Walking the Camino Frances multiple times - why?

[BobM]

When I walked the CF I met a man who was walking the CF for the third time. The first two times were with his wife. After she passed away here he was walking for the third time, but by himself.

He was not particularly talkative. Once I met him deep in thought sitting on a seat and I was about to join him. I checked myself in time and left him in peace instead of disturbing a moment that seemed important to him.

It made quite an impression on me. Since then I have discovered that quite a few people walk the same Camino multiple times and it has always intrigued me.

I would love to hear why others have chosen to walk multiple CFs.

Bob M

 

[Bradypus]

I have walked the Camino Frances three times. The first journey was driven mainly by curiosity for something totally beyond my own very limited experience: language, history, landscape and culture all way outside my small-town Scottish upbringing. With a dash of religious enthusiam on the side. I walked my second Camino 12 years later to try to recapture some of the joy which I encountered on that first journey. My first Camino had been a profound moving and transformative experience and at that particular point in my life I desperately needed some more of that. My third Camino Frances was walked with far fewer expectations or hopes but more as a way of observing for myself the changes in the Camino which had taken place over 25 years and to find if the reality of the day corresponded with the descriptions of the modern Camino which I had read here and in other places.

 

[Jeff Crawley]

Four times in the vain hope that one day I'll get it "right".

Back in 2001 I met a Belgian who was on his 17th . . . mind you he did write the annual guide for the Belgian confraternity.

 

[C clearly]

Why not? We all repeat things we enjoy or from which we gain value - whether it is visiting a museum, listening to a piece of music, going to church, walking in the park, staying in the same cottage every year, or traveling to a particular vacation spot. Or coming to the forum every day!

 

[Bradypus]

Towards the end of the 1100+km pilgrimage circuit on Shikoku there is a small pilgrimage museum. There is a photograph and caption in one of the glass cases. I would love to be able to ask Nakatsukasa-san a similar question.

 

[naplesdon]

Nine summers and counting with multiple Caminos several years.
Last year starting in Le Puy until I reached Hontanas and learned my sister was in the ER. I was able to get back to her before she died.
I walk in the memory of my late daughter but for many more reasons as well. Why? Simply put because it is there!

 

[mspath]

As for myself
"Le cœur a ses raisons que la raison ne connaît pas/ the heart has its reasons, of which reason knows nothing."
Pascal, Les Pensées

Perhaps the first post of my last camino explained best why I walked the Camino Frances ten times; thus although my situation has changed while I was able to walk it served as my apologia.
Unfortunately now I am only able to walk long distances in my memory.

Check out what others have said in this earlier thread
https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/why-do-it-again.51599/

 

[C clearly]

Unfortunately now I am only able to walk long distances in my memory.

But fortunately, you created those memories to enjoy now! I remember you walking into the albergue in Uterga one morning, after what I think was your last stage on the camino. Best wishes!

 

[SYates]

Because of the memories, because of the friends I made along the way, because I know it and it feels like home ;-)

BC SY

 

[Albertagirl]

I have walked most of the Frances twice so far, beginning with the currently popular route from St Jean pied de Port, then the next time from Oloron Ste Marie through the Somport Pass and on through the Aragones to Puenta la Reina, then the rest of the Frances to Santiago. These routes were influenced largely by Gitlitz and Davidson's book, The Pilgrimage Road to Santiago. Then my desire for solitude led me to the VdlP and this year to the Madrid and Invierno. But this year I found myself more comfortable on the Sahagun to Ponferrada section of the Frances that links the Madrid and the Invierno than I expected: quite at home and enjoying interactions with other pilgrims and those familiar sites from previous pilgrimages. I think that I am likely to choose portions of the Frances to walk as my mobility decreases in my later years: maybe ending in Santiago but starting closer than on previous walks. The available facilities at closer distances makes this a practical choice.

 

[Anniesantiago]

2021 will make 22 or 23 times on the CF, including once or twice on several other routes, full and/or partial, like the Aragones, the Madrid, the VDLP.
Sometimes I walk twice a year for 6-8 weeks each time.
I walk for my health.
According to my specialist, it chelates the chemicals that settle in my muscles, organs, and bones.
I usually feel 100% better at the end of each Camino.

 

[FSP]

I don't disparage those who do walk the Frances over and over but I am completely baffled by it. I think the Frances is the best first Camino anyone can take on. I have 5 compostellas under my boots, none the same. With so many other caminos to experience along with other treks in other parts of this great planet and so little time I just can't grasp walking the same one over, especially the Frances.

 

[David Tallan]

I have done the Camino Frances twice. I hope to walk it again. I also hope to walk other Caminos and other routes.

I did it the first time in 1989, from Roncesvalles to Santiago and the second time in 2016 from Roncesvalles to Finisterre with my son, who turned 16 in Carrion de los Condes. The second was a completely different journey than the first.

I could easily see doing it with my son again when I retire and he finishes university (although next time I think he would want to cross the Pyrenees; maybe we would start at Ostabat). Or maybe with my wife. Or maybe with another friend or relative. Or maybe starting earlier in France, in Le Puy or Vezelay or Paris, or Arles. Or maybe just starting in Roncesvalles again.

Why do people walk the CF again? I think for most people, because they like it. People often repeat things they enjoy, even when there are new things to discover. People will reread books, listen to songs more than once, watch movies more than once, visit cities more than once, etc. Even though one can never run out of new books to read, new music to listen to, new movies to watch (or old classic movies that one hasn't seen), new cities to visit. For the same reason as one revisits a well-loved book or song or movie or city one might revisit a well-loved Camino.

Or so it seems to me. Your mileage might vary.

 

[BobM]

Wonderful stories. I take my hat off to all of you.

Bob M

 

[BobM]

Towards the end of the 1100+km pilgrimage circuit on Shikoku there is a small pilgrimage museum. There is a photograph and caption in one of the glass cases. I would love to be able to ask Nakatsukasa-san a similar question.
View attachment 67942View attachment 67943

I read a good book on the 88 Temple Pilgrimage by Robert Sibley. Not a guide book, but Sibley's personal experiences and some insights into the Japanese people he walked with that enriched his own pilgrimage. There is a thead about it in this fourm.

Bob M

 

[Deleted member 3000]

I would love to hear why others have chosen to walk multiple CFs.

Somewhere on the multiple caminos I passed the point where I needed others to understand me. That is one of my reasons...

 

[Kathor1]

Why walk the Camino Frances multiple times? Is it because it is not a once-in-a-lifetime experience?

 

[nycwalking]

Why walk the Camino Frances multiple times? Is it because it is not a once-in-a-lifetime experience?

Amen!

 

[BROWNCOUNTYBOB]

My wife and I have walked CF three times and plan to walk it again in 2020. Our first in 2015 was to celebrate the transition into retirement. The second in 2017 we walked with my brother and his wife. The third in 2019 was different in many ways than the first two. We walked several alternative routes, stayed in different towns, and stayed in private rooms every night. We are walking CF again in 2020. By next fall, we will celebrate the birth of our first two grandchildren (one each by two of our children). We are modifying our hiking stages to stay in our favorite towns and favorite albergues. We will dine in our favorite bar / restaurants, buy trail snacks at the tiendas we know, have a glass of wine or cerveza during hiking breaks. For us its like spending time with an old friend for 35+ days in a row. And enduring a long walk in the pouring rain and hiking the steep climbs gives us stories to tell for years to come. Can't wait until we're on the CF again next fall. Bob

 

[VictorE]

Different every time

 

[Deleted member 59555]

When I walked the CF I met a man who was walking the CF for the third time. The first two times were with his wife. After she passed away here he was walking for the third time, but by himself.

He was not particularly talkative. Once I met him deep in thought sitting on a seat and I was about to join him. I checked myself in time and left him in peace instead of disturbing a moment that seemed important to him.

It made quite an impression on me. Since then I have discovered that quite a few people walk the same Camino multiple times and it has always intrigued me.

I would love to hear why others have chosen to walk multiple CFs.

Bob M

Hello Bob, I to have walked the Camino Francis three times 2017/2018/2019. Yes well.. I could go on for pages about this subject. So all I will say is I have written a book on this subject and it was for sale yesterday and now it is not (Long story) we will sort it out one day. However, all you need to know is the title and this will tell you how I see the Camino. the title is.
(God's Cocaine, the Addiction of the Camino)

 

[jayree]

I am reminded of two stories I heard when I walked the CF. On the train from Bayonne to SJPdP one pilgrim announced this would be his second time to walk the CF. A German quickly replied, "What's the matter? Didn't you get it the first time.?" Toward the end I heard one woman tell her husband, "This is absolutely the last time I'm walking this route. Every year for 13 years we always do the same thing. Next year I want to do something different."

 

[C clearly]

I don't disparage those who do walk the Frances over and over but I am completely baffled by it. ... I have 5 compostellas under my boots, none the same.

If you have never walked the same camino twice, it would be a new experience to do so. When you think about it, the joys of familiarity exist just as surely as the joys of discovery. Each of us weighs them and makes a decision, but the attraction for both does not baffle me.

 

[Pelegrin]

Four times in the vain hope that one day I'll get it "right".

Back in 2001 I met a Belgian who was on his 17th . . . mind you he did write the annual guide for the Belgian confraternity.

The first one was in 1985, if he didn't fail any year.
Then it is probable that the Belgian passed El Cebrero, Puertomarín......Mellid (Melide).....

 

[Stivandrer]

As one pilgrim in this forum once put it; "..because I found my tribe. !!"

 

[sdevine]

i finished my 1st camino June 2019, and already planning my 2nd this coming June 2020.. i believe once the camino calls
you, you are tied to the way for the rest of your life, whether you walk or not.. best to walk .. buen camino fellow pelligrinos

 

[easygoing]

2021 will make 22 or 23 times on the CF, including once or twice on several other routes, full and/or partial, like the Aragones, the Madrid, the VDLP.
Sometimes I walk twice a year for 6-8 weeks each time.
I walk for my health.
According to my specialist, it chelates the chemicals that settle in my muscles, organs, and bones.
I usually feel 100% better at the end of each Camino.

Hi Annie, I walk twice a year too for many of the same reasons. At 74 people mistake me for 54 and I believe the meditation of walking, the people I meet and the routine of each day is very healing. And yes the gym could give me the same result but I'd rather walk in Spain and pick grapes off the vine.
I've walked the Camino Frances the most times (9) and I repeated this because I've made so many friends along the way and because I have bought family. But in response to the man that asked why walk so many times, I am reminded of a quote I read somewhere--- if you have to ask you won't understand .

 

[Pia Valbak Schmidt]

When I walked the CF I met a man who was walking the CF for the third time. The first two times were with his wife. After she passed away here he was walking for the third time, but by himself.

He was not particularly talkative. Once I met him deep in thought sitting on a seat and I was about to join him. I checked myself in time and left him in peace instead of disturbing a moment that seemed important to him.

It made quite an impression on me. Since then I have discovered that quite a few people walk the same Camino multiple times and it has always intrigued me.

I would love to hear why others have chosen to walk multiple CFs.

Bob M

The next Camino, you are not the same person, the camino is not totally the same, weather will be different, again you will meet people from all over the world you never met before, new situations and experiences every day. For me, every Caminowalk is a new lifejourney

 

[Bob from L.A. !]

Familiarity, (self imposed) comfort zones, trying to rekindle the feelings of the very first time, reconnecting with people you met along the way, the feeling of security being amongst many others, infrastructure and conveniences...
Interesting how many people have done the same roads multiple times.....

 

[c0484]

When I walked the CF I met a man who was walking the CF for the third time. The first two times were with his wife. After she passed away here he was walking for the third time, but by himself.

He was not particularly talkative. Once I met him deep in thought sitting on a seat and I was about to join him. I checked myself in time and left him in peace instead of disturbing a moment that seemed important to him.

It made quite an impression on me. Since then I have discovered that quite a few people walk the same Camino multiple times and it has always intrigued me.

I would love to hear why others have chosen to walk multiple CFs.

Bob M

I told my wife if she were to pass away before me after over 50 years of marriage, to come for me on the Camino Frances. I told her I would keep walking until she came for me.

 

[BobM]

Well done for all your eloquent and inspiring testimonials - and for having the courage share some very personal and moving experiences.

Now I understand your motivations better. But despite your stories, I remain in the camp of "one and done". That's not a value judgment . There are no Manichean choices of good and evil in our personal choices here. The only thing that matters is to listen to other people and understand their preferences.

For me personally it is more important to experience novelty and new horizons in my walks and travel in general. That desire overrides the undoubted pleasure I would feel if I repeated a long walks. The desire to return to particular places has certainly occurred to me but so far the lure of new horizons has triumphed.

I speak only of walks and travel. I often listen to certain music many times. A few books I have read repeatedly for their musicality of language - and sometimes for fresh insights. A few classic movies I re-watch occasionally for similar reasons.

So, in those areas perhaps I share some of the motivations of repeat hikers and pilgrims. It matters only that we take pleasure in our choices without insisting that we alone have found the one true path.

Bob M

 

[Jeff Crawley]

The first one was in 1985, if he didn't fail any year.
Then it is probable that the Belgian passed El Cebrero, Puertomarín......Mellid (Melide).....

Possibly even earlier - his wife Alice died while cycling the Camino in '86 and he was injured. I think he missed out on a couple after that. Terrific guy though - knew all the best places to eat!

 

[tpmchugh]

I have walked the Camino Frances three times. The first journey was driven mainly by curiosity for something totally beyond my own very limited experience: language, history, landscape and culture all way outside my small-town Scottish upbringing. With a dash of religious enthusiam on the side. I walked my second Camino 12 years later to try to recapture some of the joy which I encountered on that first journey. My first Camino had been a profound moving and transformative experience and at that particular point in my life I desperately needed some more of that. My third Camino Frances was walked with far fewer expectations or hopes but more as a way of observing for myself the changes in the Camino which had taken place over 25 years and to find if the reality of the day corresponded with the descriptions of the modern Camino which I had read here and in other places.

5 times on the camino although last time I did not finish. I just find the Frances beautiful and peaceful. Enough flat land to make it not too difficult and enough mountains sit on top of, look back and enjoy God's tapestry. And of course my fellow peregrinos

 

[Pelegrin]

Possibly even earlier - his wife Alice died while cycling the Camino in '86 and he was injured. I think he missed out on a couple after that. Terrific guy though - knew all the best places to eat!

Then he also passed for sure Alto del Pollo.

 

[David Tallan]

Why spend more time with friends you already know when you can ditch them and make new friends?

 

[ManyMiles2Go]

Why not? We all repeat things we enjoy . . . listening to a piece of music, . . .

Don't know what you are talking about, but I do recall a certain CD that I had to buy 3 of because I wore the first 2 out. . .

 

[Dani7]

I may only get the chance to do the Camino Frances one time. Between getting time off, finances and health, my spring Camino may be a one off. To those who have had the opportunity to do it more than once, I am a bit envious but happy for each one of you that your life’s journey allowed you the chance to do so. So in answer to your question, why? I say...because pilgrims in this forum have been fortunate to have that choice. They are to be praised for using their time and resources for such a worthwhile activity, one that gives time for reflection (Spiritual or not), make new friends and be one with nature. I praise all of you...buen Camino

 

[Tassie Kaz]

I don't disparage those who do walk the Frances over and over but I am completely baffled by it. I think the Frances is the best first Camino anyone can take on. With so many other caminos to experience along with other treks in other parts of this great planet and so little time I just can't grasp walking the same one over, especially the Frances.

For me personally it is more important to experience novelty and new horizons in my walks and travel in general. That desire overrides the undoubted pleasure I would feel if I repeated a long walks. The desire to return to particular places has certainly occurred to me but so far the lure of new horizons has triumphed.

Each to their own as always of course but I sit on the 'Oncer' side of the fence...so much world, so little time...
And if a path happens to intersect with one already trodden?...a chance to reminisce (for better or worse ) then continue on; every step into the new & unknown.
For me, there is no greater joy.
Sempre avanti.

 

[NomadBoomer]

I walked the CF in Sept 18, it was a profound interior journey for me. As soon as I finished I determined to walk an alternative quieter path. I walked half of the vdlp in April 2018. Different enjoyable peaceful walk with some lovely people but I didn't find it had the pilgrim magic I encountered on the CF. So I walked the CF again starting August 2018. Felt a totally different trip than the first time. The magic this time was more social, stayed in different places, including special spots I missed the first time. I will be walking the Norte this year with a friend I met last year. Maybe do the CF every 5 years or so while I can.
I feel those that feel that the CF is something very special will tend to want to walk it again. To those that it is just a long walk it makes sense to go and explore other ways.

 

[domigee]

I have enjoyed reading all your posts (as ever!) but I refrained from answering as others had said much the same things I would have said.
There’s one other factor though (imo): the Camino francés is so much easier than others. If you’ve had a tough year, whether in work or with health, family or whatever.... the CF is soooo less demanding than say somewhere new or more mountainous and isolated or whatever. You don’t have to plan, you don’t have to carry extra food and water, you don’t need a GPS or a compass, you don’t need to carry a tent. You just walk and follow the arrows

I walked the CF for the third time after walking to Jerusalem and walking the VdlP. Oh it was so blissful. No language issues, I knew the way, it was so easy and therefore... pleasurable! It is what I needed at the time.
There are drawbacks of course. But then, you can’t have it all!

I walked it a fourth time - after the Via Francigena - and I must admit, there were times I was bored and it was lonely and... yes, I’d done it all before sort of feeling! Even in Summer, the weather was grey and drizzly and I get plenty of this in England! ‘What am I doing here?’
I nearly quitted but fate would have it another way....

I probably will walk it again but adding some variants... the Invierno or the Leon to Oviedo one... and the Primitivo. I have been (very) blessed with very quiet and solitary walks on the CF so far but I don’t fancy the crowded parts again.

Sometimes, we (I ! ) need something familar to gently ease us back to life. And walking a familar path does the trick.

Of course I fool myself thinking there is always another year, to walk new paths.... But hey!

 

[efdoucette]

I walked my 1st Camino in 2011, it was the Frances. Since then I walk long distance trails every year, most years twice, and I have been back to the Frances for a 2 week section once. It is a magical route.
But I have walked long distance trails in Scotland, England, Switzerland (Jakobsweg), France (Le Puy), Portugal, Italy (Francigena), Vietnam and Peru. And I come from Canada.
I consider these all "Caminos". I fall into a contemplative zone that I first found on the Frances. I am sure some of you know this zone. As I explain to people who ask "Why do you keep walking?" I answer ... The Camino many layers but one reason is, it's a long life and many things happen in one's lifetime, I find it helpful to contemplate, it helps me grow. At 65 I am still growing and it's picking up speed.

 

[Sam - AU]

I’ve just finished my third way on the Camino Francés in less than 2 years.
Ultimately for me the camino keeps calling me back, although I am hoping this will be the last time for a little while.
I had so many people this time around almost judge me for doing the same route 3 times running. I think the CF is best equipped for infrastructure, particularly in the off season even though most is closed I feel it is still the most ‘open’ of all the routes this time of year.
I also chose to walk in completely different months each time, so it looks completely different, and there is something magical about seeing your favourite spots in all the seasons. The weather is different and I also try where possible to stay in different towns, meaning I get different sunrises and end of day struggle stretches on one camino may become blissful morning stretches on another. And the type of people every single time are completely different, which changes the whole camino.

 

[trecile]

There's no way that you can experience every village, city and town on a single Camino Francés, and the first time can kind of be a blur, especially the first few days as you are adjusting to the routine, so on a second, third or fourth Camino on the same route you can deepen your experience and explore places in depth that you just walked through on previous Caminos.

As others have mentioned it can feel much different during different seasons. On my first two Caminos on the Frances is was mid to late summer, and much of the landscape was brown (but the sunflower fields were spectacular). This year I did SJPDP to León in May, because I was excited to see the Meseta when it was green. I was rewarded with endless blue skies, green seas of grains and red poppy fields.
There's a sense of both familiarity and discovery on repeat walks.
Next year I will repeat the Norte from Irun, then do something new by finishing my journey to Santiago on the Primitivo.

 

[RemysMimi]

I have walked the Camino Frances three times. The first journey was driven mainly by curiosity for something totally beyond my own very limited experience: language, history, landscape and culture all way outside my small-town Scottish upbringing. With a dash of religious enthusiam on the side. I walked my second Camino 12 years later to try to recapture some of the joy which I encountered on that first journey. My first Camino had been a profound moving and transformative experience and at that particular point in my life I desperately needed some more of that. My third Camino Frances was walked with far fewer expectations or hopes but more as a way of observing for myself the changes in the Camino which had taken place over 25 years and to find if the reality of the day corresponded with the descriptions of the modern Camino which I had read here and in other places.

Bradypus, I echo your sentiments here. I couId have written this myself. I walked my first Frances for primarily the same reasons in 2018 and felt the same way afterward. I will be embarking on my second Frances in 2020 for very much the same reason as well, to try to recapture that feeling of euphoria (like a drug addict). God willing there just may be a third.

 

[Bob from L.A. !]

There's no way that you can experience every village, city and town on a single Camino Francés, and the first time can kind of be a blur, especially the first few days as you are adjusting to the routine,

Such a true statement.....

 

[RJM]

I have walked multiple Camino Frances for a few reasons I suppose. Probably the reason that most comes to mind when asked why, is that I fear the day I cannot walk it anymore.

 

[OTH86]

This isn't why I've walked the CF a few times, but have found a benefit of having done it over and over - I "walk" it if I can't sleep or to pass time on a plane or ...
Frequently, I start these "walks" further along the CF not always in SJPP - after Lorca or Logroño or Nájera, Rabé, Carrion, Astorga, Camponaraya, Ruitelán for some variety.
Wonderful ~ and sooo relaxing z z zzzz

 

[caminoresearcher]

I’m reminded of the old proverb “A man cannot step in the same river twice, for it is not the same river and he is not the same man.”

 

[sillydoll]

In “Journey to Portugal” Jose Saramago who was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1998, said:

'The journey is never over. Only travellers come to an end. The end of one journey is simply the start of another. You have to see what you missed the first time, see again what you already saw, see in springtime what you saw in summer, in daylight what you saw at night, see the sun shining where you saw the rain falling, see the crops growing, the fruit ripen, the stone which has moved, the shadow that was not there before. You have to go back to the footsteps already taken, to go over them again or add fresh ones alongside them. You have to start the journey anew. Always. The traveller sets out once more."
Amen

 

[Heather Anne]

I don't get it. With all the wonderful things to see and do in the world, why would you limit yourself to the same thing over and over, The world is big and beautiful. Experience the difference.

 

[C clearly]

I don't get it. With all the wonderful things to see and do in the world, why would you limit yourself to the same thing over and over, The world is big and beautiful. Experience the difference.

You asked "why?" Have you not read the thread? There are many reasons given, which make sense to me even if I wouldn't make the same choice. Understanding that difference (in people) is worth experiencing, too.

 

[Fromista]

Walking again, because no two Camino's are the same.. and because there are new things in life I need to leave behind in Cruz the Ferro, and more people to pray for.

 

[Saint Mike II]

I too am a two time Camino Frances pilgrim. I first cycled it, from Pamplona to Santiago in Sept/Oct 2015. I cycled because I was still getting over a foot injury that prevented me from walking more than 10 km per day and I did not have two months (60 days) to walk the 800 km.
I returned in May 2017 and walked from St Jean, more to see what I had missed in the St Jean to Pamplona section and secondly to see if the Camino at 5km per hour was anyway different to the camino at 20 km per hour. Upon arriving in Santiago I was totally convinced that walking was a significantly different experience, especially being able to stop; take in the vista; take a photo; stop and talk to a fellow pilgrim.
Also walking in Spring the Spanish country side was to much greener than it was in September it was difficult to understand that it was the same country. Buen Camino.

 

[David Tallan]

I don't get it. With all the wonderful things to see and do in the world, why would you limit yourself to the same thing over and over, The world is big and beautiful. Experience the difference.

With all of the wonderful people in the world to see and interact with, why would you spend time with the same people over and over again? There are billions of wonderful people in the world. Ditch your family and friends and experience the differences to be found in other people.

 

[Joe Sharratt]

Having done the CF once - finishing three months ago, I am now beginning to understand the marathon runner who says at the end « never again » and runs it again the next year.

 

[Elsesy]

From 2007 until today me and my husband has walked the Camino 10 times, and will do it again in May 2020. In 2009 we started in Le Puy, and the other years in St. Jean Pied de Port and Ronchesvalles. We are 71 and 73 years old. No walking is alike! New people every year - and some meetings with earlier pilegrimsfriends. We are addicted! We love to walk, we love the temperature (our home is in the north of Norway) and the Camino feels safe. And last but not least; We stay fit!

 

[mvanert]

Because I have been three times and have not walked the entire way at one go. I will this August with two friends who will be on their first camino.

 

[Rover]

When I walked the CF I met a man who was walking the CF for the third time. The first two times were with his wife. After she passed away here he was walking for the third time, but by himself.

He was not particularly talkative. Once I met him deep in thought sitting on a seat and I was about to join him. I checked myself in time and left him in peace instead of disturbing a moment that seemed important to him.

It made quite an impression on me. Since then I have discovered that quite a few people walk the same Camino multiple times and it has always intrigued me.

I would love to hear why others have chosen to walk multiple CFs.

Bob M

Sorry Bob, I cannot help you. I walked the CF once (solo) and that was enough for me. There are too many great hikes and adventures to experience. Check out the Alpe-Adria Trail. Richard

 

[Old Kiwi]

I walked the CF by myself in 2016 and after I got home I kept thinking "next time". I walked it again in 2019 with my daughter all the way to Fisterra. It was a different experience. In June 2020 we are walking the Portuguese starting from Coimbra on through Porto to Redondella on the inland route. We will then return to Porto by train and follow the coastal route back to Rodendella and then continue on to Santiago. This is all planned and ready to go. While I am waiting to start, I am looking at other Caminos for 2022. I will then be 79 so I don't want too many hills. Why do I do it? It gives me the impetus to get out and walk and cycle every day to keep fit and healthy. I also just love meeting different people from around the world. Once you have done one Camino you just have to do more. It gets into your blood. I understand people doing the CF multiple times as you meet different people and the journey is also different.

 

[mai]

Thanks for all your sharing.
I have finished CF twice, just wonder if to walk the third time. If not, I will visit the church at Puente La Reina again because Jesus did answer my prayers on my 2nd CF. I like to define each CF because they are related.

Episode 1: Preparation
I walked only 433km and like to try the whole way.
I took the most beautiful photo before Hontana in a snow day.
This photo would tell what would happen on my 2nd CF.
Episode 2: Encounter
I prayed in the church at Puente La Reina.
At the end of the camino, at the 0km signpost in Muxia, God gave me a clue to find answers.
With the help of the pilgrim I met at Granon, I found the answer.
The answer is Bible!!!
Episode 3: Worship
Like to walk the 3rd CF to thank and worship God.
Believe God is watching us on the CF.
"Father, I want to walk in your grace."

ps. I was not a christian nor a catholic before the CF.

 

[gamboa]

When I walked the CF I met a man who was walking the CF for the third time. The first two times were with his wife. After she passed away here he was walking for the third time, but by himself.

He was not particularly talkative. Once I met him deep in thought sitting on a seat and I was about to join him. I checked myself in time and left him in peace instead of disturbing a moment that seemed important to him.

It made quite an impression on me. Since then I have discovered that quite a few people walk the same Camino multiple times and it has always intrigued me.

I would love to hear why others have chosen to walk multiple CFs.

Bob M

When we repeat the Camino, we are not trying to recreate precious memories - memories themselves will shift over time as our perspective changes. Nothing stays the same, impermanence is all. Our precious memories allow us to reflect, rethink, and remember where we have been and how far we have come.

 

[Peregrinopaul]

... and secondly to see if the Camino at 5km per hour was anyway different to the camino at 20 km per hour. Upon arriving in Santiago I was totally convinced that walking was a significantly different experience, especially being able to stop; take in the vista; take a photo; stop and talk to a fellow pilgrim.

Like you, Mike, for me it was a case of "do it on a bike", or not at all. I remember fondly my first camino, the VdlP, as a very leisurely affair. I just checked my credencial and it took me 25 days - that's an average of 40km per day at maybe only 8km per hour. I'd recommend that experience to anybody.

 

[Robo]

This isn't why I've walked the CF a few times, but have found a benefit of having done it over and over - I "walk" it if I can't sleep or to pass time on a plane or ...
Frequently, I start these "walks" further along the CF not always in SJPP - after Lorca or Logroño or Nájera, Rabé, Carrion, Astorga, Camponaraya, Ruitelán for some variety.
Wonderful ~ and sooo relaxing z z zzzz

I do the same!

My wife often asks me how can I possibly remember all the places I and We have stayed, or eaten at.

I may have only 'physically' walked 3 Caminos but I've walked it dozens of times in my mind!

 

[chinacat]

and it's picking up speed.

Doesn’t it just!

 

[Derrybiketours]

In September 2018 I now know that the Camino called. It lasted 3 months and involved CF to FIn, CP from Porto and in Jan 2019 I followed my flow to Brazil. The Camino de fe or CP didn't come close to the joy I experienced on CF but had no intention of returning and then one day I missed the feeling of joy in my life so I returned for 2nd time to walk CF and found the joy on the Meseta closely followed by Pain in Ponferrada. Nursing an ankle injury I stayed a second night in a local Airbnb. On returning from Pilgrim meal I was assaulted with hammer, mugged and experienced concussion after spending 24 hours in hospital . The next day Santiago called and when I got there no one was home. Despite staying in Santiago for a week, missed last flights to Ireland so found myself travelling 12 hours on overnight bus to Madrid to fly home last December. I returned home to resistance and Brexit and realised I was leaving behind my freedom, flow and joy so had I not have walked the Camino CF more than once I wouldn't be moving to Madrid. The CF moves in mysterious ways

 

[Jscarm]

My wife and I will be walking the Camino for the second time this year. We only walked part of it in 2015 and we would love to do the whole thing this year. It was a wonderful experience then and I am sure it wont disappoint this time.

 

[Former member 6516]

You do your camino only once. On the camino's that follow, unconciously, you are searching for what you had, never finding it back. Your emotions, feelings are never going to be the same. Many people redo the very first, having wonderfull experiences, and do other camino's with even prettier vieuws, but one has lost one's innocence, it never reaches that "high" you once achieved on your first.

 

[easygoing]

Well not experiencing a first Camino high may be true for some people's caminos. I reach a new high each camino. They keep getting better each time and this may be because I'm an experienced long-distance hiker My first one was lacking because I tried to hike it like the Pacific Crest trail. We walked too many miles and came back the next year to walk more slowly and had an even better time. Last spring I took my two granddaughters and enjoyed it even more seeing the joy in their eyes. I'm looking forward to my 11th Camino in the spring and who knows what surprises it will bring? I do know that I will have another best time of my life. I walked my 4th Camino all alone and ended up tearing a hamstring and limping the last 200 miles. If any Camino provided an emotional high it was that one because I learned that I am not measured by how fast I am or how I perform. This was something I had struggled with all my life and it was with great joy I learned this lesson.
But everyone is different so have a great Camino with no expectations.

 

[Derrybiketours]

never reaches that "high" you once achieved on your first.

The first is special but it gets better with experience. Plus the high or awakened state of consciousness lingers and lasts longer and gives a glimpse of a state of higher conscious that is proactive instead of reactive

 

[Bradypus]

The first is special but it gets better with experience.

Not for me. The first is still the most special. And the reason I keep coming back or trying other pilgrim routes in other countries. I think that the other journeys have been in large measure an attempt to recapture something of the outstanding spirit of that first Camino. Sometimes fairly successfully, occasionally less so. And the Camino Frances has changed so much over the years that after walking my third CF in 2016 I am fairly sure that I will not be back to walk it again. Looking in other places now.

 

[Derrybiketours]

recapture something of the outstanding spirit of that first Camino.

Maybe this says more about your expectations , why do you feel the need to recapture anything. I thought the same about my youth and then realised the value of my health, body and mind for where I am now. One of many lessons I've learned is too leave behind your expectations and go forward with hope and give out love.

 

[C clearly]

I really enjoyed my first camino, but I did not experience the other-worldly "high" that many people speak of. I realized right away that I would want to come back alone, for a longer walk.

Now I like to think that on each camino

I will have another best time of my life.

Actually, no, I don't expect the "best." I hope for a good experience. I don't need to identify "the best" and compare it against the first or the others. It would be as helpful as trying to identify the best year of my life! Can't be done!

 

[Jamie Y. Mo]

I met a British man who said he has walked FC about 17 times when I was walking Portuguese Camino in 2018. 17 Times, my lord. My initial thought was automatically Why? then after some time passed now I can understand a bit, I think. FC is certainly a beautiful way and I think it is the most popular one that most people choose to walk for the first time. I was no exception.

There could be many different factors such as different seasons with different version of oneself, different stages of life, or/and first impression of this whole pilgrimage thing that has become the most influential thing that has ever happen in one's life and one does want to keep reminding oneself of that moment and see how perspective of life has changed since then.. etc... There could be many reasons for a person. Who knows but only themselves or maybe they don't even know for sure. They just walk the same way over and over without any particular reason.

For some people, Camino is not about exploring different routes/trails (some people call that way) and be proud of how many different routes/trails they have walked and tell people about it over the dinner table.

 

[Bradypus]

Maybe this says more about your expectations , why do you feel the need to recapture anything. I thought the same about my youth and then realised the value of my health, body and mind for where I am now. One of many lessons I've learned is too leave behind your expectations and go forward with hope and give out love.

If you have left behind your expectations so completely why return to the same route at all? Isn't returning to the same route a response to something positive that you wish to experience again? Isn't there some expectation behind a decision to revisit the same place?

I think that part of our difference in outlook may be down to timescale. Reading through your posts in this thread it seems that your Camino experiences have been over a relatively short period. My own first Camino was 30 years ago. There have been enormous changes over that time. Most obviously in the sheer numbers walking. Think back to your first Camino. Now imagine that each and every pilgrim you met is accompanied by seventy friends. Can you say with honesty that you would embrace the second imaginary experience with all the joy of your first Camino? I am a solitary person by nature and by preference. To be immersed in great crowds causes me unease and anxiety. One of the great joys of that first Camino was to walk day after day across Spain and to allow it to wash around me without the pressure of crowds and the near-constant clamour of voices. I also value my health, body and mind. And I know that deliberately exposing myself to situations which place mental and emotional stress upon me is harmful to them. So I choose my routes with that in mind. Is that so very wrong?

 

[RennieArchibald]

Seriously?...Who can tire of dry chorizo bocadillos or fried until it's boot leather pieces of cow?

 

[Robo]

When I walked the CF I met a man who was walking the CF for the third time. The first two times were with his wife. After she passed away here he was walking for the third time, but by himself.

He was not particularly talkative. Once I met him deep in thought sitting on a seat and I was about to join him. I checked myself in time and left him in peace instead of disturbing a moment that seemed important to him.

It made quite an impression on me. Since then I have discovered that quite a few people walk the same Camino multiple times and it has always intrigued me.

I would love to hear why others have chosen to walk multiple CFs.

Bob M

One of my favourite White wines is from Oyster Bay in New Zealand.
I really like it.
I have probably bought at least 20-30 bottles over the last couple of years.......

Sure there are others.........

But right now I still like this one.

3 x CF and counting........

 

[Derrybiketours]

@Bradypus Thank you for your considered response and continued questions. I respect your choice and my pov is not any more than a view, a way to look at things through a different set of eyes

And the Camino Frances has changed so much over the years that after walking my third CF in 2016 I am fairly sure that I will not be back to walk it again. Looking in other places now.

Haven't we all changed over the years and isn't change inevitable

If you have left behind your expectations so completely why return to the same route at all?

In hindsight it turned out I had unfinished business and although I had a choice when you submit to the so called 'call' something beckoned me back and it turned out that I had more lessons to learn plus it felt like returning to visit an old friend

Isn't returning to the same route a response to something positive that you wish to experience again?

The act of leaving behind expectations for me means that it doesn't matter where I go because I take both the yin-yang with me wherever I am

Isn't there some expectation behind a decision to revisit the same place?

Not necessarily if you leave expectation behind the place you find yourself can appear different through a new set of eyes

Think back to your first Camino. Now imagine that each and every pilgrim you met is accompanied by seventy friends. Can you say with honesty that you would embrace the second imaginary experience with all the joy of your first Camino?

I take the Camino how I find it, a people path of positive intention and any joy is carried inside and I try not too let the outside in uninvited

And I know that deliberately exposing myself to situations which place mental and emotional stress upon me is harmful to them. So I choose my routes with that in mind. Is that so very wrong?

Not at all and no one indicated that its wrong and we all have our issues with mental health and have our own way of managing this. Meditation and mindfulness can be one and talking to strangers another. Ive learned to quiet the mind and detatch myself when in a crowd, its easier when alone in nature. I've learned too have a conversation with myself when alone but its easier when there's a crowd. Where I am has no relevance and its a learned behaviour that requires practice.

 

[Richmond Gardner]

Seriously?...Who can tire of dry chorizo bocadillos or fried until it's boot leather pieces of cow?

 

[The Kolbist]

simply put - because we love the camino. this might sound very cheesy but when asked why do I love my wife, I dont have a response. If I say it's her eyes or her nose or the way she walks then it's just a part of it. Even the answer - I love everything about her would not probably be enough. The answer is "I dont know why I love her". This is exactly how i feel about the Camino and why I love the camino. I dont know why I love the camino but one thing I know is I always wanna be with her.

 

[Anniesantiago]

Sometimes, we (I ! ) need something familar to gently ease us back to life. And walking a familar path does the trick.

I just revisited this thread to read the newer answers and saw yours and it really resonated with me this morning. I have been waffling, trying to decide if I will finish the VDLP this year or since I'm walking alone with Joe (not taking a group,) will go on the more familiar CF . I'm feeling pulled to the CF, exactly for the reason you state, it's familiar and the ease of it makes it feel like "coming home." I still haven't decided. I'm back in the California desert today after all my medical appointments up in Oregon - and will take a look at the weather statistics on both routes today. I'm also stuffing my backpack today, putting it on, and walking a few kilometers to see if it bothers the biopsy site (since there's no pack transport on the VDLP). I need to make a decision in the next few days, but the Frances is calling me, I think, like an old friend ...

 

[domigee]

I just revisited this thread to read the newer answers and saw yours and it really resonated with me this morning. I have been waffling, trying to decide if I will finish the VDLP this year or since I'm walking alone with Joe (not taking a group,) will go on the more familiar CF . I'm feeling pulled to the CF, exactly for the reason you state, it's familiar and the ease of it makes it feel like "coming home." I still haven't decided. I'm back in the California desert today after all my medical appointments up in Oregon - and will take a look at the weather statistics on both routes today. I'm also stuffing my backpack today, putting it on, and walking a few kilometers to see if it bothers the biopsy site (since there's no pack transport on the VDLP). I need to make a decision in the next few days, but the Frances is calling me, I think, like an old friend ...

Whatever you decide, you have my best wishes ... Let us know