Stumbledore
New Member
- Time of past OR future Camino
- Past: Camino Frances
Future: Camino Norte/Primitiv
I drafted this three days before finishing our hybrid Camino Del Norte, Camino Lebaniego and Camino Primitivo. Yes, for the record it was much more physically demanding than our Camino CF, but so worth the journey. I hope you enjoy my musings.
If you are walking the Camino under 40 years of age, you are trying to find yourself.
If you are walking the Camino over 40 years of age, you are trying to lose yourself.
If you come to a fork in the road, the Camino route will usually be the one going uphill.
The last 5 km is always harder than the first 15 km.
Your pack weighs 50 kilos everday when you begin, and 0 kilos one hour later.
A thousand generations of gnats and flies have tormented peregrinos. They know we are here and will always greet us!
More Camino days end with an uphill climb than a downhill.
Tha Camino reawakens your sense of smell: the forest; the fruit trees; the pungent odor from the plastic wrapped hay: horses, cows, sheep and chickens and their manure, and even fellow peregrinos and yourself!
How much water weight you carry in your pack is a function of how many bars there are along the stage.
Every bar is a Camino family reunion.
Camino treasure (objects found along the way) are to be shared, not kept.
The natural beauty of the Camino is only eclipsed by the beauty of the Camino family.
We are privileged to walk in the footsteps and share in some of the physical hardships of a hundred generations of peregrinos.
The best beer you will ever drink is at the end of a 30km day.
Second breakfasts aren't just for Hobbits.
Some of the best maps and guides are the local residents. We universally thank them for flagging us down, honking and pointing to keep us on course.
Every turn in the path provides an opportunity for the unexpected. Unparalleled views, walking amongst the clouds, animal greeters, rainbows, endless paths, hills, mountains, lakes and streams, beautiful villages and friendly locals.
The Camino fosters courage and compassion. Each day we both experience and observe peregrinos limping forward with blisters, ankle and knee pain. It is a shared pain.
Some of the best medicine for persistent and acute pain is conversation.
Bonds formed through shared hardship are unbreakable.
As I near the end of our Camino, my pack is sunbleached, my skin is sunburned, my pants are loose around the waist, my trekking poles have well worn tips, and there are no lugs left on the soles of my shoes. My soul and spirit are renewed.
The end of the Camino is bittersweet. On the one hand, you look forward to resting your battered body, and on the other you dread leaving your Camino family, and even ponder why can't you just walk everyday, forever.
View attachment 20230720_091944.mp4
If you are walking the Camino under 40 years of age, you are trying to find yourself.
If you are walking the Camino over 40 years of age, you are trying to lose yourself.
If you come to a fork in the road, the Camino route will usually be the one going uphill.
The last 5 km is always harder than the first 15 km.
Your pack weighs 50 kilos everday when you begin, and 0 kilos one hour later.
A thousand generations of gnats and flies have tormented peregrinos. They know we are here and will always greet us!
More Camino days end with an uphill climb than a downhill.
Tha Camino reawakens your sense of smell: the forest; the fruit trees; the pungent odor from the plastic wrapped hay: horses, cows, sheep and chickens and their manure, and even fellow peregrinos and yourself!
How much water weight you carry in your pack is a function of how many bars there are along the stage.
Every bar is a Camino family reunion.
Camino treasure (objects found along the way) are to be shared, not kept.
The natural beauty of the Camino is only eclipsed by the beauty of the Camino family.
We are privileged to walk in the footsteps and share in some of the physical hardships of a hundred generations of peregrinos.
The best beer you will ever drink is at the end of a 30km day.
Second breakfasts aren't just for Hobbits.
Some of the best maps and guides are the local residents. We universally thank them for flagging us down, honking and pointing to keep us on course.
Every turn in the path provides an opportunity for the unexpected. Unparalleled views, walking amongst the clouds, animal greeters, rainbows, endless paths, hills, mountains, lakes and streams, beautiful villages and friendly locals.
The Camino fosters courage and compassion. Each day we both experience and observe peregrinos limping forward with blisters, ankle and knee pain. It is a shared pain.
Some of the best medicine for persistent and acute pain is conversation.
Bonds formed through shared hardship are unbreakable.
As I near the end of our Camino, my pack is sunbleached, my skin is sunburned, my pants are loose around the waist, my trekking poles have well worn tips, and there are no lugs left on the soles of my shoes. My soul and spirit are renewed.
The end of the Camino is bittersweet. On the one hand, you look forward to resting your battered body, and on the other you dread leaving your Camino family, and even ponder why can't you just walk everyday, forever.
View attachment 20230720_091944.mp4