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Oh I do so agree . . . there's language and there's menu language. In Oviedo last summer I came upon this:Thanks, it's not so much the technique, it's sometimes just understanding what the offering is, what the ingredients are or the preparation (after a certain point, I just coudn't bear one more fried dish, it wasn't always obvious that the menu item was a lump of breaded something that was going to be deep fried). Sometimes it's obvious from the translation, sometimes it's not. Simple example: if the menu item is translated as Russian Salad, you need to know what that means in that part of the world. I'm pretty adventurous, but I do like to know what I'm eating and there are some things I don't want to eat. I once ordered something translated as fish stomachs, I thought to myself, they must mean the flesh from the side of the fish, but no it was actually stomachs and it was disgusting, I paid for it uneaten and left to find an ice cream to cleanse my palate, hahaha!. So I think the translation is only helpful some of the time.
Yah, I consider a camino a trek. not a hike tho.But is the Camino a "trek"? Would one be isolated for days on end or trampled down by 450,000 like minded pilgrims? Should one be "totally self sufficient" and all carry tents, beds, medical chests and cooking pots just-in-case? A certain amount of perspective is required.
If I were still able to wall 800 kms I would be happy to do it the same way I did my first with no phone but, this time, with all my accommodation booked in advance and over very short stages!
I offer you my daughter's first attempt at Basque Cheesecake . . .Agreed, as an example something prepared a certain way. Basque cheesecake, Castiilian soup, Galicia Soup, etc. Doesn't really give you the full picture. Although how far wrong could you go with cheesecake?
A difference of opinion on "totally self sufficient" then?Yah, I consider a camino a trek. not a hike tho.
I'd never carry what you described on a camino.
But it is a lot different carrying a phone than carrying what you described. A matter of perspective is required.
Sorry, I was side tracked. Laid up with a busted knee ligament and I got bored!We need a separate thread on Weird foods I ordered (or almost ordered) using Google Translate! Hahaha! Shall I?
I'm sorry, I take it as a given that the OP doesn't need the other things too. Maybe next time I should include an entire packing list instead of just saying that a phone is a safety measure.A difference of opinion on "totally self sufficient" then?
contacting home was my least concern when I was walking, every one knew I was walking the Camino. I used mine mainly for pictures and finding my alberque. I'am not very good at finding my alberques in a town without a map app on my phone. I also helped a few other people find there accommodation as they had no map app.I do not want to be part of the getting up before sunrise and walk quickly to the next cheap albergue. I want to walk slowly and rely on luck and if I have to pay for more expensive hotels I do not mind. No contact with home would be great!
You need a phone nowadays, take it!!! By all means keep it switched off but at least you’ll have it if needed.Thinking about my next walk. I really want to do the Camino without a mobile phone. Last time I used it quite a lot to find and book accomodation and other things. That was some years ago. What’s it like now? Are you more or less expected to have a phone? What are your thoughts on the subject?
Just switch it off!Of course. I am asking about your opinion. Would you like to be without?
AbsolutelyThat and the whole safety issue of being out there and having to seek assistance for whatever reason.
The ‘locals’ will expect you to have a phoneI hear you! And I get it. Maybe I would just have to rely on other people, get out of my shell and talk to the locals :-D
To be fair @trecile , I did the same in the 70s WITHOUT a mobile phone and with no problems whatsoever. It is just that nowadays, people expect you to have a phone! It is a ‘given’.I forgot to mention that the greatest freedom I get from having my phone with me is the freedom to wander.
Ten years ago in my first completely solo trip I went to Barcelona, and felt such freedom to wander wherever I wanted knowing that I could always use the maps on my phone to find my way back, whether to walk, find a bus, or call taxi.
I had what seemed to be baby eels a couple of times as part of a plate in Spain, but they were more white in color. Either yours were seasoned well, or mine were "fake" as I've read about that. You can tell I am no real foodie.It turned out to be baby eels . . .
Jeff, that cheesecake looks like it was a big success!I offer you my daughter's first attempt at Basque Cheesecake . . .
I think that I would have stayed more in the central tourist areas and not explored farther out without the security of knowing I could find my way back wherever I was.To be fair @trecile , I did the same in the 70s WITHOUT a mobile phone and with no problems whatsoever. It is just that nowadays, people expect you to have a phone! It is a ‘given’.
And to use my phone to find a laundromat, so happy not to hand wash, even happier to have DRY clothes, ha!I could wash my stuff by hand but happy to have a washing machine
I have to say, there is some truth in those words for me, much as I wouldn't want to be without my phone. At home I am not as quick at doing chores or puttering in my yard as I used to beUseful tool, not essential in my opinion. A friend calls his the Rectangle of Death because it sucks the life out of you
You do not need a cellphone on the camino. Now there is a challenge for you. Don’t take yours’ and prove it to us!
Exactly! If you're not taking a phone to say I did it without a phone, but then benefit from someone else's, isn't just more an act of hubris?Prove your point by never asking anybody for help for which they have to use theirs…
I am finding the heavy emphasis on the safety aspect of carrying a mobile phone quite interesting. There were no digital mobile phones at the time of my first Camino. The GSM networks only began to reach the general public the following year. Only early analogue models were available which worked only within a short radius of major cities. Useless for the Camino. Were those of us who chose to walk without access to such a service being reckless or foolhardy? Especially at a time when pilgrim numbers were very low by today's standards and the chances of help from passing strangers correspondingly more remote. At what point did mobile phones move from being a useful optional extra to becoming seen as a near-mandatory safety tool? I now own a smartphone and I make regular use of it on my Camino journeys. I would not choose to leave it behind. But I do wonder how we have now moved to a position where it is being regarded as an essential safety tool by so many.safety first tho imo, ladies... take your phone. gents ... the same
Yes, thats where we areBut I do wonder how we have now moved to a position where it is being regarded as an essential safety tool by so many.
Indeed. I am just wondering how we have become so much more risk-averse over such a short period of time.Yes, thats where we are
after seeing recent coverage on the BBC Graham Norton show when actors discussed the issue I feel certain , women away in a foreign country would feel and be safer with their phones than withoutIndeed. I am just wondering how we have become so much more risk-averse over such a short period of time.
It's the same reason as why I buy travel insurance. Our phones can use 112, and if there is an emergency back home, they can get a hold of me fairly quickly...improbable, but it's for the "what if" in life.But I do wonder how we have now moved to a position where it is being regarded as an essential safety tool by so many.
It's the same reason as why I buy travel insurance. Our phones can use 112, and if there is an emergency back home, they can get a hold of me fairly quickly...improbable, but it's for the "what if" in life.
The other things I love using my phone for, are just fluff in comparison.
I never used to carry my mobile phone (in those times when they were 'bricks' lol) "Nah, don't need it, always managed without one etc"But I do wonder how we have now moved to a position where it is being regarded as an essential safety tool by so many.
I don’t think we have become more risk-averse, I think that we have evolved and adapted to new technology and improvements. These developments have downsides, but in my opinion, becoming risk averse is not one of them.Indeed. I am just wondering how we have become so much more risk-averse over such a short period of time.
Sometimes, probably.Were those of us who chose to walk without access to such a service being reckless or foolhardy?
How have we moved to this point? Well, for starters, I have aged 50 years since I was young and foolish.But I do wonder how we have now moved to a position where it is being regarded as an essential safety tool by so many.
We also have some new things to occupy the "scared" part of our brains!We are not scared but just sensible!
I find this statement quite astonishing.I don’t think we have become more risk-averse
If wearing seatbelts is your definition of risk-averse, then I gladly fall into that category.But then I live in a country where not wearing seatbelts is normal!
Is this the country that has the sixth highest road fatality rate in the EU?The advice I see on this forum always surprises me in its caution. […]
But then I live in a country where not wearing seatbelts is normal!
Not as high as the US, though.Is this the country that has the sixth highest road fatality rate in the EU?
Not as high as the US, though.
Then I suggest taking an old fashioned small camera and stash phone, turned off, at the bottom of your pack with the emergency muesli bar.I do not want to be part of the getting up before sunrise and walk quickly to the next cheap albergue. I want to walk slowly and rely on luck and if I have to pay for more expensive hotels I do not mind. No contact with home would be great!
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