LIVE from the Camino On cell phones and the Young

[BombayBill]

Thoughts after too much much wine in Restaurant Marido in Portmarin.

As an Old Fart I sometimes grumble to myself about the Young and their cell phones. But upon reflection I’ve changed my wine ( oops sorry * my mind).

I’ve seen many Young constantly looking at their phones and carrying their laptops. I’ve asked them what their doing. They’re doing remote work, job interviews, looking for their next job. Outside of Pamplona we all fell silent in a bus stop in the rain so a young German could do round 2 of a face to face interview.

My own daughter who walks with me is on her phone, looking for work, primping for Zoom interviews as she walks.

She doesn’t have the luxury of a full time salaried job, or a pension, just a life time ahead of gig work.

So when I look at the Young looking at phones I feel sympathy, they’re not looking at cat photos like the Old Farts. They are struggling to get ahead in a complicated world.

 

[Madrood]

It's funny, I was thinking of if I should be doing this when I start mine in March. It's common enough; when I was in a Prague hostel I was chatting to a girl who was following up college with some paid work while travelling in central Europe, 2 days on and 1 day off or something like that. Similarly, many cities now have things like cafes but with only workspaces for these footloose workers.

I have also used my phone a lot for long hikes in England by preloading other peoples gps trails and following them live if I have too. Will probably do the same on the CF, just in case.

 

[aalvere1]

This is a cool post. I’m not yet an old fart, but I’m getting there and I’m definitely not a 20 year old. I’ll be on Camino with my iPad, but no rush. I’m able to go only because I work. I’m able to work while on Camino on my iPad, but only plan to if there are fires at work. I don’t plan on doing more than 30 minutes a day. Let’s see how that goes. I can say that if I didn’t have the ability to sort out some sort of emergency, I’d not be able to Camino. So the extra 1.5lbs is a pain, but a pain that’s allowed me to come back to Camino. (I’ve done the Ingles in 2017 and started the Frances March 2, 2020…so we know how that ended).

 

[trecile]

I guess that I qualify as an "old fart" and I probably spend too much time on my phone. Half of it is on this forum! But while I'm on the Camino I could be reading the guide book on my Kindle, updating blog for friends and family, or reading an e-book. No one would look askance if I were reading a physical book or writing in a journal, but doing the same thing electronically gains one disapproving looks.