Post Camino Slump -- anyone else?

[jana2017]

Hi
I completed the Camino frances from St Jean to Santiago last Thursday. I got back to the US on Saturday and was dog tired for quite a few days (to be expected) and have also been feeling really down. This is unusual for me since I tend to be a chipper person. Our camino was great, and although arduous was beautiful and I really enjoyed the simplicity of the life.

Since I got back, I've been tired, teary (cried watching Greys Anatomy - also not like me), and feel generally disorientated. Feels like I need to find new bearings and things that I cared about and relationships are all up in the air. I guess part of me is missing the camino and the simplicity of that life but I also just feel disorientated and I'm slightly under the weather physically (few aches and pains still and swollen glands). I didn't expect this. The camino was such an overwhelming experience - both in joy and physical challenge - not so much in spiritual connection which surprised me because I tend to be spiritually aware.

Has anyone else experienced something similar?

I'm highly intuitive and sensitive so I'm just letting it be and letting the tears and sadness well up but it would be nice to have my bearings again so I can move forward in work and life - at least on the camino the path ahead is always clear - just follow the arrows.

Ironically, I have a Chatres labyrinth in my garden and it grew over while I was on the camino. I am yearning to walk it and I tried for hours yesterday to recreate the path to the center and I just couldn't do it. Luckily, the man who installed it for me is coming over to look.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

Has anyone else experienced something similar?

It is very common. The reaction to it varies widely. You are going to get a lot of advice! Cull through it as carefully as you probably did in planning your pilgrimage!

 

[mspath]

Many, many pilgrims feel as you after walking their camino. Do scan this current forum thread to read various posts and thoughts re how to cope during this special time. https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/dazed-or-confused-after-camino.48893/

Good luck and enjoy your memories!

 

[jana2017]

It is very common. The reaction to it varies widely. You are going to get a lot of advice! Cull through it as carefully as you probably did in planning your pilgrimage!

Ah, that makes me feel better. I just didn't expect it.

 

[jana2017]

Ah, thank you. I read the thread it was really helpful - articulated so much of what I've been feeling - and was shocked to feel. Now, its normalized it for me. I've been feeling the urge to write (I'm a professional writer) so I'm going to give myself time to do that and see what unfurls. I'm realizing part of it is grief - it just bought me to tears thinking about the simple life walking through beauty each day.

 

[Rick M]

Ah, thank you. I read the thread it was really helpful - articulated so much of what I've been feeling - and was shocked to feel. Now, its normalized it for me. I've been feeling the urge to write (I'm a professional writer) so I'm going to give myself time to do that and see what unfurls. I'm realizing part of it is grief - it just bought me to tears thinking about the simple life walking through beauty each day.

Writing is good. Helps to get the thoughts organized by enforcing some process and discipline, and of course, just plain getting it all out. You may find that coming back to this forum in the years ahead allows you to help others as well as continuing the "normalization" process. Trust me on this one, the Camino is not finished with you yet!

 

[James Borden]

It's probably the same feeling the Hippies had when the Greatful Dead and Phish were on hiatus.Off to work you go,no more lollygagging around.

 

[JabbaPapa]

Hi
I completed the Camino frances from St Jean to Santiago last Thursday. I got back to the US on Saturday and was dog tired for quite a few days (to be expected) and have also been feeling really down. This is unusual for me since I tend to be a chipper person. Our camino was great, and although arduous was beautiful and I really enjoyed the simplicity of the life.

Since I got back, I've been tired, teary (cried watching Greys Anatomy - also not like me), and feel generally disorientated. Feels like I need to find new bearings and things that I cared about and relationships are all up in the air. I guess part of me is missing the camino and the simplicity of that life but I also just feel disorientated and I'm slightly under the weather physically (few aches and pains still and swollen glands). I didn't expect this. The camino was such an overwhelming experience - both in joy and physical challenge - not so much in spiritual connection which surprised me because I tend to be spiritually aware.

Has anyone else experienced something similar?

I'm highly intuitive and sensitive so I'm just letting it be and letting the tears and sadness well up but it would be nice to have my bearings again so I can move forward in work and life - at least on the camino the path ahead is always clear - just follow the arrows.

Ironically, I have a Chatres labyrinth in my garden and it grew over while I was on the camino. I am yearning to walk it and I tried for hours yesterday to recreate the path to the center and I just couldn't do it. Luckily, the man who installed it for me is coming over to look.

Yes, I have felt this too -- and the opposite, of a Joy from the Camino (and +) lasting months.

This post-Camino sadness is, in my experience, a symptom of a Camino not completed, or rather : interrupted.

I always say that the end of the Way, el Final del Camino, is home ; not Santiago.

The Journey should be towards home, not only along the Way -- but the way from Santiago back home should become its own Journey, during which you can take your experiences and think upon them, give as much thought even just during one week on the meaning of the return home as you've given to the meaning of the Way in the last week towards Compostela, to make sense of not only what you have learned but also of who you have become.

To switch instantly from the slow Way across Spain to the swiftness of an air journey bringing you to your house in perhaps less than a day will necessarily be difficult, particularly if you have come to think of the Camino as being a better way of life than what you have back home.

To Journey home from Santiago, rather than just travelling, is ideally to slowly move from the peculiars of the Way into the structures of your life, but carefully, respectfully, patiently, and attentive to the question of what changes to this life the living on the Camino may be demanding of you. Materially, I think it would be a good idea for those travelling home by plane to select an arrival airport from where they could take several days to walk from there back home.

There are other potential explanations for your feelings, of course -- but if so, it would certainly not be my place to interfere with them.

Buen Camino, peregrina, y buena suerte !!

 

[Anemone del Camino]

Been there, done that. We come back feom our first Camino and believe we have seen the light, that we now understand how things should be, and perhaps even questionning what we do have. That is the dangerous part.

It's refered to as reverse cultural shock, and kids going off for a term abroad for uni are often trained to expect this, and how to deal with it.

Don't walk away from what you have, just bring in a few elements of what you discovered and learned while walking, because the truth is that while caminoing we are living in a bubble: many many people with a similar mindset, few financial worries if not the experience of living super well on little next to nothing, no responsabilities. Nice, very nice, but ...

It is your home life that allowed you to experience the Camino, and living on the Camino day in and day out would be a very different thing.

So incorporate bits of your experience, but don't hope you will be living on that cloud for the rest of your life, and certainly don't throw away what you do have, especially relationships, no matter how imperfect they may be.

Oh, and plan your next Camino. Don't expect it to be the same, or you will be bitterly disappointed, but it will teach you some more, and will also put this first one into perspective.

Oh, a little side note. There is a Camino specialised shop where I live that rents out its space to people who have jist come back andwant to share theor experience with others. This way they do it once, and hopefully don't just talk about their Camino with their friends after returning, alienating their friends and relatives.

You'll be ok. But ... if you keep feeling physically off, do visit your GP.

 

[jerbear]

Your heart has been opened. Your not tired. You are relaxed. Enjoy. Breathe. Gate gate para gate.

 

[eviemonkey]

The finality of the Camino's end can hit you like a sledgehammer. Removed from the company of fellow pilgrims and devoid of any shared tangible goal or target (Santiago), it is hard not to feel over-whelmed by bouts of nostalgia and a sense that 'real life' will always somehow struggle by comparison. As the days and weeks pass by, you worry whether you can ever adequately carry the legacy of your Camino long-term in our lives beyond fleeting memories here and there.

I guess one option is not to compare our post-Camino lives to those idealized days whilst on the Camino itself, but to our lives pre-Camino. No one can keep walking the Camino indefinitely. But if we can return home even that bit happier, calmer, and stronger versions of ourselves than before, then the Camino has served it's purpose and should be celebrated.

I believe it's perfectly fine to feel an emotional void post-Camino. Perfectly fine to feel even a genuine sadness for a while. Embrace the hurt. Because it wouldn't hurt if the Camino didn't matter, right. It wouldn't hurt if you didn't miss and care deeply for those connections you made along the way. And to miss those lifetime of memories, the magical sunrises, stunning vistas, shared communal meals, opening up to strangers in a way you never could with normal friends and work colleagues.

Time is linear. We can never return to the same Camino already completed, no more than to our life which preceeded it. We can only control the here and now. What can we do differently to make our lives simplier if that was one of the virtues of walking a Camino? Who do we wish to spent time with? How do we find those little moments of magic and quiet reflection in our day to day lives, when at times it can feel like the whole world is whizzing by at a faster pace than which is comfortable for some of us? That can be as much of a challenge as the walking from A to B on the Camino.

 

[Former member 42123]

Hi
I completed the Camino frances from St Jean to Santiago last Thursday. I got back to the US on Saturday and was dog tired for quite a few days (to be expected) and have also been feeling really down. This is unusual for me since I tend to be a chipper person. Our camino was great, and although arduous was beautiful and I really enjoyed the simplicity of the life.

Since I got back, I've been tired, teary (cried watching Greys Anatomy - also not like me), and feel generally disorientated. Feels like I need to find new bearings and things that I cared about and relationships are all up in the air. I guess part of me is missing the camino and the simplicity of that life but I also just feel disorientated and I'm slightly under the weather physically (few aches and pains still and swollen glands). I didn't expect this. The camino was such an overwhelming experience - both in joy and physical challenge - not so much in spiritual connection which surprised me because I tend to be spiritually aware.

Has anyone else experienced something similar?

I'm highly intuitive and sensitive so I'm just letting it be and letting the tears and sadness well up but it would be nice to have my bearings again so I can move forward in work and life - at least on the camino the path ahead is always clear - just follow the arrows.

Ironically, I have a Chatres labyrinth in my garden and it grew over while I was on the camino. I am yearning to walk it and I tried for hours yesterday to recreate the path to the center and I just couldn't do it. Luckily, the man who installed it for me is coming over to look.

I posted previously that I was reduced to tears whilst on the Camino.I discovered an emotional side of me that seemed to have been suppressed by that old adage "real men don't cry".I now find that many things in life make me teary,from a piece of music to the suffering of humans or animals,or when I recall how I felt at Cruz de Ferro.I am grateful to the Camino for this and many other things and can't wait to return.

 

[jana2017]

Thanks - this is all very helpful. Amazingly enough, the World Labyrinth Society is located in my tiny village in Upstate New York and the leader of it came over to my house this afternoon and helped me fix my labyrinth. It was highly therapeutic - not only the rich conversation and his understanding of my twirl but reconnecting my outer labyrinth reconnected some inner wiring and I feel a lot better. One of my lessons of my Camino has been embodied spirituality - and here it is again at the end. The arrows are still here - just reflected in my inner yearnings rather than yellow paint on the ground.

 

[YvonneT]

There's a lovely book you could read. "The Year we seized the Day" by Elizabeth Best and Colin Bowles. Published by Arena. Allen and Unwin.
You should get it. You'll see you're not alone!

 

[Tigger]

No,

I actually cannot share this experience.

I was energised by my Camino and felt fitter, stronger and more balanced, physically, mentally, spiritually and emotionally, returning after my Camino. So many of my expectations were not met, I surprised myself despite surviving a scenario of... anything that could go wrong 'did go wrong' that I just went with the flow and let it happen. It was not a 'revelation'. It was not a 'best thing ever to happen to me'..it was complex, exhausting and painful on so many levels. Personal growth at its finest.

 

[Anemone del Camino]

No,

I actually cannot share this experience.
It was not a 'revelation'. It was not a 'best thing ever to happen to me'..it was complex, exhausting and painful on so many levels. Personal growth at its finest.

Probably due to the fact you were on VDLP which has a very sifferent vibe than the Frances. More walking, less "Camino family".

 

[JabbaPapa]

Probably due to the fact you were on VDLP which has a very sifferent vibe than the Frances. More walking, less "Camino family".

I think you're right that beginning at least on a more solitary route prior to joining the hubbub closer to Santiago is helpful for perspective.

 

[Tigger]

Probably due to the fact you were on VDLP which has a very sifferent vibe than the Frances. More walking, less "Camino family".

I did the last 100+ km from Sarria on the Camino Frances due to logistical problems for the injured in the group.

 

[Anemone del Camino]

I did the last 100+ km from Sarria on the Camino Frances due to logistical problems for the injured in the group.

Oops, but that is an even worse stretch to find "that Camino feeling". Doubt many come back from walking that stretch feeling they have seen the light.

 

[Tigger]

Oops, but that is an even worse stretch to find "that Camino feeling". Doubt many come back from walking that stretch feeling they have seen the light.

Well, from the grinding poverty of the farmers on the Via de la Plata and the 'ghost towns' of the impoverished villages in some of this region, to the 'razzamattaz' of the last 100+ kms on the Frances, you may have a point. I loved it all.

 

[Pelegrin]

Well, from the grinding poverty of the farmers on the Via de la Plata and the 'ghost towns' of the impoverished villages in some of this region, to the 'razzamattaz' of the last 100+ kms on the Frances, you may have a point. I loved it all.

Sorry to leave the OP, but I think that this point of "grinding poverty" in Spain must be clarified for new pilgrims.
There isn't "grinding poverty" anywhere in the EU (including Spain).
Of course there is poverty in Spain, but all people have free access to education and hospitals and there are different solutions for providing acommodation and food.
Those poor "farmers" that you can see on VdLP propably are retired people who earn a pension from the Gov. and grow some goats/sheep for complementing their income or just for entertainment.

 

[JabbaPapa]

Sorry to leave the OP, but I think that this point of "grinding poverty" in Spain must be clarified for new pilgrims.
There isn't "grinding poverty" anywhere in the EU (including Spain).
Of course there is poverty in Spain, but all people have free access to education and hospitals and there are different solutions for providing acommodation and food.
Those poor "farmers" that you can see on VdLP propably are retired people who earn a pension from the Gov. and grow some goats/sheep for complementing their income or just for entertainment.

I'm sorry, but this simply isn't true -- certainly, the conditions of peasants in Spain has improved generally from various sources, including subsidies from Spain or the EU, but it is quite false to suppose that all is fantastic or that poverty in the peasantry has vanished away, and honestly ?

Your "there are different solutions for providing accommodation and food" and your "probably are retired people who earn a pension from the Gov. and grow some goats/sheep for complementing their income or just for entertainment" are very insensitive and uninformed comments.

Peasants are land owners, and the poorer ones often struggle harshly to make a living for themselves and their families -- to suppose that they are doing this "just for entertainment" is to not understand the lands that the Caminos wind through and the people who inhabit them in the slightest.

 

[Harington]

Hi
I completed the Camino frances from St Jean to Santiago last Thursday. I got back to the US on Saturday and was dog tired for quite a few days (to be expected) and have also been feeling really down. This is unusual for me since I tend to be a chipper person. Our camino was great, and although arduous was beautiful and I really enjoyed the simplicity of the life.

Since I got back, I've been tired, teary (cried watching Greys Anatomy - also not like me), and feel generally disorientated. Feels like I need to find new bearings and things that I cared about and relationships are all up in the air. I guess part of me is missing the camino and the simplicity of that life but I also just feel disorientated and I'm slightly under the weather physically (few aches and pains still and swollen glands). I didn't expect this. The camino was such an overwhelming experience - both in joy and physical challenge - not so much in spiritual connection which surprised me because I tend to be spiritually aware.

Has anyone else experienced something similar?

I'm highly intuitive and sensitive so I'm just letting it be and letting the tears and sadness well up but it would be nice to have my bearings again so I can move forward in work and life - at least on the camino the path ahead is always clear - just follow the arrows.

Ironically, I have a Chatres labyrinth in my garden and it grew over while I was on the camino. I am yearning to walk it and I tried for hours yesterday to recreate the path to the center and I just couldn't do it. Luckily, the man who installed it for me is coming over to look.

Yes, it is a very usual reaction. Be kind to yourself, and start planning the next adventure - however big or small that might be.

 

[Katherine Fugate]

Thank you OP for your post. We returned from 120km with our start outside Sarria and I am truly struck with a bad case of the post Camino blues. Already trying to figure out how to get back and begin in St Jean and how to do this with a 10 year old child (who did fabulously and much better than she or I thought) as a single mom. Your words and the many posters here have helped me feel not alone. Thank you. x

 

[Purple Backpack]

I come home strong/happy and immediately rip my belongings to shreds, giving away stuff to try to replicate the pilgrim simplicity. But the Camino wears off and that's where my Slump begins. Life slowly returns to "normal" with its mixed bag of angst and joy and drama and happiness and problems....

When Slump kicks in, I can't wait to go on another trip. I crave the simple life of living out of a pack for even a little while and start the planning. And Forum folks, let's be honest. We all obsess about this at least a little bit. The weight of the blue vs. gray shirt, cutting the soap bar in half, should the heating coil go in the pack? No, it's too heavy, so out it comes. But morning coffee is so nice and it gets packed again. Maps are studied, train schedules perused. Air fare is shopped, booked, cancelled, rebooked.

I'm in a major Slump right now, almost a year out of returning from the southern part of the Via Francigena. I've been spending too much time on the Forum, ordered a couple of Amazon books, pondered different routes, looked at weather and splurged on a ridiculously light Houdini jacket. This fall is my target date and things are still really up in the air but I know it will come together. In the meantime, dreaming and planning gets me through everyday life.

So maybe Slumps can be a good thing. Looking forward to something happy makes everything else tolerable.

PS: Totally off topic but do you have a photo of your labyrinth? I have a tiny garden and am wondering if I can replicate a small labyrinth....building it may help with the Slump!

 

[Glenn Rowe]

It is very common. The reaction to it varies widely. You are going to get a lot of advice! Cull through it as carefully as you probably did in planning your pilgrimage!

Agreed; quite common, and not just among Camino pilgrims. Apollo astronaut Buzz Aldrin experienced a very similar thing. After all, once he'd walked on the Moon, where else was there to go -- what else was there to accomplish?

The Camino isn't the Moon in the physical sense, but it may well be your Moon in the personal/spiritual sense.

Be well. Let us know if we may be of assistance.

 

[maggiec]

Hi
I completed the Camino frances from St Jean to Santiago last Thursday. I got back to the US on Saturday and was dog tired for quite a few days (to be expected) and have also been feeling really down. This is unusual for me since I tend to be a chipper person. Our camino was great, and although arduous was beautiful and I really enjoyed the simplicity of the life.

Since I got back, I've been tired, teary (cried watching Greys Anatomy - also not like me), and feel generally disorientated. Feels like I need to find new bearings and things that I cared about and relationships are all up in the air. I guess part of me is missing the camino and the simplicity of that life but I also just feel disorientated and I'm slightly under the weather physically (few aches and pains still and swollen glands). I didn't expect this. The camino was such an overwhelming experience - both in joy and physical challenge - not so much in spiritual connection which surprised me because I tend to be spiritually aware.

Has anyone else experienced something similar?

I'm highly intuitive and sensitive so I'm just letting it be and letting the tears and sadness well up but it would be nice to have my bearings again so I can move forward in work and life - at least on the camino the path ahead is always clear - just follow the arrows.

Ironically, I have a Chatres labyrinth in my garden and it grew over while I was on the camino. I am yearning to walk it and I tried for hours yesterday to recreate the path to the center and I just couldn't do it. Luckily, the man who installed it for me is coming over to look.

I suffered severely

Hi
I completed the Camino frances from St Jean to Santiago last Thursday. I got back to the US on Saturday and was dog tired for quite a few days (to be expected) and have also been feeling really down. This is unusual for me since I tend to be a chipper person. Our camino was great, and although arduous was beautiful and I really enjoyed the simplicity of the life.

Since I got back, I've been tired, teary (cried watching Greys Anatomy - also not like me), and feel generally disorientated. Feels like I need to find new bearings and things that I cared about and relationships are all up in the air. I guess part of me is missing the camino and the simplicity of that life but I also just feel disorientated and I'm slightly under the weather physically (few aches and pains still and swollen glands). I didn't expect this. The camino was such an overwhelming experience - both in joy and physical challenge - not so much in spiritual connection which surprised me because I tend to be spiritually aware.

Has anyone else experienced something similar?

I'm highly intuitive and sensitive so I'm just letting it be and letting the tears and sadness well up but it would be nice to have my bearings again so I can move forward in work and life - at least on the camino the path ahead is always clear - just follow the arrows.

Ironically, I have a Chatres labyrinth in my garden and it grew over while I was on the camino. I am yearning to walk it and I tried for hours yesterday to recreate the path to the center and I just couldn't do it. Luckily, the man who installed it for me is coming over to look.

I suffered severely after my first camino. I later found out that it is a common phenomenon in professional athletes when they cease intense training. Be kind to yourself but KEEP WALKING. It is a shock to your body to stop

 

[nycwalking]

Thank you OP for your post. We returned from 120km with our start outside Sarria and I am truly struck with a bad case of the post Camino blues. Already trying to figure out how to get back and begin in St Jean and how to do this with a 10 year old child (who did fabulously and much better than she or I thought) as a single mom. Your words and the many posters here have helped me feel not alone. Thank you. x

Glad to hear you are back and 10 year old held her own. Congrats. Buen camino 10x's.

 

[Tigger]

Sorry to leave the OP, but I think that this point of "grinding poverty" in Spain must be clarified for new pilgrims.
There isn't "grinding poverty" anywhere in the EU (including Spain).
Of course there is poverty in Spain, but all people have free access to education and hospitals and there are different solutions for providing acommodation and food.
Those poor "farmers" that you can see on VdLP propably are retired people who earn a pension from the Gov. and grow some goats/sheep for complementing their income or just for entertainment.

I only know what I saw and experienced in many of the villages between Salamanca and Ourense. The villages were nearly empty, with a few old people and in a couple of cases literally an albergue and one bar run by the same family. There were no children, with all the playgrounds overgrown, derelict homes and businesses, and in one case we had the feeling that we were eating the only food. (of course the money we paid would buy more and other necessities for these people. ) Bring on the extra income from the pilgrims, as has happened over the last couple of decades for the northerners!
You are right in that these villages had a medical clinic ( it was a larger village and on a main road) but in one of the albergues there was no glass in the window and 20 watt bulbs to save electricity.

 

[DaveC]

Yes, I experienced the same thing. The disconnection from all those close connections formed while walking is painful for me. I experience that often to a minor degree. I also felt a significant amount of grief that it was over and that I couldn't go back. Kind of an existential crisis of sorts. It took me about two months to get back fully in gear. But then again I didn't try to rush it. Also, there was a significant similar experience on the one year anniversary. Be gentle with yourself and write if that works for you to help process what you are going through. Much love!

 

[Jo New Zealand]

Hi
I completed the Camino frances from St Jean to Santiago last Thursday. I got back to the US on Saturday and was dog tired for quite a few days (to be expected) and have also been feeling really down. This is unusual for me since I tend to be a chipper person. Our camino was great, and although arduous was beautiful and I really enjoyed the simplicity of the life.

Since I got back, I've been tired, teary (cried watching Greys Anatomy - also not like me), and feel generally disorientated. Feels like I need to find new bearings and things that I cared about and relationships are all up in the air. I guess part of me is missing the camino and the simplicity of that life but I also just feel disorientated and I'm slightly under the weather physically (few aches and pains still and swollen glands). I didn't expect this. The camino was such an overwhelming experience - both in joy and physical challenge - not so much in spiritual connection which surprised me because I tend to be spiritually aware.

Has anyone else experienced something similar?

I'm highly intuitive and sensitive so I'm just letting it be and letting the tears and sadness well up but it would be nice to have my bearings again so I can move forward in work and life - at least on the camino the path ahead is always clear - just follow the arrows.

Ironically, I have a Chatres labyrinth in my garden and it grew over while I was on the camino. I am yearning to walk it and I tried for hours yesterday to recreate the path to the center and I just couldn't do it. Luckily, the man who installed it for me is coming over to look.

I can relate well to your Camino Blues. I completed my Camino in October 2015. 800kms from St. Jean to Santiago. I went alone. I have never felt such joy and such freedom at any other time in my life. No responsibility. For 6 weeks I was nobody's wife, mother, nana, sister. I had a break from caring for my 88yr old mother and the stress and heartache associated with her dementia.
I cried with guilt, I cried for joy, I cried because after a week of walking I felt like a whole person and I had forgotten how good that felt. I cried walking tbrough the eucalyptus forest on my last day. I cried in the Pilgrim Office and couldn't speak.
The Camino changed my life. It is with me every day. My life back in New Zealand is still full on. It took me a year to talk about my experience. There was nobody to share it with so I share all you experiences on the Camino Forum each night before I go to sleep.
On the 27th August I fly to Lisbon to walj the Camino Portuguese.
Thank you all for keeping my Camino alive.

 

[Mike Savage]

I can relate well to your Camino Blues. I completed my Camino in October 2015. 800kms from St. Jean to Santiago. I went alone. I have never felt such joy and such freedom at any other time in my life. No responsibility. For 6 weeks I was nobody's wife, mother, nana, sister. I had a break from caring for my 88yr old mother and the stress and heartache associated with her dementia.
I cried with guilt, I cried for joy, I cried because after a week of walking I felt like a whole person and I had forgotten how good that felt. I cried walking tbrough the eucalyptus forest on my last day. I cried in the Pilgrim Office and couldn't speak.
The Camino changed my life. It is with me every day. My life back in New Zealand is still full on. It took me a year to talk about my experience. There was nobody to share it with so I share all you experiences on the Camino Forum each night before I go to sleep.
On the 27th August I fly to Lisbon to walj the Camino Portuguese.
Thank you all for keeping my Camino alive.

Well said Jo,

I had similar experiences on my Camino from St. Jean to Santiago in October 2015 and will fly to Portugal to walk the Camino Portuguese August 29th. I wish you all the best.

Safe travels and Bom Caminho.

 

[Kanga]

...I have never felt such joy and such freedom at any other time in my life. No responsibility. For 6 weeks I was nobody's wife, mother, nana, sister. I had a break from caring for my 88yr old mother and the stress and heartache associated with her dementia.
I cried with guilt, I cried for joy, I cried because after a week of walking I felt like a whole person and I had forgotten how good that felt. I cried walking tbrough the eucalyptus forest on my last day. I cried in the Pilgrim Office and couldn't speak.
The Camino changed my life. It is with me every day. My life back in New Zealand is still full on. It took me a year to talk about my experience. There was nobody to share it with so I share all you experiences on the Camino Forum each night before I go to sleep.
On the 27th August I fly to Lisbon to walj the Camino Portuguese.
Thank you all for keeping my Camino alive.

@Jo New Zealand what a lovely post. We hear you. People like you make time spent on this forum so worthwhile. Go girl.

 

[Tigger]

I can relate well to your Camino Blues. I completed my Camino in October 2015. 800kms from St. Jean to Santiago. I went alone. I have never felt such joy and such freedom at any other time in my life. No responsibility. For 6 weeks I was nobody's wife, mother, nana, sister. I had a break from caring for my 88yr old mother and the stress and heartache associated with her dementia.
I cried with guilt, I cried for joy, I cried because after a week of walking I felt like a whole person and I had forgotten how good that felt. I cried walking tbrough the eucalyptus forest on my last day. I cried in the Pilgrim Office and couldn't speak.
The Camino changed my life. It is with me every day. My life back in New Zealand is still full on. It took me a year to talk about my experience. There was nobody to share it with so I share all you experiences on the Camino Forum each night before I go to sleep.
On the 27th August I fly to Lisbon to walj the Camino Portuguese.
Thank you all for keeping my Camino alive.

I would have loved that.

 

[Purple Backpack]

Re: Post-Camino Slump.

1. Go to Farmer's Market.
2. Look inside little red wagon.
3. Pick up adorable puppy.
4. Take home puppy.
5. Ask family to watch puppy next fall for shortened Camino.
6. Slump gone!

 

[Tigger]

Re: Post-Camino Slump.

1. Go to Farmer's Market.
2. Look inside little red wagon.
3. Pick up adorable puppy.
4. Take home puppy.
5. Ask family to watch puppy next fall for shortened Camino.
6. Slump gone!

Additional bonus: training/walking partner and motivation

 

[KinkyOne]

I can relate well to your Camino Blues. I completed my Camino in October 2015. 800kms from St. Jean to Santiago. I went alone. I have never felt such joy and such freedom at any other time in my life. No responsibility. For 6 weeks I was nobody's wife, mother, nana, sister. I had a break from caring for my 88yr old mother and the stress and heartache associated with her dementia.
I cried with guilt, I cried for joy, I cried because after a week of walking I felt like a whole person and I had forgotten how good that felt. I cried walking tbrough the eucalyptus forest on my last day. I cried in the Pilgrim Office and couldn't speak.
The Camino changed my life. It is with me every day. My life back in New Zealand is still full on. It took me a year to talk about my experience. There was nobody to share it with so I share all you experiences on the Camino Forum each night before I go to sleep.
On the 27th August I fly to Lisbon to walj the Camino Portuguese.
Thank you all for keeping my Camino alive.

Ahhh, that's such sincere and positive post about Camino..., uhhh..., I don't know what to say really, I'm just glad that you experienced it that way. You deserve it and also Camino deserve it. Thank you for such wonderful post!!!

And Bom Caminho

 

[jgpryde]

There is a movie called "Walkabout". It's about a young girl (12?) and her younger brother who get lost in the Australian outback. They are adopted by an aboriginal with whom they share no language skills. The aborigine first saves their lives by providing water and food. Then ultimately leads them back to civilization.
The scene relevant to this post is at the very end when the young girl is an adult and lives in a high rise apartment. She looks out over the city at the desert land beyond. Her expression is somewhat wistful.
I never understood that scene until now.

- Jason Pryde
Camino Frances 7/6/2017

 

[Anemone del Camino]

Re: Post-Camino Slump.

1. Go to Farmer's Market.
2. Look inside little red wagon.
3. Pick up adorable puppy.
4. Take home puppy.
5. Ask fam
6. Slump gone!

3. Pick up adorable puppy.
4. Take home puppy.
5. Ask family to watch puppy next fall for shortened Camino.
6. Slump gone!

Or greater slump all the way as you miss puppy dearly!

 

[james walter purdum iv]

Hi
I completed the Camino frances from St Jean to Santiago last Thursday. I got back to the US on Saturday and was dog tired for quite a few days (to be expected) and have also been feeling really down. This is unusual for me since I tend to be a chipper person. Our camino was great, and although arduous was beautiful and I really enjoyed the simplicity of the life.

Since I got back, I've been tired, teary (cried watching Greys Anatomy - also not like me), and feel generally disorientated. Feels like I need to find new bearings and things that I cared about and relationships are all up in the air. I guess part of me is missing the camino and the simplicity of that life but I also just feel disorientated and I'm slightly under the weather physically (few aches and pains still and swollen glands). I didn't expect this. The camino was such an overwhelming experience - both in joy and physical challenge - not so much in spiritual connection which surprised me because I tend to be spiritually aware.

Has anyone else experienced something similar?

I'm highly intuitive and sensitive so I'm just letting it be and letting the tears and sadness well up but it would be nice to have my bearings again so I can move forward in work and life - at least on the camino the path ahead is always clear - just follow the arrows.

Ironically, I have a Chatres labyrinth in my garden and it grew over while I was on the camino. I am yearning to walk it and I tried for hours yesterday to recreate the path to the center and I just couldn't do it. Luckily, the man who installed it for me is coming over to look.

The best remedy is planning your next one. I've been trying to get back but I will in a fury in 2018. El Norte to Lisbon with finnester and muxia. 2015 my tears began after getting home oct 12th