Camino Friends

[Liam55]

Hi Ladies and Gentlemen,

Just a query that floating in my head!! Am due to start in St Jean 5th September.

How difficult is it to part from new friends that one might have walked and shared with for days if not weeks? Maybe not difficult but it seems to me that I might find it difficult; maybe I am dreaming!!

Just curious as to how you Camino vets have dealt with this situation.

Thanks a million.

Liamn

 

[trecile]

Hi Ladies and Gentlemen,

Just a query that floating in my head!! Am due to start in St Jean 5th September.

How difficult is it to part from new friends that one might have walked and shared with for days if not weeks? Maybe not difficult but it seems to me that I might find it difficult; maybe I am dreaming!!

Just curious as to how you Camino vets have dealt with this situation.

Thanks a million.

Liamn

That's really such a personal question. It depends on each individual's personality and relationships with those that they meet.
Definitely exchange contact information with those whom you want to stay in touch with.

 

[davebugg]

Hi Ladies and Gentlemen,

Just a query that floating in my head!! Am due to start in St Jean 5th September.

How difficult is it to part from new friends that one might have walked and shared with for days if not weeks? Maybe not difficult but it seems to me that I might find it difficult; maybe I am dreaming!!

Just curious as to how you Camino vets have dealt with this situation.

Thanks a million.

Liamn

How much velcro dna do you have? Some velcro is horribly difficult to rip apart, while others barely cling together.

Seriously, "it depends" is the best answer I can give. You have a unique personality and mindset from me or anyone else. For me, I don't even want to deal with group social stuff in-person. As an introvert, that's not my thing.

If you are are someone who gets desperately lonely or homesick, I would guess that it would be harder to part ways with someone you hit it off with. Keep in mind that if you hit it off with someone and both are generally stopping at the same town, only s/he or you are going to get there faster due to walking speed, you can just plan to meet together for dinner or exploring.

 

[DanielH]

Hi Ladies and Gentlemen,

Just a query that floating in my head!! Am due to start in St Jean 5th September.

How difficult is it to part from new friends that one might have walked and shared with for days if not weeks? Maybe not difficult but it seems to me that I might find it difficult; maybe I am dreaming!!

Just curious as to how you Camino vets have dealt with this situation.

Thanks a million.

Liamn

by all means exchange contact info. I often think of people from around the world that I met on the Camino. Some are on this forum. I'm still in regular communication with two friends from Ireland and we have visited each others homes in the US and Ireland after the Camino. There are others that I wish I had made a greater effort to exchange info, but the memories are always there. Buen Camino

 

[gns]

I would suggest you leave yourself a couple of days in Santiago at the end. People arrive at different times and celebrate together before moving on either to the coast or on their journey home. This creates a rhythm for completing the Camino, and parting feels a natural part of it including when it is your turn to leave. At least that is how it has seemed to me.

Of course if you walk the Camino Torres the chance of having any fellow peregrinos to say goodbye to is vanishingly small, so if you're really worried that may be the route for you.

 

[Peregrinopaul]

How difficult is it to part from new friends that one might have walked and shared with ….

I think that’s a great question, and you don’t seem to have received any answers yet, so I’ll chip in with “hard”! The situation for me, on a bike, is obviously different, since any walkers I meet today I will usually leave in my slow wake tomorrow. What strikes me most about it is that the people you often connect with are so very different to those you meet in your “normal” life, particularly in my case because they are almost inevitably from other countries and cultures. Your question made me reflect on who they were, and in order of appearance that would be: a Spanish professor, a young Berliner, a Japanese engineer, a Dutchman who’d ridden from his home and was riding back, an American photographer, two French students who rented me a room - and I could go on. What has amazed me is how instant it is to recognise like-minded persons so easily on Camino. You obviously meet lots of people, usually interesting, but the ones you (or I) especially connect with in the brief moment of time available are actually few. And the final Buen Camino has always been poignant for me.

A postscript. I met 2 of them again - the Spaniard who invited me to visit his family in Barcelona which I did 2 years later, and the Japanese gentleman with whom I shared a bottle of wine and an evenings’ hilarious conversation in Ourense alberge - we met again by chance at Madrid airport. The the delight at that encounter is difficult to describe.

 

[FourSeasons]

How difficult is it to part from new friends that one might have walked and shared with for days if not weeks?

Just curious as to how you Camino vets have dealt with this situation.

How difficult? In my experience with certain people it was very difficult. For instance, I met someone on day three in Cizor Menor whom shared a couple of boiled eggs with me. He was also my bunkbed mate, he was on top. Day after day he would pass me on the way. I started out early, two hours later he’d come walking up from behind. He would slow down and chat for a while, always making me smile and laugh. Then off he’d go, speed walker. I called him my Camino Sunshine. While in Fromista I got word he was going on ahead with a couple who walks at his pace. I cried at the thought of never seeing him again. The day before I reached Sarria I ran into one of those ladies from Holland who informed me he was nursing an injury in Sarria and would be there. Oh glory, glory, glory. Needless to say my feet grew wings and we were reunited. My friend and I made it to Santiago, had a celebration meal with our Camino family and continued our friendship on WhatsApp where we would talk at least every two weeks for five years. He in Holland, I in the USA.

@Liam55 I hope you let the Camino work in you, leaving you open to all it has to offer. Celebrate the emotions. God Bless and Buen Camino.

Sarria reunion Sept 2013. I’m in the blue shirt, he’s next to me to my left. So happy.

 

[Vacajoe]

Be open, be honest. Invite others to share your emails, accept invitations from others to share theirs. Instead of buying a glass of wine, but a bottle and offer some to nearby pilgrims. Buy a packet of cookies and share them with pilgrims you pass. If you see a lone pilgrim eating, ask if you can share the table with them. Walk with open eyes, open ears (no ear buds), and an open heart. If you see someone struggling and alone, slow your walk and offer them assistance, even if it’s simply to be present for them.

There are so many ways to meet other pilgrims, and one very big way to NOT, so don’t close yourself off to the experience of meeting others.

 

[Sweetbaboo]

Hi Ladies and Gentlemen,

Just a query that floating in my head!! Am due to start in St Jean 5th September.

How difficult is it to part from new friends that one might have walked and shared with for days if not weeks? Maybe not difficult but it seems to me that I might find it difficult; maybe I am dreaming!!

Just curious as to how you Camino vets have dealt with this situation.

Thanks a million.

Liamn

It is always nice to get comfortable with whomever you are walking with along this path. Yet the beauty of this adventure is meeting people, making connections, and then letting go. It seems I would walk with a few people a few days or a week, then I would decide to stay some place for an extra day or the pace changed for me or them, etc. Things change. I was always surprised that somehow I ran into them again. And during my 3 Caminos I exchanged much contact information. Some I have kept up with and some not. I have one friend who lives in Norway and I have visited twice and will again on my next Camino. Be present and embrace the moments. Maybe this is time to look at attachment and how it serves you.
Buen Camino

 

[Vince Rollason]

Hi Ladies and Gentlemen,

Just a query that floating in my head!! Am due to start in St Jean 5th September.

How difficult is it to part from new friends that one might have walked and shared with for days if not weeks? Maybe not difficult but it seems to me that I might find it difficult; maybe I am dreaming!!

Just curious as to how you Camino vets have dealt with this situation.

Thanks a million.

Liamn

I guess this is a difficult question to answer as it is such a personal thing. However I have done 3 Caminos since 2013 and exchanged contact details with quite s few people. I am still in email contact with a number of Camino friends and some of us have even visited each other if we have been travelling in the other person's area or country. As you progress you mix with various groups and you see people for a few days and then not see them for a few days. It is amazing that people will come to you and say I have seen so and so and they were asking about you. Then you meet up with them again a few days later.
Buen Camino
Vince

 

[Robi Diaz De Vivar]

Hi Ladies and Gentlemen,

Just a query that floating in my head!! Am due to start in St Jean 5th September.

How difficult is it to part from new friends that one might have walked and shared with for days if not weeks? Maybe not difficult but it seems to me that I might find it difficult; maybe I am dreaming!!

Just curious as to how you Camino vets have dealt with this situation.

Thanks a million.

Liamn

Happily this is one of these things that are easier in these days of social media. On my first Camino - CF in 2016, I had the great good fortune to walk for 8 days with a fantastic tribe of people from Scotland, England, USA and Australia. I had to stop at Burgos to go home while they all continued on to Santiago. I was desperate to go home to my wife but I felt I was betraying my tribe by deserting them. Once we all got home we kept in contact through FB and since Covid periodic Zoom chats. Some of us have subsequently gone on other Caminos. Goodbye doesn't have to mean Adieu.

 

[John Sikora]

Luckily, we live in a technological world. I still stay in touch with people that I've met on the Camino (or on the forum for that matter). Physical separation no longer means that you have to lose touch entirely. And, once the Covid pandemic eases, we can get back on planes. Life is not just a two week or two month walk with someone. It's remembering them each day as you go through it. Just think how nice it will be to get on a plane and visit someone you met on the Camino. Like seeing family once again.

 

[Liam55]

Thanks a million for taking the time to allow me avail of your wisdom and experience. Your responses have thrown light on my concern and I feel better equipped. Thanks again. Liam

 

[Lydia Le]

I cried for a day after parting with a friend I walked with for 3 weeks. I cried for a year thinking of my experiences on that first Camino(Frances).

I still see my Camino sister. She live not too far away.

 

[VNwalking]

Yet the beauty of this adventure is meeting people, making connections, and then letting go

This. It's really important not to walk at a pace that might be pushing it, just so that you don't lose contact with people you've met.
Walk
Connect
Let go
Trust...
You never know if your paths will cross again.
If so, it's a particular delight.

The the delight at that encounter is difficult to describe.

Delicious!

 

[Liam55]

Thanks Lydia Le. Your message is most helpful.