Class of 2010

[+@^^]

gooie dag almal
my naam is Tam
dit sal my eerste Camino wees
ek verkies om solo te loop
ek kom vannaf Kaapstad in Suid Afrika
ek beginne te Seville op September 12
en ek sal ,God willend, aanhou loop totdat ek by Finniserra uitkom
ek wens almal wat loop, voorspoed

 

[quotidiana]

Hi everybody,
I am Lenka from Czech republic and I am going Camino Portugués.
Leaving Porto on 1st sept., going along coast (well, CR doesn' t have sea so I cannot miss the opportunity to see Atlantic ocean )

buen camino!

 

[johnBCCanada]

Its time! No more preparing, checking and double checking things. I leave EARLY tomorrow morning for what I hope will be a 3 hour drive into the city and then a flight to Europe, a day in London and on to Spain and the Camino.

Yeah!!!!!!!!!

John

 

[TimCanada]

Re: Class of 2010 - Mistakes, I made a few......

I attempted to walk the Camino, beginning at St Jean this past March. I failed.

Most of the dialogue on here and when I attended a forum in Toronto talked about what to do for sucess on the trail. If you are interested, I can tell you what I did wrong - and hopedfully that will be helpful to you.

Let me know if anyone is interested.

Tim

 

[JohnnieWalker]

Hello Tim

Welcome back. I wondered what had happened to you. I'm sure your experience will be of great help to people - please share.

Best wishes

John

 

[andy.d]

Hi Tim,

yes please share your experiences - they will be really useful for the rest of us to see.

I'm wondering about notions of success and failure on the Camino and what these might mean. Is what might at first seem a failure really be something different.

Thanks for being willing to share,

Andy

 

[TimCanada]

Hi John, Andy, and others.

I was not going to do a public posting as I did not want to waste people's time with my blabblings A few people wrote me individually which is cool and I was able to repsond to them.

Some veterans will totally disagree with some of what I am saying - and I am no veteran myself. I tried, and turned around and came home. But I did have some experiences, and I truly believe that if I do these thing different next time (Sept 2011?), that I will be more sucessful.

Some people term experiences such as mine as failures. I see it as a great experience - having the opportunity to meet people through forums like this from all over the world; brief encounters with folks while I was there; being able to say I have been in Britain and France now. Being able to say I tried.

But please keep in mind - these are only my thoughts. There are many people out here who have completed the walk more than once, and they are the experts. Not me. That being said, here they are:

1) Make sure you make yourself eat. I was totally filled with excitement, did not feel hungry, and thus, did not eat. I lost 7 lbs in three days.

2) Make sure you drink water. I thought I was drinking water. I went with the backpack bladder system so that I would not have to remove my pack to get at my water bottle each time I wanted a drink, or have it dangling in front of me. Although I took sips, I was very surprised to find out that after what amounted to three days, I had only consumed one litre of water

3) The purists will not agree with this, but it is funny that a lady had given me the following advice several months before I left and I had forgotten - then this spring a woman from Australia did this for the first few days and then did not need to after - when you are completely tired out - had enough for the day - TAKE A TAXI to the next town. You have paid your price of pain and exhaustion for the day - the important thing is making it to the next town.

4) You have heard this one many times but pack VERY light. Not like you are going away for 5 or 6 weeks, but as if you were going away for the weekend. I took advice from many lists, was covered for most events - and before rain - my pack weighed at least 20lbs, with the water bladder 22lbs, and with all day rain - more like 30lbs. I saw a video on U-Tube once where a lady was walking the trail for her third time. She said that the first time, she brought a big backpack; her second time she brought a small rug sack; and now her third time, she brought only the clothes on her back. She joked that next time she was going to go nude. Point is that you do not need all of that stuff and anything you do need, you can buy.

5) If at all possible, go with someone. You know how there are days when you do not feel like exercising and your buddy twists your arm to go - had I had a buddy on the trail with me to talk me out of turning around, I would of been able to finish. If at all possible, go with someone.

6) The purists will not like this one either. If you are starting at St Jean, there is no good reason to try to walk over the Pyrenees via the Napoleon route. Take the Valcarlos route. The Napoleon route is like 6 hours of straight climbing up. UP. It never flattens out. They say you should take it because of the scenery. You have 5-6 weeks of scenery ahead of you. You do not need this torture on the first day. When I walked it, the fog which is common up in the mountain, was so thick that the only scenery I say was my feet in front of me. It was so steep that when I turned around to walk down, it was difficult because of the steepness.

7) I have been asking some veterans about what they think about taking an umbrella. I took a poncho. It was raining but mild. Although the poncho kept me somewhat dry from the rain, I was totally soaked from the portable sauna I was carrying around. I am thinking that one of the umbrellas that fold down into about 12 inched long would easily fit into a backpack. It is not a perfect solution because of wind, and if you are holding it, you cannot carry your walking sticks - so I am still out on this one - but for me in March - the poncho was way too hot. I can only imagine how hot it would be in the warmer months.

8) Take your time. Have one down day if you get there late at night. I got there around 8 pm, found the registration office and hostel by 10, went to bed at 11, and was up and out the door at 8 am walking. This was after 30 hours straight travelling from my house to St Jeans. In hindsight, I should have waited for a day in St Jeans before attempting the walk.

9) If you can speak the language, including French if you are starting in St Jeans, it sure would be beneficial

10) Train, train, and train. Walk as much as possible, with the pack on. Because I am from Canada and most of my training months were in the middle of winter, I did lots of conditioning training on a recumbent bike in my basement - as opposed to walking outside with the pack. I did get out as much as possible, but it always could have been more.

So if I were ever to go again, and I am somewhat eyeing up September 2011, I would do the above items differently. I believe all of the above items lead to my making the hasty decision to turn around and walk back.

If you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Tim

 

[palmah]

Tim - Great to see your post! I have only one comment that I will write here: When we walked this past spring, there was a French woman (Patricia) who carried an umbrella. A full size umbrella. I first saw her on our way into Astorga. Then we saw she had left her umbrella, on the trail, providing shade to a pilgram who had fallen and was waiting for an ambulance. I ran into Patricia again in Ponferrada and she had gotten her umbrella back! She had walked the Camino before and said carrying the umbrella was no problem for her. Not only did it protect her from the rain, but also from the sun.

Palma

 

[lynnejohn]

Hi Tim -

Great to hear from you again! Ive enjoyed reading your adventures on your blog the past few months.

You make some very good points, and it's kind of you to share your experiences and observations with us.

Take care.

lynne

 

[Nandy61]

LOL! Tim!! Loved the "portable sauna" comment!! Ain't it the truth! And as you implied, there doesn't seem to be a solution to the poncho/sweat/rain/wind problem. Oh well.
Expert or not, I think you gave some really sound advice. I was the whip-cracker in my group. There were plenty of days that my daughter did not want to budge. Or there were times when the group wanted to linger a bit too long over a cafe con leche. The one time I "allowed it" we all paid dearly with a hellaciously hot descent. Nearly dangerously hot descent, arriving quite late and walking in 39C degree heat. On a similar day, I told my daughter and her friend to take a taxi, or take a bus. No need to be completely miserable. But everyone has their own goals for their own camino. I think your advice will definitely serve some people out here well. Thanks for sharing and good luck on your next attempt!

 

[Rebekah Scott]

Tim you gave it your best shot. That´s not failure. Sounds like you learned a whole lot of very useful things you can put to work when (not IF) you come back to try again!

How far did you go, after all?

Rebekah

 

[KiwiNomad06]

Great to hear from you again Tim, and glad to read your reflections. From the sound of things, it seems like you will go again.... And who knows who will be there walking in the early days that you will be able to give some hard-won tips to, so that perhaps they manage to carry on...
Margaret

 

[nellpilgrim]

Hi Tim,
Lovely to hear from you again and that you're going putting your hard earned learnings to use and recommence your journey again next year. Thank you for sharing you Camino wisdom.

It reminded me of the final words of Fr Augusto Losada Lopez at the mass we attended in Triacastela "remember God doesn't count your steps or Santiago weigh your pack- what they measure is your heart pilgrim, so look to your heart ....and take care of your feet!".

Some pilgrims may already have 'Camino issue' legs, feet, backs, and general fitness when they start but Tim you have a Camino heart-and I think that's the most important thing of all to bring to your journey .

Nell

 

[+@^^]

so i get to learn a little from anothers success
but i learn a whole lot more from your brutally honest failure
i dont think its a failure
its a major breakthrough
thanks for your insight
i start in 5 days and will take your lessons with me
tamtamplin

 

[TimCanada]

Tam,

Good luck on your Camino. Go slow. Take your time. Pack light. And when all else fails, yell, "Taxi"~

 

[jl]

Hi Tim - enjoyed your post. Thanks for sharing. I have a couple of comments. One is the word "purist". To my way of thinking for anyone on the Camino it is THEIR Camino, and it therefore is to be done the way they can manage it. It doesn't matter if they take an alternative path, catch a taxi etc. because they are exhasted or injured, walk 10 kms a day or 50kms. Each peregrino must make the journey in the best way they can and in a way that suits them - in the same way as we make our own way on the journey through life.

Enough of the philosophical - now to the umbrella. I took one on my first Camino but decided not to on the other 2. The first time I took it as much for sun protection as for rain and it was useful (especially across the Meseta, and in France) and I would consider it again - I just cut it out of the following 2 journeys in order to prune the weight down. Nicholas Crane in his book "Clear Waters Rising" talks fondly of his umbrella, which he carried most of the way, and indeed on his 3 part telvision show "Brittania" we could see the umbrella poking out of his pack.

Cheers, Janet

 

[NaKwendaSafari]

Re: Class of 2010 Canadian Tim

Hi Tim,
It is great to see your continued contribution to this forum, your insight and personal experience is much appreciated as it is a warts and all honest account which will help many. We second the comments from the other forum members that your effort cannot be deemed a failure. Who is there to set a Fail or Pass mark? I agree with others that the Camino is in your heart.

There was heavy rain in Ontario on July 28th, when I was in Niagara Falls, and thought of you. I enclose a picture to show you the umbrella used, also the others in plastic raincoats. Sweating can drench you from the inside when a poncho without ventilation is used. As always it is a personal choice.

Following the rain at Niagara Falls there was a beautiful rainbow. I hope you will find the rainbow on your next trip which I am sure you will have many of us following.

Joe ( recovering from the 7.1 R earthquake in Christchurch and the 700 aftershocks)

 

[mikevasey]

Hi everyone,
I be flying into Biarritz on the 26th october(9.30am) and hopefully be in SJPDP around midday to either start the short walk to Orisson (if it is open or not full) or wait to the the next day to walk to Roncesvalles.

This is my 2nd camino and im feeling quite nervous about it, i walked part of the camino del norte in june and july of this year but that one felt like i had been waiting a long time for it, like it had been calling out to part of me, but this wasnt really clear to me untill afterwards. This one, its like a spur of the moment thing, i only started thinking about it 10 days ago, and before i knew it i had gone from 'should i be doing this' to ' should i be wearing this baselayer or that baselayer'.

My flight back to the UK is on the1st december from A Coruna,hopefully i find that i have made the right choice in my actions or failing that i take right choice in walking gear(thanks amawalker for the winter list)

 

[lynnejohn]

Spontaneity always seems to heighten the adventure!

Go well Mike, and buen camino!

lynne

 

[Judyoz]

G'day from a couple of Aussies who so very nearly made it all the way from SJPP to Santiago without any major problems until Greg got sick at Triacastella a few days ago and ended up in hospital in Lugo. Unfortunately we don't have time to walk the last 5 days of our Camino, and right at the moment, I can't even begin to say how disappointed we both are.

We loved it all - the walk, the people, the beautiful countryside we walked through, the history ... everything. it's such a pity we didn't get to finish it. But everyone's Camino is different, and that was ours.

http://www.gregspurgin.com/walking-the- ... -santiago/

cheers,
Judy and Greg

 

[KiwiNomad06]

Great account Judy and Greg. Have read about your last week so far, and will go back and finish it soon! How disappointing that you ended up being unable to finish, but I know life isn't always what you plan. I guess this gives you a perfect excuse to go back sooner rather than later!
Margaret

 

[Tia Valeria]

Hi everyone,
I be flying into Biarritz on the 26th october(9.30am) ....... This one, its like a spur of the moment thing, i only started thinking about it 10 days ago, and before i knew it i had gone from 'should i be doing this' to ' should i be wearing this baselayer or that baselayer'.

Hi Mike,
Good to meet you the other day, did something we said influence your decision? :wink:
Seriously - have a great Camino.
God bless,
Terry and Valerie

 

[mikevasey]

Hi Terry and Valerie,

Nice to meet you the other week.
I think it was a combination of things, Camino blues, the next holy year is 2021, the grass is greener etc, etc. I was always keeping an eye out for doing something near the very end of the year i.e Ferrol or Muxia back to Santiago to spend new years eve there(that could still happen) but somehow and i cant quite remember how i had set myself for starting from SJPDP, its like i had gone from winter walking 'that sounds interesting' to 'should i be doing this' to actually working out the practical side of it in the space of a couple of days. I think i met you in the middle of this process. So it could have been you.

I let you know how it goes and hopefully i remember to take my power lead for my camera this time, so if i do make it to SDC i should have a complete set of photos.

Mike

 

[TimCanada]

Joe,

Thanks for the nice comments and for your picture of Niagara Falls. I live about 15 minutes from the brink of the falls and actually used the falls for some of my summer walks this year. The thin plastic raincoats in your picture are given out free by the tourist operators from the Maid of the Midst boatride, or from the Journey beneath the Falls. I hope you enjoyed your time in the Niagara area and hopefully it did not rain the whole time.