No Mobile Phone

[CDP]

I think it is possible to walk the Camino without a phone. I don't think it is the smart decision I would make, why leave an important device just because I don't have the self-discipline to control the time of use, it is a personal decision I will not make.

 

[Jeff Crawley]

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.

Oh I do so agree . . . there's language and there's menu language. In Oviedo last summer I came upon this:


now, quite honestly who doesn't fancy a bit of gluttony now and then?
It turned out to be baby eels . . .


Quite, er, salty.

 

[Damien Reynolds]

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!

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.

 

[Jeff Crawley]

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?

I offer you my daughter's first attempt at Basque Cheesecake . . .



I knew there would be a reason not to send her back when the guarantee ran out!

 

[Jeff Crawley]

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.

A difference of opinion on "totally self sufficient" then?

 

[Jeff Crawley]

We need a separate thread on Weird foods I ordered (or almost ordered) using Google Translate! Hahaha! Shall I?

Sorry, I was side tracked. Laid up with a busted knee ligament and I got bored!

 

[Damien Reynolds]

A difference of opinion on "totally self sufficient" then?

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.

 

[DwainS]

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!

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.

 

[domigee]

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?

You need a phone nowadays, take it!!! By all means keep it switched off but at least you’ll have it if needed.

Ps I haven’t read all the previous answers.

 

[domigee]

Of course. I am asking about your opinion. Would you like to be without?

Just switch it off!
I barely knew how to use a mobile phone when I walked my first Camino and in those days you could ask hotels, libraries, cyber cafés etc to use their computers to change your plane tickets etc…
Not anymore.

 

[domigee]

That and the whole safety issue of being out there and having to seek assistance for whatever reason.

Absolutely

 

[domigee]

I 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

The ‘locals’ will expect you to have a phone

 

[domigee]

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.

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’.

 

[Damien Reynolds]

I want to dare the OP, who is obviously set on their plans, to also:

Never tell anyone they aren't carrying a phone,

Never ask to use somebody else's phone.

And walk barefoot.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

It turned out to be baby eels . . .

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.

I offer you my daughter's first attempt at Basque Cheesecake . . .

Jeff, that cheesecake looks like it was a big success!

 

[trecile]

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 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.

 

[hairy]

Nobody has piped up to say they have recently completed a pilgrimage without a phone, is that because everyone who has answered here would jump on their irresponsibility?
There are several "how to pack your rucksack" videos out there called something like "Don't pack your fears".
The couple of times I have called the emergency services they weren't a lot of use in perhaps the first hour or so. If I had an app to have done that instead?
Useful tool, not essential in my opinion. A friend calls his the Rectangle of Death because it sucks the life out of you

 

[CTLawGal]

I could wash my stuff by hand but happy to have a washing machine

And to use my phone to find a laundromat, so happy not to hand wash, even happier to have DRY clothes, ha!

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Useful tool, not essential in my opinion. A friend calls his the Rectangle of Death because it sucks the life out of you

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 be
pre-phone.

 

[pelerine]

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!

Prove your point by never asking anybody for help for which they have to use theirs…

 

[CTLawGal]

Prove your point by never asking anybody for help for which they have to use theirs…

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?

 

[markie6]

take it , use it just as a camera , upload photos for those of us not on camino

safety first tho imo, ladies... take your phone. gents ... the same


you don't have to even switch it on.

 

[Bradypus]

safety first tho imo, ladies... take your phone. gents ... the same

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.

 

[markie6]

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.

Yes, thats where we are

 

[Bradypus]

Yes, thats where we are

Indeed. I am just wondering how we have become so much more risk-averse over such a short period of time.

 

[markie6]

Indeed. I am just wondering how we have become so much more risk-averse over such a short period of time.

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 without

 

[Camino Chrissy]

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.

 

[SabsP]

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.

Indeed!
Plus society changed.
When in college 37 years ago time to time I hitchhiked home when I ran out of money for the train.
Nowadays I would strongly advice against this for girls and boys.
We are not scared but just sensible!

 

[domigee]

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 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"
Well one day, coming back from the vet with 4 cats and 2 dogs, my car broke down. No phone boxes working any more so I had to walk into an off-licence (only shop nearby) to ask to use their phone. I got dirty looks and they very reluctantly handed me a phone but I had to buy something....
I have carried a phone ever since.

 

[peregrina2000]

Indeed. I am just wondering how we have become so much more risk-averse over such a short period of time.

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.

Would you drive in a car without a seat belt? I spent my youth in the back of my family’s station wagon bouncing around, but wouldn’t dream of it now.

I am not a high tech person, but I wouldn’t think about walking a camino without carrying a phone. I have had to use the phone on the camino to contact Emergency Services. I probably would have survived without it, because my family and some friends knew approximately where I was and would have alerted the authorities, but that would probably have taken a few days. 112 services in Spain made it just about as easy as it could be. I am forever indebted to the wonderful people who got me, and though I usually try not to be preachy and categorical, I think anyone who walks without a phone on the camino is not thinking straight.

 

[C clearly]

Were those of us who chose to walk without access to such a service being reckless or foolhardy?

Sometimes, probably.

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.

How have we moved to this point? Well, for starters, I have aged 50 years since I was young and foolish.

Our societal safety standards are higher, and we have additional tools available. I carry an aspirin in my day bag - in case either I or someone else experiences chest pains.

As @SabsP notes...

We are not scared but just sensible!

We also have some new things to occupy the "scared" part of our brains!

 

[Lindsay53]

I can say I could not have done my last Camino without a phone. While I stayed away from social media with the exception of this forum, I had to call ahead on numerous occasions to get access to accommodation, use the maps to find the route, access my bank account, take photos.....Phones are an essential tool in todays world, but are only as intrusive as you allow them to be.

 

[hairy]

What is there to do that absolutely requires a smartphone? Many here have given very good reasons for carrying one, but I think until some form of digital ID or payment is insisted on by a majority of service providers or a Govt. then it can't be essential?
Dialing the emergency services only requires a dumbphone, not even a SIM installed.

Happy New Year

 

[Molly Cassidy]

I don’t think we have become more risk-averse

I find this statement quite astonishing.

Clearly some people have become considerably more risk-averse. The advice I see on this forum always surprises me in its caution. Advice not to ride the metro, for example, seems a bit extreme to me.

But then I live in a country where not wearing seatbelts is normal! And I've been travelling in Europe alone for decades without any problems.

 

[peregrina2000]

But then I live in a country where not wearing seatbelts is normal!

If wearing seatbelts is your definition of risk-averse, then I gladly fall into that category.

 

[Paladina]

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!

Is this the country that has the sixth highest road fatality rate in the EU?

 

[Molly Cassidy]

Is this the country that has the sixth highest road fatality rate in the EU?

Not as high as the US, though.

 

[bakedbeans]

It's possible but would make life harder. How would you cover a basic thing like missing a yellow arrow and getting slightly lost? A Garmin or paper maps?

There are a lot of downsides. It depends whether the upside is worth it for you.

 

[SabsP]

Not as high as the US, though.

Really no need to make this a political thing.

This whole debate is getting tiresome.
Those who want to use a smartphone ( including me ) please do.
Those who like to walk smartphonefree please do too.
Everyone happy.

 

[travelingsuep]

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!

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.

 

[ivar]

I think most has been said. Will close the thread now.