D
Deleted member 67185
Guest
< Just in case there is any wonder about the tone of the post, believe me that it is written with my utmost respect, love, and admiration for my wife. 
>
My wife Jill is not a backpacker, hiker, or camper. She has not done any long-distance, continuous walking as a hobby, sport, or pastime. Jill has never been on a Camino. She has never been to Europe.
Jill is a Newbie. . Yup, the exact category of hopeful individual who we warmly welcome to our Forum, and who seeks help and guidance as they plan for their first Caminos.
Contrary to some of Jill's current anxieties, she is in good cardiovascular shape and regularly works out on the various cardio machines at a nearby gym, as well as doing regular workouts for strength training. Over the last few months, Jill also periodically accompanies me now on day hikes up into the high foothills of our Cascade Mountains.
As Jill and I are quickly approaching our October 15 departure date for Camino Ingles, it has been one heck of an experience to be living under the same roof with a Camino ‘Newbie”.
I very much enjoy providing input and offering help to folks on the Forum, and to answer inquiries for assistance in Private Messages. However, that is something that I can either choose to do, or not. I decide when I want to enter the Forum and leave. I can spend as much or as little time as I feel I want to spend, or which my schedule dictates.
That has changed. Consider, if you will, all of the information sought out by newbies on the Forum; THAT is now part of daily life right here at home. With no time outs.
Jill knows all about my backpacking history, mountaineering history, and of course, my Caminos. Over the years, she has put up with my part-time work of professionally testing backpacking related gear and clothing, sometimes showing extreme patience when I have had piles of stuff from various manufacturers cluttering up tabletops and nooks and crannies.
For the last 6 months at my house, there are no time limits and no boundaries recognized by She Who Must Be Obeyed (SWMBO). In her quest to be ‘adequately’ prepared for Camino Ingles, the sweet, even-tempered, gentle, and easy-going Love of My Life now views me as her personal research and reference Bot. Any hesitation on my part to answering interrogatives is not allowed. Providing remedial ‘wisdom’ and comfort to soothe Jill’s pre-Camino anxieties is on 24-hour call and at-will. . HER will.
Anywhere. Anyplace. Anytime.
It has been an interesting experience to try and multi-task the discussions of the pros and cons of various Camino walking shorts vs running shorts vs zip-offs vs running shorts vs what lengths vs materials vs how many pairs vs . . . while trying to brush my teeth. Or talking about what a base layer is, and which is better . . synthetic vs Merino wool. . . all while sitting on the bathroom throne and talking thru a door. Or being awakened at 2:30 am to discuss concerns about alburgue/dorms, privacy in showers, and options for washing clothes, because SWMBO is unable to sleep worrying about such things.
Jill recently got a little testy when I pleaded ignorance, and drew a line at trying to provide answers to questions about underwear. She did not find it funny when I told her to do what I do, and skip wearing underwear. I think Jill decided that one of the sports shops would be of more help.
Jill’s latest concern is how fast MY pace is while walking, and her ability to keep up with my pace. Over the last week, it seems I have spent a lot of time reinforcing the point that it isn’t about how FAST we walk; it is about how FAR we walk. I try to soothe Jill’s concerns about walking speed by pointing out that we do not have a set time to arrive at our lodging at the end of a day. If there is a specific distance we want to travel, nobody is forcing us to arrive a specific time. No one will fire us if we are late.
If we planned to walk, say, 28 km in the course of a day, we have a choice: we can walk 6 km per hour for 4.6 hours straight. OR we can walk 4 km per hour for 10 hours, with plenty of rests and stops and pauses included.
The ironic thing is, Jill is in better physical shape than I am in right now. Part of that is because she is a decade younger, but also because she has kept up with her fitness levels, too. Her job as a Pediatric charge nurse at our local hospital means that she is used to long periods of time being up on her feet. . . . it is interesting to look at her pedometer readings on her Fitbit, and see that when she is working, she will regularly walk from 6 to 10 miles during a 12-hour shift.
Another facet to this whole adventure with Jill, is that after completing Camino Ingles we will be spending a couple of days in Santiago and then Madrid (visiting the Prado is a must for her).. From there we will be flying to Paris for a couple of days (yup, the Louvre and lots of other stuff to see), and then picking up a rental car for a 14-day European road trip.
Jill views this as her Once-In-A-Lifetime-Trip-To Europe. Absolutely no pressure on me to try not to mess THAT up. One thing I have in my favor is that I lived in Europe at one point, so I have a good sense of things and an even better sense of what I don’t know.
For Jill, this is all new and exotic and mysterious. . . I really didn’t understand how little she knew of Europe until we talked about getting a car rental. For several days Jill kept asking about how comfortable I would be driving ‘over there’. Questions about how ‘safe’ it was for us to drive kept popping up.
One morning as we were driving to a shop, we pulled up to an intersection to make a turn. Jill asked me if I was sure I wouldn’t get mixed up by having to drive on the ‘other’ side of the road. Immediately, the light bulb went on, and I told her that all the countries we will be driving in and through, drive on the same exact side of the road as in the US. She immediately relaxed about the road trip, and now she is all excited about it. With that concern off of her shoulders, it is fun to see her wide-eyed, innocent excitement about experiencing a Camino with me, and being on a 'dream vacation' afterwards.
Anyway, including Spain, Jill will have a nice look at 7 different countries. A nice route through France to Northern Italy, into Switzerland, Lichtenstein, up into German Bavaria, into Austria, then back up to Germany to head to Frankfurt to drop off the car and catch our flight home. We have compiled a list of places to visit and things to see, but other than that, there is no required route to follow, distance we need to meet each day, and decisions about where to spend the night will be made the previous evening, after we look at where we really want to go that next day.
Jill wants to dip her toes into the culture and history and architecture and art of Europe. I'm excited about the foods I get to eat, too.
For Jill, this entire trip is about her fulfilling what she views as her Once-In-A-Lifetime experience. For my part, I have gently suggested that before she concludes that this is a one off, that Camino addiction may pay her a surprise visit.
>My wife Jill is not a backpacker, hiker, or camper. She has not done any long-distance, continuous walking as a hobby, sport, or pastime. Jill has never been on a Camino. She has never been to Europe.
Jill is a Newbie. . Yup, the exact category of hopeful individual who we warmly welcome to our Forum, and who seeks help and guidance as they plan for their first Caminos.
Contrary to some of Jill's current anxieties, she is in good cardiovascular shape and regularly works out on the various cardio machines at a nearby gym, as well as doing regular workouts for strength training. Over the last few months, Jill also periodically accompanies me now on day hikes up into the high foothills of our Cascade Mountains.
As Jill and I are quickly approaching our October 15 departure date for Camino Ingles, it has been one heck of an experience to be living under the same roof with a Camino ‘Newbie”.
I very much enjoy providing input and offering help to folks on the Forum, and to answer inquiries for assistance in Private Messages. However, that is something that I can either choose to do, or not. I decide when I want to enter the Forum and leave. I can spend as much or as little time as I feel I want to spend, or which my schedule dictates.
That has changed. Consider, if you will, all of the information sought out by newbies on the Forum; THAT is now part of daily life right here at home. With no time outs.
Jill knows all about my backpacking history, mountaineering history, and of course, my Caminos. Over the years, she has put up with my part-time work of professionally testing backpacking related gear and clothing, sometimes showing extreme patience when I have had piles of stuff from various manufacturers cluttering up tabletops and nooks and crannies.
For the last 6 months at my house, there are no time limits and no boundaries recognized by She Who Must Be Obeyed (SWMBO). In her quest to be ‘adequately’ prepared for Camino Ingles, the sweet, even-tempered, gentle, and easy-going Love of My Life now views me as her personal research and reference Bot. Any hesitation on my part to answering interrogatives is not allowed. Providing remedial ‘wisdom’ and comfort to soothe Jill’s pre-Camino anxieties is on 24-hour call and at-will. . HER will.
Anywhere. Anyplace. Anytime.
It has been an interesting experience to try and multi-task the discussions of the pros and cons of various Camino walking shorts vs running shorts vs zip-offs vs running shorts vs what lengths vs materials vs how many pairs vs . . . while trying to brush my teeth. Or talking about what a base layer is, and which is better . . synthetic vs Merino wool. . . all while sitting on the bathroom throne and talking thru a door. Or being awakened at 2:30 am to discuss concerns about alburgue/dorms, privacy in showers, and options for washing clothes, because SWMBO is unable to sleep worrying about such things.
Jill recently got a little testy when I pleaded ignorance, and drew a line at trying to provide answers to questions about underwear. She did not find it funny when I told her to do what I do, and skip wearing underwear. I think Jill decided that one of the sports shops would be of more help.
Jill’s latest concern is how fast MY pace is while walking, and her ability to keep up with my pace. Over the last week, it seems I have spent a lot of time reinforcing the point that it isn’t about how FAST we walk; it is about how FAR we walk. I try to soothe Jill’s concerns about walking speed by pointing out that we do not have a set time to arrive at our lodging at the end of a day. If there is a specific distance we want to travel, nobody is forcing us to arrive a specific time. No one will fire us if we are late.
If we planned to walk, say, 28 km in the course of a day, we have a choice: we can walk 6 km per hour for 4.6 hours straight. OR we can walk 4 km per hour for 10 hours, with plenty of rests and stops and pauses included.
The ironic thing is, Jill is in better physical shape than I am in right now. Part of that is because she is a decade younger, but also because she has kept up with her fitness levels, too. Her job as a Pediatric charge nurse at our local hospital means that she is used to long periods of time being up on her feet. . . . it is interesting to look at her pedometer readings on her Fitbit, and see that when she is working, she will regularly walk from 6 to 10 miles during a 12-hour shift.
Another facet to this whole adventure with Jill, is that after completing Camino Ingles we will be spending a couple of days in Santiago and then Madrid (visiting the Prado is a must for her).. From there we will be flying to Paris for a couple of days (yup, the Louvre and lots of other stuff to see), and then picking up a rental car for a 14-day European road trip.
Jill views this as her Once-In-A-Lifetime-Trip-To Europe. Absolutely no pressure on me to try not to mess THAT up. One thing I have in my favor is that I lived in Europe at one point, so I have a good sense of things and an even better sense of what I don’t know.
For Jill, this is all new and exotic and mysterious. . . I really didn’t understand how little she knew of Europe until we talked about getting a car rental. For several days Jill kept asking about how comfortable I would be driving ‘over there’. Questions about how ‘safe’ it was for us to drive kept popping up.
One morning as we were driving to a shop, we pulled up to an intersection to make a turn. Jill asked me if I was sure I wouldn’t get mixed up by having to drive on the ‘other’ side of the road. Immediately, the light bulb went on, and I told her that all the countries we will be driving in and through, drive on the same exact side of the road as in the US. She immediately relaxed about the road trip, and now she is all excited about it. With that concern off of her shoulders, it is fun to see her wide-eyed, innocent excitement about experiencing a Camino with me, and being on a 'dream vacation' afterwards.
Anyway, including Spain, Jill will have a nice look at 7 different countries. A nice route through France to Northern Italy, into Switzerland, Lichtenstein, up into German Bavaria, into Austria, then back up to Germany to head to Frankfurt to drop off the car and catch our flight home. We have compiled a list of places to visit and things to see, but other than that, there is no required route to follow, distance we need to meet each day, and decisions about where to spend the night will be made the previous evening, after we look at where we really want to go that next day.
Jill wants to dip her toes into the culture and history and architecture and art of Europe. I'm excited about the foods I get to eat, too.
For Jill, this entire trip is about her fulfilling what she views as her Once-In-A-Lifetime experience. For my part, I have gently suggested that before she concludes that this is a one off, that Camino addiction may pay her a surprise visit.
). We are generally a pretty supportive, gentle bunch, and I think that hearing from an anonymous crowd would help calm all of her anxieties. As you well know, there are many scared newbies who let it all out on the forum and then go on to successful un-pre-packaged caminos. Buen camino, Laurie
