The hardest part is the travelling

Hello Vigdis!
I run practical Camino pilgrim workshops in my home town in South Africa and in between I have a regular stream of wanna-be peregrinos asking for advice on how to get there, where to start, what to pack etc etc.
Nearly all the question starts with 'What if....?"
What if my flights are delayed?
What if there are no beds left in the albergue?
What if I am injured?
What if the weather turns cold?
What if I get behind on my schedule?
What if ..... what if ........... what if...........?
Its difficult to say "Just go and walk and it will sort itself out" but that is all one can do. The really big question is,
"What if you fall in love with el Camino and have to keep working so that you can earn enough money to keep going back and back and back?"

I listen a lot to a woman named Esther Hicks, and much of what she says has REALLY helped me.

I truly understand your fear.
My father and my brother were killed in 1971 in an airplane crash that I was supposed to be on.
I had dreamed the plane would crash and refused to go.
This has given me a gut-wrenching fear of flying.
I also have an unnatural fear of dogs after being attacked by a pit bull... even a chihuahua scares the heck out of me...

But Esther says,"This Universe works on laws of Attraction.

If you scream YES! at something, you attract it.
If you scream NO! at something, you attract it.

The BEST thing you can do for yourself is to put yourself in a space where you are happy.
Try to conjure up the happiest thoughts, feelings, memories you can until you feel happy.
Do it in whatever way works for you... memories... music... playing golf... walking.

And then, once you ARE happy, you will attract only good things.

I really believe her because I've watched it work in my own life.
My income last year, due to my MCS, was around $6,500 and I got along quite well.
Most folks would think it was impossible.
But rather than concentrate on my LACK of funds, I just figured it would all be ok..
and it has been.

So that's my advice.
Find something that makes you happy and safe, and do it.
And you will attract more happiness and safety.

Hello Vigdis. I am selective about which posts I read and also respond to on this forum, because of time constraints, and also that I know that there are times when my views would be shouted down - so I keep my own counsel and PM instead. However I feel compelled to respond to your post.

Firstly I could cut and paste almost your entire post and say I was writing about myself! I too am a nervous traveler, a statement which has my friends rolling in the aisles with laughter! The reason for this is that I have walked 3 Caminos (and planning my 4th - and 5th - and 6th!) and completed almost five thousand kilometers on these. How can someone who has walked so far through 2 different countries be a nervous traveler they ask? True, I am fine leaving Australia and waiting 5 hours for my connecting flight in Singapore. It is when I get to Europe that the nerves kick in - all those things you mentioned:- what if I cannot make myself understood, what if I get on the wrong train / carriage etc, what if I can't find the platform, miss my connection etc.

I have found the secret is to allow plenty of time (which is why I never book before hand like my more accomplished friends do) firstly to make myself understood and secondly to find where I am going. The other things that I do is get to where I am going as quickly as I can. As far as I am concerned it doesn't matter if it takes the whole day. Once I am there, it is then that I can relax, rest, and in my case recover from jet lag.

I am a musician, but I have the most appalling ear for languages and an even more appalling accent with the few words that I have! I try really hard, but am hopeless. However, I go with the attitude that (once I get there, mind you) all will be well. I expect nothing, give many smiles, use the basic words of hello and thank you in the language of the country I am in and somehow manage! Once one begins to walk it all seems easy - or easier! I repay the very many kindnesses I receive with a song often resulting in hugs and tears (and no - I am pretty sure because they were grateful, not because it was so hard on the ears!)

One day when I was walking on the Camino del Norte I was lost. I couldn't find the arrows to leave a small town (building works had changed things around). A man went out of his way to cross the street and point me in the right direction, and every-time I veered off where I was meant to go there would be a shrill whistle - I would look around and he would be pointing the way for me. This happened about 3 times until I eventually found the arrow pointing up a steep stair case and when I turned around we waved and off he went. All this was done with me thinking in English and he talking in Spanish (may have even been Basque). I could fill a whole book of stories such as this and I guess why I am telling you this one is that yes, I know you are afraid, but try and accept that all will be well once you start on your journey.

I walk in both France and Spain for the simple reason that I cannot choose between the two and so I go to both. Once I begin walking the day slots into a rhythm and somehow everything works out. I make use of the services offered (tourist office etc) and I know that if you can just accept that things will work out you will be fine. Somehow there have always been people that I can talk a little too. I remember having a great conversation with a Polish Italian pilgrim once. She had about 10 words of English, I had about 50 words of musical Italian and those - combined with gestures meant that we chatted over coffee for an hour or so!

For my retirement I am planning a looooong walk which includes your country, and I am feeling the same way about that, but when the time comes (assuming all is well with my health and that of my elderly father) I will fly into Copenhagen rest - and begin walking! I plan to walk from there because I feel nervous about catching anything to anywhere else - now I know that as this is close to your territory you must be laughing at me, but I say this to let you know that there are other that feel just like you.

Be brave - think about Le Puy again, it is indeed a very beautiful way. It really is nowhere near as scary as you think - and, like I say to people here in Adelaide - if I can do it with my poor language skills and nerves - anyone can!. Regards, Janet

Years ago, before I travelled much, I read a story about Liza Minnelli. She said her family (mom Judy Garland, sister Lorna Luft and herself) would frequently fly on holidays. One Christmas her mother brought gifts and food and they had Christmas on the plane. It never bothered her to travel on holidays because of how her mother made them fun. She didn't feel she was missing anything.

So I've adapted this for myself. Although I am a nervous flier, every time I step on a plane I remember Minnelli's story. I think her mother attracted a good time and taught her daughters that home is where you happen to be.

From there you could take a plane to Oslo, ......

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My apologies for taking so long to reply Vigdis. Though there is no excuse, I have a reason in that I have been busy helping the family of my elderly neighbor who collapsed and died the day before your reply arrived. She has been my neighbor for 27 years and was part of my family and so my son and I were helping by playing at the funeral, giving eulogies, and catering for the visitors. Your reply arrived in the midst of this - hence my tardiness.

Now the quote above. Yes, I realize that I can take a plane to Oslo, but I actually have a yen to arrive in Europe and then just walk........ for about a year (providing I can get a visa). My plan is to head North on St Olav's way then come back down to, and through, Denmark, along the via Baltica, so that I can walk on the Polish way to Prague, then North to get around the mountains and along the Jakobswege through Germany and eventually to France and the Paris path to St Jean, before arriving in Santiago.

This is a very brief outline, and it will not happen for another 4 years (need to save the money), but in the meantime I am busy collecting as much information about the various ways as possible. The idea came to me while I was walking on the Camino del Norte in 2009. I decided that if my son could ride a push bike from Regensberg to Adelaide, a distance of 20,000kms, (he walked with me on that pilgrimage from Troyes to Vezelay) his Mum should be able to walk somewhere between 7 - 8,000kms in a year!

We all have dreams! Hopefully I will be able to follow this one! Cheers and Buen Camino, Janet

Hi,
If someone has seen a big life-event like you describe, he or she will probably have to live with a deep scar. While it becomes older one can get used to it. But it will never disappear completely.
My suggestion:
Be aware of it, accept it and treat it with love and care.
Enjoy every day which is light and bright! And continue travelling.... take a deep breath and go :!:

jl please don't apologise. Your neighbour was obviously important to you. What a good friend you are. Take care.