Butler

[almhath]

Really, the solution to the whole thing?

Need to save weight. Have concerns about finding a bed. Need dry gear if it's been raining, or if sweating a lot. It can be too cold or too hot. Bed bugs. Shower water temperature. Food availability......

I really think the best thing is to just bring Smithers, and have him drive a motorhome along behind you. :roll:

But if you wanted to really do it right, I guess you could get Smithers to walk with you and carry your supplies for you...

Almha

 

[robertt]

Almhath, I'm surely one of the laziest, slowest and most pampered pilgrims in the history of the Camino...and even I am scandalised!

 

[dutchpilgrim]

My advice:
First go to Nepal, the Himalya, and over there, hire a Sherpa... :shock:
(They do exactly what you want for those climbing the Mount Everest, so why not in Spain?)

Ultreya,
Carli Di Bortolo

 

[Abbeydore]

Or a donkey :lol:

Actually this is not far from the truth, I'm training, my partner isn't(& in her sick bed),
well we're going on April 1st; so I guess I'm the fool who'll be carrying 2packs-worth :lol:

So my Camino song might be(very loud) e-ore, e-ore............ :lol: :lol:

Buen Camino

 

[ksam]

Ah bless you!! I'm weeping tears of laughter...having a field day with the mental images this whole little thread presents!! Merci!! Mercy Buckets !!

 

[CaminoJohn]

Back in 2005 when I was planning my first camino, I searched for information about what I could expect. On the web I found a DVD offered by a Southern California couple about their camino experiences. I ordered it and it has been such a source of amusement for me and my friends since! On the DVD the wife states that she has only agreed to do the camino with her husband "If she doesn't have to carry a thing!"..So, he builds a homemade cart and drags and pushes both of their crap all across the camino from Roncevalles to Santiago! She never appears in the DVD in the same outfit twice! It is quite hysterical...but boy does he lose weight! :wink:

 

[tyrrek]

It could be useful to have a flag man walking in front of you as they did with early cars. 'Orf the way, chaps, Gentleman coming through!' Especially if you're a cyclist. :lol:

 

[newfydog]

Don't try to tell me that Godescalc, the Bishop of LePuy, and the first documented pilgrim, carried his own pack. He probably had an entire entourage. I think bringing a domestic staff would make for a wonderfully traditional pilgrimage.

 

[lynnejohn]

I remember fondly on one camino, seeing a young couple - she in teeny-weeny white t-shirt, teeny-weeny white pants, pretty little white shoes with faux jewels on them, fully madeup, and her partner (or was he sherpa?) carrying two large mochillas - one on his back and one on his front. He was not as pretty as she - he was sweating and really struggling. My husband looked at me and said "Look away ..... look away".

It was really funny (and actually shocking to see such a rose among the "thorns") even though we really tried to tell ourselves and each other to consider their arrangement charitably. Who of us knows how and why these arrangements are made? Like all of you, we try to judge no one on the camino - we don't know their stories.......

lynne

 

[Deleted member 3000]

Slaves were quite popular in the Bible. It makes me wonder why God changed his mind, and if owning one would make a pilgrimage easier. I think protocol required feeding it, a bit of a bother.

 

[Abbeydore]

Ah bless you!! I'm weeping tears of laughter...having a field day with the mental images this whole little thread presents!! Merci!! Mercy Buckets !!

& we should not forget we are pretty well catered for already......only carrying a small rucksack with fresh coffee just around the corner & water plenty-full, & a lovely lady with fresh pancakes near the end of the Camino, as long as you promise not to pay for them :?: ...........& then there's a new bed every night :lol: :lol:; We are very spoilt already smithers or no smithers.

Looking forward to April 1st......roll-on 2012 :lol:

 

[Pablo2007]

Ahh ya gotta laugh, but the original post is not too far off the mark when you consider some of the "organised Trips" or "tours" that do have a van carrying all of their major stuff therefore people only have to carry a very small pack with the essentials. ( ummmmm water ... thats it) and not a lot of it because the van goes ahead and sets up lunch for them. I walked into Uterga (first town after el Perdon) and saw one of these groups having lunch set up for them, THEY EVEN HAD TABLE CLOTHS ) We had jet to fully organise the whole luch thing (actually we never did get it together) were wandering around with a big bag of almonds and ,,, and ,,, that was about it. I was so happy to find the bar with the giant bocadillos.

But to each his own as long as everyone plays nice and has fun

Have a great walk

Pablo

 

[almhath]

What? A van with goodies? Carrying supplies?

I feel like Joost in "The Way" exclaiming, "What? Bikes? You mean we can ride bikes?" 8)

Speaking of that............

 

[wawpdx]

Here’s an idea. What if we pick some long, parched, shadeless, endless section, flat enough to make you yearn for a little change of pace. Then add the relentless July midday sun and also make it the longest stretch of sharp rocks along the Camino Frances, jagged enough to make you think that the bikers made the smart choice back when the camino left the road. No bars. No village. No end in sight.

Then -- after you have had plenty of time to know that this terrain is never going to change --- let’s add, over on the left, a patch of trees with real shade and the sound of music (classical?). And a guy – not just any guy, a jolly, gentlemanly guy with a British accent -- folding lawn chairs, straw spread on the ground in case the chairs are filled – and, lo, he is serving mugs of hot, fresh coffee. And amazingly, he is the same guy that you had noticed the evening before in the singing albergue in Carrion de los Condes. But that time, before you knew he was an intentional camino angel, you were mentally berating him for having a camper trailer (the very trailer that made the coffee possible) and being in the albergue. (Isn’t that always a lesson of the Camino, we do not know the reasons behind other people’s actions/choices/reactions).

I was thinking the Butler idea was pretty silly until this revitalizing oasis experience from 2007 came to mind.
Nancy

 

[Abbeydore]

I was thinking the Butler idea was pretty silly until this revitalizing oasis experience from 2007 came to mind.
Nancy

Yes Nancy, eating humble pie.....Thank you, David