- Time of past OR future Camino
- CF: 2001, 02, 04, 14. Ourense to Santiago 2019.
Day 372 -- HOME
More later, but 371 ended outside one last time in Villefranche-sur-Mer.
Super glad you’re home.
Now whose travels will I follow along?
Buen camino.
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Day 372 -- HOME
More later, but 371 ended outside one last time in Villefranche-sur-Mer.
Thank you -- though that's mainly stormy weather in Northern France, well away from the route I would have taken, even had I walked it. The normal Winter weather did hit the Pyrenees right at the end of it, but that's not the extreme weather in the North that the article discusses.Glad you are home, but I will miss following along on your travels. Sounds like you are there in time to miss the winter weather that @mspath posted about.
The soles and heels are pretty much destroyed, so they're going in the trash -- but I have my other pair on right now. Same (UK) size 14½ French Army boots.Now that you have taken off those special hiking boots
Well you have to be a budding millionaire to be able to afford "bacon and eggs" now in the US. Regular eggs were $6 per dozen at the store this week. Interestingly enough the "organic" eggs which are usually much higher were about $3.50 so have not gone up in price that much. Bacon, pork belly, etc. are now about as much as steak here as well. Enjoy your time savoring the memories of your journey (along with your meals) and when you feel up to it, share your follow up. I, for one, will be waiting.I've been wolfing down pork belly and eggs far more than normal.
The meat is up about 15%-20%, but that's from a very good starting price. About €5 for a steak the size of my plate instead of €4 and a bit. The pork belly is nowhere near the price of steak !! Eggs are up to €5 for 15 ; not organic as such but never been refrigerated though, so good enough.Well you have to be a budding millionaire to be able to afford "bacon and eggs" now in the US. Regular eggs were $6 per dozen at the store this week. Interestingly enough the "organic" eggs which are usually much higher were about $3.50 so have not gone up in price that much. Bacon, pork belly, etc. are now about as much as steak here as well. Enjoy your time savoring the memories of your journey (along with your meals) and when you feel up to it, share your follow up. I, for one, will be waiting.
Ah...a good boneless ribeye here is about $15 per pound at the grocery store and at least double that at a steakhouse. Bacon is about $5-7 lbs so you are right, it's still cheaper to have bacon and eggs!The meat is up about 15%-20%, but that's from a very good starting price. About €5 for a steak the size of my plate instead of €4 and a bit. The pork belly is nowhere near the price of steak !! Eggs are up to €5 for 15 ; not organic as such but never been refrigerated though, so good enough.
That sounds familiar. Although I have never been on the road continuously for quite as long as you did I found it hard to return to a stationary "normal" after spending just over two months walking. Just waking up in the morning with nowhere else to be that day was strange and unsettling. No words of wisdom to offer you - just to say that you are not alone on that one. Ultreia!I still have the Camino fatigue like any pilgrim, still feel like I need to get my pack in order to head on out.
JabbaPapa,The aches and pains still haven't quite gotten back to normal baseline, left shoulder has some backpack strap stuff, knees, ankles, muscles still complaining.
I have been stuffing my face though, catching up on the various series that I like, eight months worth, gaming again, and generally just staying in and resting.
Such a relief to be without the Albergues and extra food expenses on top of my rent and bills though !!
There's a qualitative differenc to this return home compared to the others, a lot from having walked back to France, but also from having walked for such a long time continuously, double any previous, and also for so far.
I still have the Camino fatigue like any pilgrim, still feel like I need to get my pack in order to head on out.
This is in contrast to previous arrivals, when it was just done and behind me.
Some Camino attitudes have also become even more deeply ingrained, a certain sense of continuous and yet stable impermanence especially.
One thing is certain though - - of the three major pilgrimages of this Camino, the most important by far turned out to be Santiago.
But do try to see it in the eyes of others. Perhaps she meant if you haven't enough money, don't expect your fellow pilgrims or others to subsidize you? I'm with her. Being asked for money puts most of us on the spot.One German peregrina though looked at me in disgust and disdain, "if you haven't enough money, don't go on the Camino" according to her.
Not what she said. And you weren't there.Perhaps she meant if you haven't enough money, don't expect your fellow pilgrims or others to subsidize you? I'm with her. Being asked for money puts most of us on the spot.
JabbaPapa,Finances for the final Camino month were tough again, train fares from Lourdes in particular, but I made it through -- no more Albergues nor pilgrim menus on top of rent and bills is a huge difference.
Got enough for tomorrow, and Tuesday is payday. Hooray !!
A great help is that there is a local fund to help the elderly and disabled at Christentide, that I had forgotten about, but I went to see someone in the local services to say hello, and there were a nice €40 waiting for me (they lasted long), and a box of chocolates, well-timed indeed as that was on my birthday !!
On the topic though, this fourth stage of my Camino did get more and more difficult after the first three months ; sure, there was a lot of sleeping outdoors in that period of it, so less expenditure, but even so. 5 days of difficulty, 10 days the following month, 15 the month after. And I got through December with a great deal of help from some forum members, whom I am deeply grateful towards, and also a few nights outdoors, and it did help that Castilla y León is not so costly as Galicia.
I'd never attempt a Camino with no money, that's ridiculous, but the truth is that my income that was sufficient in the early Summer of 2022 ceased to be enough over the course of Autumn to Winter 2022-23.
The only two I came across with no money as such were one clinically insane pseudo-pilgrim tramp, living on the Camino ping-pong manner going back and forth between the Albergues that would put him up for free because they feel sorry for him, and he is very disturbed ; and one "True Pilgrim" I met twice, first at Santiago, then weeks later in Mansilla de las Mulas, on his Way from Santiago to Rome with his two dogs and sleeping nearly always outside. Brilliant guy, and definitely a pilgrim, no pseudo- about him.
One German peregrina though looked at me in disgust and disdain, "if you haven't enough money, don't go on the Camino" according to her.
Nonsense, but this is the risk now with grotesque inflation plus the increasingly generalised touristification of the Camino, in a redefinition as a privilege for the rich, and no longer a Catholic Christian Pilgrims' Way, that all are welcome in, rich or poor. This has been the tendency for many years, but a tipping point seems to have been reached.
Of course there's a personal situational element to these comments, a certain bias, as I myself am now less capable of just sleeping outdoors than I was, 30 years after my first Camino, and with complicated dietary needs that are not dirt cheap as things were previously ; and the walking takes longer and longer ; but even so, daily Camino expenditure did increase substantially over the course of 2022.
I certainly do not begrudge those pilgrims wishing for more comforts along the Way, may they be enjoyed !! But a certain equilibrium that had emerged, a positive cohabitation in good will, is in the process of being ruined by the current financial crisis.
I think some sort of solution is inevitable, for the Camino anyway, but I do hope it doesn't get *too* bad in the meantime ... If it becomes for the wealthy alone, the fewer pilgrims there will be, the less custom at each place along the Way, then establishments will be forced into closure from not enough pilgrims. If things get worse.
We walk these Pilgrim Ways in Faith, not in cost/benefit ratio !!
Me.Who knows what she said?
This is the feeling I get here on the forum, too - with more and more questions about itineraries and booking. An indication of the general trend. When I get bored or cynical it helps to remember the camino has always had a touristic element. And I do thet sometines too, on the camino.the increasingly generalised touristification of the Camino, in a redefinition as a privilege for the rich, and no longer a Catholic Christian Pilgrims' Way, that all are welcome in, rich or poor. This has been the tendency for many years, but a tipping point seems to have been reached.
Or maybe just the relative proportion of those with means, who never knew the way it was before?But a certain equilibrium that had emerged, a positive cohabitation in good will, is in the process of being ruined by the current financial crisis.
Amen. Unfortunately for most people, the respect one gets is directly proportional to the money one has. That's the world, sadly.I expect nothing from nobody, unless it should be some common courtesy, decency, and respect.
Perhaps it would have been better to preface this statement with 'in my opinion' as others on the forum or on the Way may have a different take on this.
Beautiful post, @SEB2.the pleasure of being able to share
There's an inability to be generous that comes with disrespect for those without means, calling them all 'freeloaders.'
YesAnd regardless - it is a joy to share, much more than to accumulate
I actually found a French supplier for the broken smartphone piece, and cheaper, so I'll have that in a couple of days, and can skip the battery for my backup Windows Phone for the time being.Fixing phone and glasses...really important.
Fixing other broken bits...well, that Roman Jubilee is far enough ahead to give time to do that. By the time that rolls around may you have more ease of body!
I have encountered just such several times over the years, and thank you for this.Just been reading the new book "Waybread" by Laurie Dennett. In one of the articles she talks about the history and significance of the Compostela. As someone who made the journey in both directions you might appreciate this part.
"The compostela had uses outside the city of the Apostle, besides merely proving that the bearer had been there. Since pilgrims in earlier centuries had to return home by the same means as they arrived, the compostela may have served as an additional form of safe-conduct, especially if the return journey took their owners off the established routes where they enjoyed considerable legal protection. Whether on the well-worn pilgrim roads or farther afield, the possession of a compostela may have resulted in spontaneous offers of meals, beds and favours from local people that eased the homeward way. The rules of the religious foundations at Roncesvalles and Aubrac allowed for the special treatment of accredited pilgrims on their way home, which included warm water for washing and better wine."
Dennett, Laurie . Waybread: Memories of the Camino for the Onward Journey (p. 206). Peaceable Publishing. Kindle Edition.
It's just downhill from where I live.JabbaPapa,
It is such a pleasure to see you so fit and content next to the splendid roundel commemorating Saint Jacques and the tower of the église Saint Jacques de la Boucherie. Thank you for sharing this photo here on the forum.
Edited and deleted.It might be my iPad but I can’t load your photographs….![]()
Me neither, on my iPadIt might be my iPad but I can’t load your photographs….![]()
They were just ghosts from the unintended misclick.Me neither, on my iPad
JabbaqPapa,Music to go with that image is the soundtrack for The Way.
It's a very good idea!Some of you long-timers and repeat artists may wish to reflect upon that idea .
Three extra Paris model credenciales to glue into the bloody thing are on their way right now ...My already ginormous Credencial is going to get even fatter !!
The fatness of this thread is very similar to my own, and to that of my 2019-2024 Credencial. And ~6,600K total ???!!??!My already ginormous Credencial is going to get even fatter !!
This thing :Which mattress did you settle for in the end?
Definitely not daily use !!Wow, it certainly is cheap, but not too bad weight wise. I'll be interested to know how you get on after a couple of weeks sleeping on it - or is it intended more for emergency use?
Do you need to try them on or can they ship them to you?I have worked out how to organise a new pair of Army boots.
I am going to Paris next month for a Baptism, and there seems to be a Night Train from there to Marseilles -- which is where my boots come from.![]()
It's an army base, so in either case I do need to go there. It's not mail order !!Do you need to try them on or can they ship them to you?
My feeling is that this isn't happening ; and if not, I have no idea whatsoever why not.I am going to Paris next month for a Baptism
Ah, but the question is...are you?some people out there seem to be disturbed by it.
Forgive my curiousity, but...I am setting out into a wilderness again, that much is clear, and some people out there seem to be disturbed by it.
Probably just revert to my old plan of walking with my 2014 boots, despite their lack of waterproofness, warped leather, and general damage.OK, what is the new plan for getting the boots?
Our deepest wildernesses are in our bodies, minds, spirits, and souls.where is this wilderness you speak of, and why would anyone 'out there' be disturbed by you setting out into it?
A new pack! That's exciting...Just got my new backpack.
It's smaller and lighter than my last one, but I think that's a good thing, as this will not be a winter Camino so I need less stuff.
The Army sleeping bag fits in, and the new inflatable mattress is tiny when uninflated.
Packing the sleeping bag tightly seems to leave enough volume for the rest of my junk, and there are outside volumes as well.
Straps are more comfortable than the silly Decathlon one, and I like the smaller volume.
It's workable. I like it.