JustOneGuy
Active Member
- Time of past OR future Camino
- Aug 2024: GR130, Apr 25: Camino Primitivo?
Hello everyone,
I came here looking for information about the Camino. My idea was to do with my partner “the” camino next spring. Then I started reading and I must say that, thanks also to the courtesy and welcome found, unusual in a forum, I became very involved in the idea. Then for various reasons I decided to plan a tour of the island where I live, the Canary Islands, as a start.
However, I must say, the more I read and - can I tell you the truth? - the less passionate I get about the idea of doing a Camino. As I have already said I am not a believer, so for me from a religious point of view it would have little value. but this is not a problem at all: I am meditative and like to walk alone, with frugality and little impact. But I don't like to “follow” the crowd, and frankly both my partner/wife and I don't like crowded places (a problem also here and in general in Spain) and feeling like “a number.” And I wonder if instead we are not the sort of person who should do the Camino.
I have always had - suffered, I would say - from an independent spirit and to the iconic, famous place I have always preferred the chance to make my own little discovery in the less known but true place, my own little gem. We have been to Galicia, Cantabria Asturia and Portugal recently (by car though) and we loved them. It was April-May, it was raining (and we both like rain and cold!). We found some wonderful places and were therefore attracted by the beauty of some lighthouses, some “rias” and towns, some remote white beaches, just for us. Also, we do not like planning too much in advance, and feeling the stress of not finding accommodation for the night would be an additional burden for us.
Having said all this--sorry for the long introduction--do you think, put frankly, there are caminos/periods when one does not experience this feeling of tourist massification that seems to me to be expressed in many posts? And also whether you think that at different times of the year, perhaps without overdoing the rain you could plan a visit to places where you could find some recollection, some personal experience? Or whether, in your opinion, it is better to head to other shores, and leave the Camino experience to those who truly believe in it?
In the back of my mind lies a little dream: that, shortly after I retire, I will start to walk, stopping only when I can no longer physically do it. A former colleague of mine recently retired: he put all his things in a couple of containers and lives in a beautiful sailboat with his wife, planning to go around the world.
To sailing I would personally prefer walking. Maybe a “camino” from Finisterra to Nordkapp , or some other crazy cardinal point (but with my big cat, whom I would never leave alone for months!
Thanks as always to everyone who will have the courtesy and time to give me their honest opinion.
I came here looking for information about the Camino. My idea was to do with my partner “the” camino next spring. Then I started reading and I must say that, thanks also to the courtesy and welcome found, unusual in a forum, I became very involved in the idea. Then for various reasons I decided to plan a tour of the island where I live, the Canary Islands, as a start.
However, I must say, the more I read and - can I tell you the truth? - the less passionate I get about the idea of doing a Camino. As I have already said I am not a believer, so for me from a religious point of view it would have little value. but this is not a problem at all: I am meditative and like to walk alone, with frugality and little impact. But I don't like to “follow” the crowd, and frankly both my partner/wife and I don't like crowded places (a problem also here and in general in Spain) and feeling like “a number.” And I wonder if instead we are not the sort of person who should do the Camino.
I have always had - suffered, I would say - from an independent spirit and to the iconic, famous place I have always preferred the chance to make my own little discovery in the less known but true place, my own little gem. We have been to Galicia, Cantabria Asturia and Portugal recently (by car though) and we loved them. It was April-May, it was raining (and we both like rain and cold!). We found some wonderful places and were therefore attracted by the beauty of some lighthouses, some “rias” and towns, some remote white beaches, just for us. Also, we do not like planning too much in advance, and feeling the stress of not finding accommodation for the night would be an additional burden for us.
Having said all this--sorry for the long introduction--do you think, put frankly, there are caminos/periods when one does not experience this feeling of tourist massification that seems to me to be expressed in many posts? And also whether you think that at different times of the year, perhaps without overdoing the rain you could plan a visit to places where you could find some recollection, some personal experience? Or whether, in your opinion, it is better to head to other shores, and leave the Camino experience to those who truly believe in it?
In the back of my mind lies a little dream: that, shortly after I retire, I will start to walk, stopping only when I can no longer physically do it. A former colleague of mine recently retired: he put all his things in a couple of containers and lives in a beautiful sailboat with his wife, planning to go around the world.
To sailing I would personally prefer walking. Maybe a “camino” from Finisterra to Nordkapp , or some other crazy cardinal point (but with my big cat, whom I would never leave alone for months!
Thanks as always to everyone who will have the courtesy and time to give me their honest opinion.
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