with it? It is time for me to make a decision and that is why I subscribed to your channel...to help me understand if this sort of trek would be beneficial to me at this stage of my life. Thank you so much for all the information you share about the Camino.
Have wanted to go since a couple of friends went in 2013 and 2014 and raved about it. Then after the unexpected and sudden death of my wife in late 2020, I became more determined to walk as a way to clear my thinking away from home and try to sort 'where to next' for me. Covid of course meant a pause and this year I underwent open heart surgery which forced a further delay. I am recovering well and hoping to go in late August this year or April 2023...my cardiologist may have the last word...also still trying to find the right shoes...
So sorry to hear of your loss John. From what you have shared, I think the Camino would be good for you. Take it slow, no firm plans. see what unfolds. God Bless 🙂
I'm currently hiking the Camino Francés. I am in Villafranca del Bierzo. I started watching RobsCamino several months ago as I was already preparing for the Camino when Covid hit. For me it was a chance to review the path that my life had taken, and think about choices I've made and from there decide what I'd like my future to look like. I was looking forward to a break and a chance to hit the reset button for my life. The Camino gives so much more than you could expect, if you are open to it. I find some of it to be a surprise because having so much time to yourself just to think, allows for magic.
I walked my first Camino when I was 66. I had mostly retired except the occasional project and felt I wanted to do something with the privilege of health, financial security and health. I had become something of a Stoic and enjoyed walking. So; the physical challenge and time for some personal reflection. Now I am addicted 🐘🐘🐘
I guess many pilgrims declare religous reasons because they want to have the better looking Compostella. My motivation is to accept my mistakes in the past, I would like to leave them behind and learn to look forward without fear for new mistakes.
Then I started to seriously think this was something I wanted to do. It had been about 3 years since I retired early from working. I had been busy doing volunteer work in 4 organisations and then I was trying to work out is this enough for me. It didn’t seem like it was. Whilst volunteering allowed me to help people, I wasn’t sure in which direction I should go. So, I put money aside to go then the pandemic hit and 2 years later I went to the Norte. Did I get some ephithany about my future while walking? no, unfortunately. What I did do was find the gamet of experiences of a camino; getting injured, desayunos, bad coffee (haha), interesting hostel sleeping hours (someone dropping every 2 hours through the night), getting robbed when leaving an albergue (keep your wallet on you no matter what), menu del dias, comradrie with other pilgrims, views, walking probably more than you thought you could, being flexible and taking transport when you can't go further without it. I met a couple of irish guys and at the time we all said this walk (the Norte) was very similar to being in Ireland and for me Coastal NSW. Rolling green hills, gum trees and bottlebush! Was it a religious thing for most people? On the way most of the churchs were closed except on Saturdays & Sundays. Not many people were going to them that I saw. Even in SdC at the 7:30am pilgrims' mass there were only 60 people there. So probably not. What I did get was important though: You can only be you no matter where you go, a pilgrmage starts in your head and ends there, being spiritual doesn't mean you have to go to the end of the world to find it and completing a key thing on Camino is it's own reward. For some it might be dropping your stone at the Cruz de ferro or the Faro at Fisterra.
Thanks for the question. Truth is...I'm not sure yet. I will retire next year after a career as a psychotherapist listening to the struggles and triumphs of others. I had decided years ago I would walk the Camino as a gift to myself. My casual answer is that I want to 'clear the pipes' of all that accumulated stress. My current plan is to start in Cahors on the Via Podiensis, go through St. Jean Pier de Port to Pamplona, take the train to Bilbao and complete the Camino del Norte. Not sure if I'll include the Camino Primitivo - probably not. That said, I have not decided upon what I want the Camino to be for me. I will, though, put time into this central question.
It's a great question. "I have not decided upon what I want the Camino to be for me". In truth I didn't know the first time. I just knew after watching "The Way" that this was something that was going to enrich my life in some way. It was probably only after 2-3 weeks walking, that I knew what the Camino was going to be for me.......
I differ from you Rob in that I have enjoyed hiking all of my life. I love adventures and have travelled all over the world. So the Camino made perfect sense to me but I also honestly really didn’t know back then what I was getting into. 😁
LOL. Yes, it draws you back doesn't it! I think the difference for me between hiking and a Camino, is the great sense of purpose, a clear destination, the history, so many things. But the sense of purpose is a real stand out for me. A purpose way beyond walking. Walking is merely the 'vehicle' for the experience to occur I think.
Planning for my first Camino for spring of next year. I want to travel and see places I would normally never see and meet people I would never have met if I wasn’t taking my time walking. Also don’t have a lot of money so staying in albergues along the way seems perfect for me, though I’ll probably want to budget in a break from it every once in a while. 😏
The funny thing is that my parents never ever walk the camino .. they were locals from Galicia and Santiago and they walk miles to go to work ..so they probably thought ... why on earth you wanted to walk " for nothing".
The thing people never get about the movie "The Way" is that it's a modern day "Wizard of Oz" story. Martin Sheen is Dorothy, the Dutch guy is the Cowardly Lion, the girl is the Tin Man and the writer is the Scarecrow, and the Camino is the Yellow Brick Road ....
You know.........and I don't want to set false expectations. But so many people say the Camino is nothing like that movie. My first Camino was very like that movie! OK, I didn't end up in jail overnight. But the emotions, the realisations, the meeting other Pilgrims..........was just like it.
I do. Though it may be a little out of date. I hear that prices are up a little right now. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-O2O8CGmKH2A.html You might want to budget e10-14 for an Albergue bed for example.
@@alyce8647 Always happy to talk Camino.🙂 If you use the search function on the channel, you'll find most topics. But feel free to ask anytime too! It gives me ideas for new videos.
@@robscamino l won’t take their poison so at this stage I don’t know if I can leave and enter a EU country or return for what it’s worth , the rules a too fluid to get a true indication just yet . I’m researching and as soon as l know what I’m allowed to do I’m there.
Well, I thought the Camino was mainly for Christians and really and truly being Christian means you are a believer in Jesus Christ and his great blood atoning sacrifice on the cross that atoned for the downfall of Adam and Eve. We now have a way back home. Thank God for that.
The Camino certainly has an interesting history doesn't it? Initially I believe it was a Pagan Pilgrimage, following the Milky Way. For the last 1,000 years or so it has been a very important Christian Pilgrimage of course, and I certainly see it as that when I walk it. But I also see it bringing a much broader value. To those who walk it who may be religious or 'spiritual' but who might not be Christians, like my wife who was brought up Buddhist, and even more broadly to for those who are 'seeking' something. And often the Camino helps them in that journey.
