Tips for Re-entry

[Shston Girlfd]

Experienced pilgrims - what was your most difficult post-Camino re-adjustment experience?

 

[Robo]

Experienced pilgrims - what was your most difficult post-Camino re-adjustment experience?

Having to go back to work.

I still struggle 2 years later

 

[Kanga]

Having to make decisions. We are burdened with having so many choices.

 

[RobertS26]

The first issue you will have to deal with is moving faster than 3 or 4 miles an hour. After my first Camino I boarded a bus in Santiago for Madrid. As soon as the bus reached 20 mph, I became disoriented. I had to close my eyes for a while until I became used to things "rushing" by the window. Then about an hour into the trip the bus came within a few hundred yards of the Camino near Vega de Valcarce. I could literally see pilgrims walking west while my bus rushed east. I had to fight the urge to jump up and demand that the driver pull over so I could resume walking. The flight home was equally disorienting. But the worst part was walking in my front door. I felt like a stranger in my own home. Suddenly all the material things I had gathered over the years were immaterial. I spent the next couple of days emptying my closets. I made over seven trips to a local charity. I literally eliminated 2/3 of the clothes in my closet. And boy, did that feel good.

Eventually, I was able to find a balance between living a simple life like on the Camino and being a member of modern society. But the Camino never left my thoughts. And like many, I began planning my second Camino to relieve the pain of not being there.

On my third Camino I met my future wife. So now I have the ultimate partner in life. She completely understands living life simply and donating what we would have spent in the past on truly unnecessary things to charities that help those around the world. I especially like giving money to World Bicycle Relief (https://worldbicyclerelief.org/en/)

 

[Deleted member 3000]

Cafe Americano.

 

[Mike Savage]

The noise, the questions, the hustle bustle. The almost incessant quest for answers by family. I find that I like time to slowly adjust instead of being forced back to my old reality. Yeah then there is that coffee thing too.

 

[Kitsambler]

For me it was the sudden re-immersion into the shrill advertisements and the hyperbole of the 24 hour news cycle. Not speaking enough French or German to understand European television was a real blessing.

I think a big part of making the re-entry transition is to acknowledge that it is a thing, and to allow for it. Allow a day at the end of your pilgrimage, before heading to the airport for the flight home. Finish your journal, review your photos, make your blog posts, send emails to your camino friends so you'll stay in touch, and pick up those souveniers you've been resisting because you didn't want to carry the weight for miles and miles.

 

[Katie Brown]

There were a few things.

Not seeing the people who I had made such strong connections with every day was challenging. To be fair, I was in Barcelona for 1 week after the Camino, and happened to run into a few pilgrims whom I met along the way. Crazy how life works like that.... But anyways, going home and seeing people who I had not really thought about a whole lot was quite strange, to be honest.

But the most challenging part for me, out of everything, was the questions I received from friends and family at home. The number 1 comment was "So, you did a lot of hiking, eh?". I mean, yeah, I guess, sorta, lol. Idk, I just found it hard to explain to family members and friends what "all the hiking" was, and why I did it.

It was almost like another life. A complete, total opposite of what my life at home is like.
And I loved it.

 

[trecile]

It was almost like another life. A complete, total opposite of what my life at home is like.
And I loved it.

 

[Peter Fransiscus]

Experienced pilgrims - what was your most difficult post-Camino re-adjustment experience?

Back to work,making decissions for other people again.
wish you well,Peter.

 

[Davie Blisters]

Cafe Americano.

So true..........and I'm English.........but I don't miss the tea!

 

[Anemone del Camino]

Cafe Americano.

Isn't cafe americano just a lungo: espresso with lots and lots of extra water? Or the equivalent of what is served throughout North America, at Dunkin's and Tim's?

 

[Paddington Bear]

Isn't cafe americano just a lungo: espresso with lots and lots of extra water? Or the equivalent of what is served throughout North America, at Dunkin's and Tim's?

A long black or an americano or a lungo are the same but they are made with an espresso machine with freshly ground beans.

Not all the places you mention use freshly ground beans. Apparently some of the American and Canadian chains were looking to upgrade their coffee in 2017 not sure if they have done so yet. The ones we tried last year hadn't upgraded. : (

 

[natefaith]

For me, it's hard to come home and have to care about something I know is important, but on the Camino I just didn't have to worry about. It's nice to be on the trail and dis-engage, but sometimes hard to come back home and engage again with important priorities.

Just a note to say that anyone interested can stop by Pilgrim House when you arrive in Santiago to pick up our page of debriefing/ journaling questions. The questions aren't meant to be gone through in one sitting (I think your brain might explode!) but rather little by little, prompting you to reflect on different aspects of your Camino. Also included are questions to help you prepare for re-entry.

If you'd like a digital copy, send me a private message here with your email address and I can email you a copy.

Faith

 

[Seabird]

Wow, all of the above. Just accept that you will feel overwhelmed by the complexity of life upon your return. But then accept that you are still a part of that complex life. The Camino teaches detachment -- you learn to keep an open hand, letting the ebb and flow of the Camino pass by you, through you, around you. You can't grasp it, can't hold onto it with a closed hand.

Just as you will learn to let go while on the Camino, learn to let go of the frustration with your complex life upon your return. Let it swirl around you, knowing you have that still, quiet center you cultivated on the Camino.

Buen Camino and Ultreya!

 

[Forestgirl]

Experienced pilgrims - what was your most difficult post-Camino re-adjustment experience?

Every minute my feet weren't here walking. I immediately started saving for a return ticket which I purchased three months after returning to my house. ..for Spain feels more like home than where I grew up or where my house is located.

 

[Former member 42123]

Experienced pilgrims - what was your most difficult post-Camino re-adjustment experience?

Having no one understand the impact the Camino made on the rest of my life

 

[waveprof]

Experienced pilgrims - what was your most difficult post-Camino re-adjustment experience?

Having to give up the international space I was living in and returning home to american culture, food, and customs.

 

[kerdi]

"Having no one understand the impact the Camino made on the rest of my life" So true, my wife went together with me on my second Camino (Ingles), she understands now the significance of it. In my heart the Camino is ongoing, in daily life as well as in Spain. I am walking -in stages- the third Camino, along the northern Coast. As I am at home I have this urge in my heart to return and to continue. Hard to describe.
On another note much has changed in things as I handle and see daily life.

 

[kerdi]

............... was the questions I received from friends and family at home. The number 1 comment was "So, you did a lot of hiking, eh?". I mean, yeah, I guess, sorta, lol. Idk, I just found it hard to explain to family members and friends what "all the hiking" was, and why I did it.

I was surprised that this question has not been asked by any muslim colleague. They just agreed that it is a good thing to do.

 

[JulieandPeter]

1. The first five miles in a car were very difficult - I felt like I was missing so much as we sped away and like Robert above, I found myself looking longingly across the fields at a lone pilgrim making his or her way step by step.
2. Oddly enough, I missed having sore feet at the end of the day. There was something very gratifying about lying in bed at the end of a long day with throbbing feet (maybe it was just the lying in bed part ).
3. Keeping things in perspective and forgetting to be kind, especially during this past election year. Perhaps this is what has inspired me most to return to the Camino - not the election - the way I dealt with it.
4. Remembering, in general, all of the lessons I learned along the way.
However, this forum has been a great source for reminding me to incorporate the lessons of the Camino into my daily life at home, and Facebook greeted me with a nice Camino reminder this morning as well. It's hard to find anything like this at home:

 

[howlsthunder]

I've thought about this a lot as I prepare for my first Camino in 2018. I work summers (4 months a year) in Katmai National Park in Alaska, where I am from. It is remote even by Alaskan standards, with limited communications to the rest of the world. I left a steady career to work there seasonally for the time being because I like not knowing what day of the week it is and life ebbing and flowing as dictated by nature. By the end of 4 months there are creature comforts I look forward to returning to but once I am back in civilization again, everything is too fast and too noisy. After 6 years of this I find I spend far less time on the internet and have long done away with television.

However, I have managed to accumulate quite a few things in my tiny cabin over the years and am really looking forward to learning better how to minimize my life on the Camino. I go backpacking quite a bit but have never attempted anything longer than a couple nights. I find I resonate with a lot of the comments in this thread and wonder how my walk will feel returning home, especially since I plan to walk April/May so that I'll be home in time to go directly back to Katmai for another 4 months of wilderness. Perhaps I'll end up breaking my brain after a total of 6 months of simplified living!

 

[Bob from L.A. !]

I agree with all of the above previously stated............The only other thing I could add is the difficulty in adjusting to watching the Camino video's on YouTube and not missing my time there....(Can't wait to go back!!!)

 

[J F Gregory]

I made more life long relationships than I have at home. I am an introvert and really only communicate with those with I have something in common.

 

[Bob from L.A. !]

JF - Same here. We still communicate with the many, from all over the world, we had met during our Camino's.
I guess that is just a Camino "thing".

 

[J F Gregory]

JF - Same here. We still communicate with the many, from all over the world, we had met during our Camino's.
I guess that is just a Camino "thing".

One couple we met from Central America on our pilgrimage are flying here in 2 weeks to spend a few days with us.

 

[Bob from L.A. !]

That is great ! I'm am sure you all will have a good time reminiscing about your travels. We have had similar experiences in Bilbao and Italy over the years

 

[jonarv]

I was surprised that this question has not been asked by any muslim colleague. They just agreed that it is a good thing to do.

But most Muslims I know 'get' the idea and purpose of the haj, and the need to do pilgrimage. So their acceptance doesn't surprise me at all.

 

[Bob from L.A. !]

The realization of lifestyle never to be achieved elsewhere in the world - A spirit nurtured, only fed by the Camino.

 

[JabbaPapa]

Experienced pilgrims - what was your most difficult post-Camino re-adjustment experience?

This is something that bugs me in particular -- the real destination of one's pilgrimage is home, and so the return home should be understood as part and parcel of the Camino, so that returning back into that home life and one's "ordinary" activities should be a central focus and purpose of the Way there !!

Anyway, nothing's ever been more difficult at this end than some in-Camino re-adjustment experiences, either of getting my head back 'round to being a pilgrim again, or just suddenly finding myself in the midst of a Camino crowd rather than mostly alone.

Leaving home is always more difficult than the return, anyway.

 

[Nanc]

there were 2 parts to my experience:
one was taking back on the mantle of work responsibilities- On the Camino, life was simple, direct, I merely had to meet myself on the Way

At home, I had to re-shoulder the roles of a professional, business owner, daughter, etc- and, since I am not retired, I NEED to do this for now , to pay for the ability to take a Camino

the other, was finding a way to share with people some of the Camino- sharing becomes a way to open doors for people who will some day being position of pursuing their path. It is more than can be expressed; so how do you do it justice without resorting to sound bites

 

[archie645]

Having no one understand the impact the Camino made on the rest of my life

I felt that way and then joined a Camino walking group (Vancouver Camino Pilgrims). Half of the members walked the Camino and the other half plan to so I could share my love for the Camino and start planning the next one.

 

[Mark Lee]

Post Camino re-adjustment?
For me it's no longer being on a holiday, traipsing across northern Spain, drinking wine, hanging out, seeing amazing old architecture, living on only a few euros a day and meeting cool people.
I never found a need to decompress after a vacation (a holiday from a holiday? ). Not like it was a combat tour or something.
I stayed at one albergue once and asked the hospitalero if he had ever walked the Camino and he said no, because he's been too busy working for a living, ha ha.