Perception Versus Reality - Trains, Buses and Feet

[VNwalking]

A thread about taking a bus reminded me of something I've noticed every time I follow a Camino route on a bus or a train: it always looks way more long, difficult, intense, steep, or otherwise awful than it actually turns out to be.

Before I walked both the Vasco and Invierno, I'd taken the train in the same general areas and was thinking I would really suffer (in fact, it was the train journey from Monforte to Leon that put me off walking the Invierno for years). But on foot, neither were anything close to as intense as they appeared.

Likewise, exurbs seem more soulless, and rough places look more dismal than they ever do on foot.

Now I know not to be freaked out by perceptions from speeding vehicles. But I'm curious - am I the only one, or does this happen to you too?

And if you're a first-timer on the bus from Pamplona to SJPP and find yourself questioning your sanity - or like me think a camino is out of the question because it looked really gnarly from a train...maybe question that perception. It probably won't be that hard after all.

 

[malingerer]

A thread about taking a bus reminded me of something I've noticed every time I follow a Camino route on a bus or a train: it always looks way more long, difficult, intense, steep, or otherwise awful than it actually turns out to be.

Before I walked both the Vasco and Invierno, I'd taken the train in the same general areas and was thinking I would really suffer (in fact, it was the train journey from Monforte to Leon that put me off walking the Invierno for years). But on foot, neither were anything close to as intense as they appeared.

Likewise, exurbs seem more soulless, and rough places look more dismal than they ever do on foot.

Now I know not to be freaked out by perceptions from speeding vehicles. But I'm curious - am I the only one, or does this happen to you too?

And if you're a first-timer on the bus from Pamplona to SJPP and find yourself questioning your sanity - or like me think a camino is out of the question because it looked really gnarly from a train...maybe question that perception. It probably won't be that hard after all.

I used to get the same feeling gawping at the Brierly diagrams, especially the gradient leading up to and beyond ORISSON ! The reality turned out to be WORSE according to my aching lungs Tis best to plod on cursing horribly and hoping for an end to your suffering !

Walk soft and stay safe but walk on

Samarkand

 

[VNwalking]

The reality turned out to be WORSE

Well. So.much for that hypothesis. Not quite the same thing, though.

I should note that misperception works after the fact too. I'm probably not the only person who's been on a train for hours, amazed that walking all that way is even possible. But I'd just done it.
It's bizarre.

 

[Bradypus]

A thread about taking a bus reminded me of something I've noticed every time I follow a Camino route on a bus or a train: it always looks way more long, difficult, intense, steep, or otherwise awful than it actually turns out to be.

Not so sure about that. After walking from Canterbury to Rome in summer 2015 I met my wife there and we both returned to the UK by train. Passing through a number of familiar places on the way. I remember thinking that condensing a 66 day walk into less than 24 hours of train travel made it seem a fairly small business after all!

I should note that misperception works after the fact too. I'm probably not the only person who's been on a train for hours, amazed that walking all that way is even possible. But I'd just done it.
It's bizarre.

That sounds more like my experience.

 

[VNwalking]

I remember thinking that condensing a 66 day walk into less than 24 hours of train travel made it seem a fairly small business after all

But did the mountainous parts look more difficult than they had actually been?

 

[Bradypus]

But did the mountainous parts look more difficult than they had actually been?

Yes. But in my experience they always do. And reputation plays a big part too. I walked the Camino Frances for the fourth time this January. On the day I walked from Villafranca del Bierzo to O Cebreiro I was very aware of some small anxiety about the upcoming "very hard" climb for the last few km. Which I had already walked three times and knew from personal experience was well within my own capabilities. But somehow I had still allowed all the hype about this infamous stage that I had read here and elsewhere to override what I knew to be reality.

 

[VNwalking]

But in my experience they always do

So it's not just me.
That's what I find so interesting: a landscape can look absolutely hair-raising from a speeding vehicle. But step by step it's not that big a deal.

For me this is aside from reputation. Some of the worst misperceptions in my experience have been in places where few pilgrims go. But yes, hype can definitely get lodged sideways in one's psyche. For me it was the Alto del Perdòn. On the other side I thought, "That was it?"

 

[malingerer]

So it's not just me.
That's what I find so interesting: a landscape can look absolutely hair-raising from a speeding vehicle. But step by step it's not that big a deal.

For me this is aside from reputation. Some of the worst misperceptions in my experience have been in places where few pilgrims go. But yes, hype can definitely get lodged sideways in one's psyche. For me it was the Alto del Perdòn. On the other side I thought, "That was it?"

I scared myself shitless after volunteering to do a fire walk for charity some years ago. I was a nervous wreck when the day actually dawned. I mean, how do you do any previous training? The actual training on the day was mostly phycological with some tips thrown in. By the time the team had finished with me I would have thrown momma off the train! When I actually did the walk , I looked at the fire pit behind and started to laugh . Asking " was that it ? "

All the best
samarkand.

 

[Kirkie]

But yes, hype can definitely get lodged sideways in one's psyche. For me it was the Alto del Perdòn. On the other side I thought, "That was it?"
Snap! A few 'friends' did not hesitate to say they thought I would never manage El Perdón.
Ha! How wrong they were. I loved seeing their faces afterwards.
More importantly, I have repeated that walk from Pamplona to Puente la Reina more than once. (By the way, passing through Obanos, snap off a tiny sprig of lavender and tuck it into the band of your hat to delight the senses as you continue to Puente...)

 

[trecile]

For me this is aside from reputation. Some of the worst misperceptions in my experience have been in places where few pilgrims go. But yes, hype can definitely get lodged sideways in one's psyche. For me it was the Alto del Perdòn. On the other side I thought, "That was it?"

For me it was Cruz de Ferro.

 

[Mananath]

About half way into the CF I stopped looking at profile maps of the next stage -- I found they always looked steeper on paper than in reality and were just needlessly making me worry.

 

[C clearly]

it always looks way more long, difficult, intense, steep, or otherwise awful than it actually turns out to be.

Yes. For me it seems to be a sense of familiarity and removal of anticipation/anxiety time. Once I am there, on the ground, placing one foot in front of the other, it is familiar and seeable and do-able. My decisions are reduced to practicalities. (Of course, that can also be hazardous, as you go step-by-step into unknown territory, so one does need to carry some information and common sense. That is what I try to prepare for, on routes where I am likely to be alone.)

 

[Former member 92300]

For me... I do my best not to do a journey by train/bus that I will be walking - before I walk it. For my 2021 Camino - I did have to take a train to Pamplona and travel from Pamplona to SJPDP to start the trail. I wasn't so worried about distances... but moreso about seeing the sites by train before I saw them by foot. That stressed me out a little bit. I didn't want to see anything before I walked it. Even just spending the night in Pamplona before getting started - I really wanted to walk around the town, but I didn't want to walk around town before "I arrived PROPERLY" if you know what I mean! So no - I wasn't focused on looking at what I was about to walk and seeing how hard it might be.

On the other end of the spectrum - it is always so surreal to get on a bus or train after you just walked it. From Santiago to Muxia to Finisterre - I walked to Muxia in 3 days then to Finisterre in 1 day. Taking the bus back from Finisterre to Santiago obviously took an hour or two - and I knew it would have taken 3 days time if I walked.

The one that as really weird for me though is there is a place on the Norte where you are supposed to hop on a train and go to the next stop because it is illegal in that area to cross a certain set of train tracks (you would have quite distance to get to a spot where you an legally cross). So - I followed directions and got on the train. But somehow I got on it going the wrong direction. I had to ride it back one stop... and it took me literally 2 minutes or so to go to a train station I had passed a few HOURS earlier and I had been walking pretty non-stop to get to that train stop where I got on the trail! That one was rough! I was so annoyed that I had put myself in a situation where I would be retracing my hard earned steps with a 2 minute train ride when I was exhausted. Made it hard for me to feel motivated to keep walking when I finally got on the correct train and got off at the correct stop lol. Nevertheless - I got off and resumed walking knowing that it would take me a few hours to get to the next stop that the train would get to in just a couple minutes!

 

[VNwalking]

I was so annoyed that I had put myself in a situation where I would be retracing my hard earned steps with a 2 minute train ride when I was exhausted.

Sheesh. What a bummer.
I'm assuming it wasn't possible just to take the train in the other direction?

Alto del Perdòn

Cruz de Ferro.

No one said anything about the downhill side of both of these, which (to me) felt vastly worse than the climb.

I wasn't focused on looking at what I was about to walk and seeing how hard it might be.

Maybe you're wiser than I.
In 2019 I flew to Santiago and treated myself to a few nights there before walking the Vasco-Francés-Invierno, then took the train to Irun to start the camino. The journey followed the camino route in many places, so there were plenty of times that day when I was questioning my sanity (it's a long but wonderful train journey BTW). I was especially bug-eyed where the train snakes along the hill above Zegama - the slope was soooo steep! In the end it was definitely a hill. But nothing like what my imagination was making it out to be.

Somewhere recently I was reading that we are hard-wired to notice and fixate on danger. Just guessing, but this may be a remnant of that old neural pattern.

 

[mspath]

This reminds me of the
pedestrian bridge which carries pilgrims high above the auto-route east of Leon.
When I got there in 2010 the wind was so terrific that at first I could NOT MOVE! Seeking help but seeing no other pilgrim I backed down the ramp and calmly walked into a nearby car showroom. After I explained that I needed assistance to cross the slightly astonished but very elegant manager put on his coat and took my arm. Eventually we both made it across, wind-blown and breathless! With a casual 'Adios' he noted that he had never walked the Camino and if it was all like that crossing he certainly never would!
...Later years whenever I successfully crossed that bridge I always smiled remembering my intense earlier relief!!

 

[Theatregal]

A thread about taking a bus reminded me of something I've noticed every time I follow a Camino route on a bus or a train: it always looks way more long, difficult, intense, steep, or otherwise awful than it actually turns out to be.

Likewise, exurbs seem more soulless, and rough places look more dismal than they ever do on foot.

Absolutely. It's the same at home. During the lockdown pandemic times, with lots of time on my hands, I started walking routes I'd only ever driven - the 15 or 20 km to my work places, parks, neighbourhoods where I shop etc... When driving, some of these routes felt a combination of long, a bit soulless and uninteresting. How wrong I was! With feet on ground I saw and discovered things about these routes I had never noticed before. I was also reminded that there is more than one way to get from A to B.

About half way into the CF I stopped looking at profile maps of the next stage -- I found they always looked steeper on paper than in reality and were just needlessly making me worry.

Once I am there, on the ground, placing one foot in front of the other, it is familiar and seeable and do-able

Yes!!

 

[Anamiri]

For me it was Cruz de Ferro.

Me too, I got up early to walk, and then all of a sudden was there. I was expecting a peaceful contemplative place - the first time I walked to the Cruz de Ferro, a group of school kids were already there, throwing rocks at each other.

And the last time we visited my husband discovered he'd left his hat at the cafe in Foncebaden, and a Camino Angel brought it along on a bike for him. So no peaceful experience then either.

And I was definitely not expecting the descent from Alto del Perdòn, that was way worse then the climb.

 

[Anamiri]

Not so sure about that. After walking from Canterbury to Rome in summer 2015 I met my wife there and we both returned to the UK by train. Passing through a number of familiar places on the way. I remember thinking that condensing a 66 day walk into less than 24 hours of train travel made it seem a fairly small business after all!



That sounds more like my experience.

Wow, 66 days! I was expecting it would take me too long to fit into a Schengen schedule.

 

[Bradypus]

Wow, 66 days! I was expecting it would take me too long to fit into a Schengen schedule.

I do walk fairly long days. Most people aim for something closer to 80 or 90 days.

 

[Former member 92300]

Sheesh. What a bummer.
I'm assuming it wasn't possible just to take the train in the other direction?

No... I was just stupid and got on the train going the wrong direction! It was really stupid because I was told again and again that it was illegal to cross the tracks and to just get on the train - go one stop - and get off. Well... I had to cross that particular track to get on the train going the right direction... it was elsewhere where it was illegal to cross the track. I remember thinking - "I should be on the other side of the track but they say it is illegal to cross" LMAO

 

[Former member 92300]

This reminds me of the
pedestrian bridge which carries pilgrims high above the auto-route east of Leon.
When I got there in 2010 the wind was so terrific that at first I could NOT MOVE! Seeking help but seeing no other pilgrim I backed down the ramp and calmly walked into a nearby car showroom. After I explained that I needed assistance to cross the slightly astonished but very elegant manager put on his coat and took my arm. Eventually we both made it across, wind-blown and breathless! With a casual 'Adios' he noted that he had never walked the Camino and if it was all like that crossing he certainly never would!
...Later years whenever I successfully crossed that bridge I always smiled remembering my intense earlier relief!!

Now this is the kind of special experience I loved on the Camino! Those moments when a local goes above and beyond to make sure you get what you need out of the goodness of their heart. My moment like that was a cold dreary day when a bar owner snuck me upstairs trying not to let the others in the bar see me - to a closed restaurant room where his wife served me a lovely dinner. He then invited me back for breakfast to make sure I was ready to start my day. Love those unexpected moments are the best!

 

[VNwalking]

those unexpected moments are the best!

What a nice story!
It is always better than we think it could possibly be. Trains in the wrong direction notwithstanding.

My "it won't be as scary as you think" moment - busting through that misperception from the train - was mid- morning on my first day of the Invierno, when an eldely beaming señora gave me more cherries than I could possibly hold. She wanted to give me the whole bucket, actually, but I could hardly manage a giant handful. Wow. She was in a few prayers along the way and in Santiago, I can tell you!