Home from the Camino

[falconbrother]

I'm on day three back at work from walking the Camino Frances. I feel a bit homesick. I could have lived that life indefinitely I think. I wasn't ready for it to be over, when it was over.

My wife said it best: "The Camino is what the church ought to be." Pilgrims being kind and helpful to each other. That was our experience anyway.

Coming back to the world it feels very dog eat dog. People cut each other off to get to a red light. Being rude and uncaring when it serves no purpose other than to encourage neurosis. The Camino is a peaceful place. It created a newer level of peace in me. The world races around me and I have no interest in participating in competition that goes nowhere. People who have no peace rise to power in a dysfunctional system...whether it's in a micro system or a macro system. My ego self feels really quiet and more than willing to allow what is to be.....where no one is actually being harmed.

Living out of a backpack and simply walking everyday did wonders. It's amazing how little we need to be happy in life (food, clothes, a place to sleep and friends) when we stop perpetually craving to be somewhere and someone else. Life only unfolds and gets lived now, here. My amazing wife and I are trying to figure out how to take this experience into the rest of our lives....how to encourage it and nurture it....share it.

I could go on..

 

[mochilaverde]

Do you think you will make any Camino-inspired changes in your life now that you are home?

 

[Dani7]

I can relate to so many observations you had. It is challenging to incorporate the "living in the now" back home. When on the path, you get to spend SO much time surrounded by incredible vistas, nature, birdsong and gurgling streams and brooks for so many hours every single day of your journey. My way of incorporating my maiden camino into my life...planning my next one.

Happy you both enjoyed this profound experience (at least it was for me). Thank you for sharing your thoughts. Buen "next" camino .

 

[Juspassinthru]

I'm on day three back at work from walking the Camino Frances. I feel a bit homesick. I could have lived that life indefinitely I think. I wasn't ready for it to be over, when it was over.

My wife said it best: "The Camino is what the church ought to be." Pilgrims being kind and helpful to each other. That was our experience anyway.

Coming back to the world it feels very dog eat dog. People cut each other off to get to a red light. Being rude and uncaring when it serves no purpose other than to encourage neurosis. The Camino is a peaceful place. It created a newer level of peace in me. The world races around me and I have no interest in participating in competition that goes nowhere. People who have no peace rise to power in a dysfunctional system...whether it's in a micro system or a macro system. My ego self feels really quiet and more than willing to allow what is to be.....where no one is actually being harmed.

Living out of a backpack and simply walking everyday did wonders. It's amazing how little we need to be happy in life (food, clothes, a place to sleep and friends) when we stop perpetually craving to be somewhere and someone else. Life only unfolds and gets lived now, here. My amazing wife and I are trying to figure out how to take this experience into the rest of our lives....how to encourage it and nurture it....share it.

I could go on..

What you experienced and are currently experiencing is not uncommon. What you and your wife are trying to figure out how to implement in your life, I did my version of 7 years ago.

For me, I was reminded to be mindful, live in this moment. If I’m in a conversation, I’m practicing active listening. If I’m walking down a trail, I’m enjoying that place and time. Even if I’m washing dishes, I try to be the best dishwasher there is. Something that I got to practice at the albergue in Arrés in April.

I was also reminded to practice equanimity, acceptance of things I cannot change. I screwed up yesterday, I CAN’T change that. I CAN not beat myself up day after day. I CAN work to not make that mistake again. If I harmed someone, I CAN try to right that wrong. I CAN also accept that others may “harm” me and I CAN control how I react to that.

My first Camino changed how I look a myself, others and the world in general. Your experience may be very different but don’t feel like you’re alone in this feeling or process.

Like many, your Camino continues. Buen Camino.

 

[efdoucette]

I'm 13 years removed from my first Camino and I still get indigestion when I look at a busy appointment calendar. The only cure for missing the Camino is to start planning the next one. Take care

 

[jessann80]

I’m just back from my first Camino and your thoughts and feelings so resonate with me as well. As I continue to process the experiences of the last month, I think how can I bring the love and peace I experienced to my sphere of influence. It is such a gift to enter into a mindset of ‘non-interest’ with the rat race and negativity that surrounds us! How can we share the love we have experienced with those around us? I have no doubt, the Camino will be a place I return to in order to refill the bucket. But, the world needs more of us sharing the gift we experience in that very special place. Thanks for sharing! It’s so nice to know others are facing similar feelings and struggles.

 

[Antonius Vaessen]

It is easy to understand your feelings after finishing your camino. It is more difficult to see how to apply this way of life in normal daily life though. The "camino society" consists of people who are there with the same goal, there is not so much competition. Helping eachother will benefit everybody to reach there goal. That is not so in normal life where people are in different positions and follow different goals that often conflict with each other. An important motivation for people to come back to a camino to escape this ' rat race" for a more clear and self evident way of life

 

[Perambulating Griffin]

When not on the camino, the one place that I find in real life is most consistently kind, with people seeking to help each other and not block opportunities *is* in my local church. The Camino is built on Matthew 25:35-40 which set the basis and mandate for the Benedictine hospitality that is the very ethos of all that community feeling...
If many of our churches fail and instead incite fury, hostility, loathing of immigrants, disdain for the poor, etc., and if we thus find that "the camino is what church ought to be" ...then it is important to ask "how did my particular church lose the way? and is there a different church/synagogue/temple to attend?"
I don't normally suggest such things... but the wish for one's church to be more like camino is a wish that can be met with some seeking... I'd start by looking at parishes that do outreach to prisoners, or with the homeless, or who are especially committed to helping those dealing with chronic illness... because those missions hew most closely to the mandate in Matthew. I have a church right across the street from me and I won't ever so much as stand in its threshold. But I really did need something to keep the way alive in my life when I could not walk the way...
May your seeking be gentle and enthusiastic, and may you find it and sustain it wherever is right.

 

[trecile]

I've been home for a week now, and just don't know what to do with myself. Yes, I have plenty of things that I can do around the house, but I miss that simple goal of walking to my next destination and furthering myself on the path to Santiago.

The fact that I arrived home to a heatwave of temperatures of 100+F/40+C hasn't helped!

 

[VNwalking]

Like many, your Camino continues. Buen Camino

The way we live is up to each of us - and many parts of that rat race are completely optional. But because human beings are herd animals, it's a bit of a challenge to live differently than everyone around us. So learning to graciously say no is a wonderful skill, as is finding quiet ways to use spare time. Sometimes the biggest challenge is just getting more and more comfortable doing both of those things when the world around us isn't. But it's really OK to be yourself.

just don't know what to do with myself

Doing is overrated in our culture.
Being is underrated.
The Camino is a being place. Home can be too, but it's not the usual habit. Not to mention that lots of people around us expect or want us to join in their doing habits.

 

[tbcan]

I'm 13 years removed from my first Camino and I still get indigestion when I look at a busy appointment calendar. The only cure for missing the Camino is to start planning the next one. Take care

You have articulated the "cure" so perfectly!

 

[LTfit]

Living out of a backpack and simply walking everyday did wonders. It's amazing how little we need to be happy in life (food, clothes, a place to sleep and friends) when we stop perpetually craving to be somewhere and someone else. Life only unfolds and gets lived now, here. My amazing wife and I are trying to figure out how to take this experience into the rest of our lives....how to encourage it and nurture it....share it.

I could go on..

Many of us have felt what you are now going through although each in their own way. The simplicity of it all and as you said, how little we actually need are important take-aways. I too finished 3 days ago but just returned to Santiago after walking to Finisterre.

You will figure out for yourself, along with your wife how the experience will impact your life. I became a volunteer hospitalera after my second Camino and continue to walk Caminos every year. I guess you could say that it's my medicine, it keeps me sane in this ever changing and often incomprehensible world.

Good luck and trust in the process.

Ultreia.

 

[dfox]

Do you think you will make any Camino-inspired changes in your life now that you are home?

Being a "materially and socially, not spiritually" minimalist.

 

[CWBuff]

I've been home for a week now, and just don't know what to do with myself. Yes, I have plenty of things that I can do around the house, but I miss that simple goal of walking to my next destination and furthering myself on the path to Santiago.

The fact that I arrived home to a heatwave of temperatures of 100+F/40+C hasn't helped!

I know what you should do- go on another Camino

 

[Pjoy]

I'm on day three back at work from walking the Camino Frances. I feel a bit homesick. I could have lived that life indefinitely I think. I wasn't ready for it to be over, when it was over.

My wife said it best: "The Camino is what the church ought to be." Pilgrims being kind and helpful to each other. That was our experience anyway.

Coming back to the world it feels very dog eat dog. People cut each other off to get to a red light. Being rude and uncaring when it serves no purpose other than to encourage neurosis. The Camino is a peaceful place. It created a newer level of peace in me. The world races around me and I have no interest in participating in competition that goes nowhere. People who have no peace rise to power in a dysfunctional system...whether it's in a micro system or a macro system. My ego self feels really quiet and more than willing to allow what is to be.....where no one is actually being harmed.

Living out of a backpack and simply walking everyday did wonders. It's amazing how little we need to be happy in life (food, clothes, a place to sleep and friends) when we stop perpetually craving to be somewhere and someone else. Life only unfolds and gets lived now, here. My amazing wife and I are trying to figure out how to take this experience into the rest of our lives....how to encourage it and nurture it....share it.

I could go on..

My focus since coming home is being friendly- smiles were big on the Camino and can be back home as well- and gentle when talking with others. I had a great day renewing my drivers license with that attitude as they responded similarly and was such a nice interaction. Paying the Camino gratitude and attitude forward is my goal.

 

[trecile]

I know what you should do- go on another Camino

I definitely plan to return, but as Tom Petty said, "the waiting is the hardest part."

 

[Purple Backpack]

I love this post and felt the same recently, writing a post on Camino Re-Entry. A few things have helped entering the chaos of “the real world”, whatever that is. I’m hiking every night and see the gorgeous sunsets, I’m praying more (as I did on my Camino), I’m using the Hallow app to listen to Bible in a Year podcast. When walking around town, I find at least three people and offer a compliment; I love it when they look a little surprised. And I try to say Hi (instead of Buen Camino) to those passing by me. Tiny things that are leftover from my recent Camino. Wishing you the best, I’d love to hear about any retreats that other pilgrims have used in the US.

 

[Cicada]

I'm on day three back at work from walking the Camino Frances. I feel a bit homesick. I could have lived that life indefinitely I think. I wasn't ready for it to be over, when it was over.

My wife said it best: "The Camino is what the church ought to be." Pilgrims being kind and helpful to each other. That was our experience anyway.

Coming back to the world it feels very dog eat dog. People cut each other off to get to a red light. Being rude and uncaring when it serves no purpose other than to encourage neurosis. The Camino is a peaceful place. It created a newer level of peace in me. The world races around me and I have no interest in participating in competition that goes nowhere. People who have no peace rise to power in a dysfunctional system...whether it's in a micro system or a macro system. My ego self feels really quiet and more than willing to allow what is to be.....where no one is actually being harmed.

Living out of a backpack and simply walking everyday did wonders. It's amazing how little we need to be happy in life (food, clothes, a place to sleep and friends) when we stop perpetually craving to be somewhere and someone else. Life only unfolds and gets lived now, here. My amazing wife and I are trying to figure out how to take this experience into the rest of our lives....how to encourage it and nurture it....share it.

I could go on..

Your wife and I are on the same page!

 

[Dani7]

I definitely plan to return, but as Tom Petty said, "the waiting is the hardest part."

Ohhhhh… I can soooo relate.

 

[Clycobb]

The way we live is up to each of us - and many parts of that rat race are completely optional. But because human beings are herd animals, it's a bit of a challenge to live differently than everyone around us. So learning to graciously say no is a wonderful skill, as is finding quiet ways to use spare time. Sometimes the biggest challenge is just getting more and more comfortable doing both of those things when the world around us isn't. But it's really OK to be yourself.


Doing is overrated in our culture.
Being is underrated.
The Camino is a being place. Home can be too, but it's not the usual habit. Not to mention that lots of people around us expect or want us to join in their doing habits.

I recommend two things: get in touch with a local Camino group if there is one; and go to a Bluegrass festival this summer. I am currently spending Friday night through Sunday camping next to my car, hobnobbing with my neighbors and listening to wonderful music played by amazing musicians. Nothing more! Very relaxing and off the grid.