What are/were your expectations?

[sillydoll]

Many people walk a Camino and then say, "It wasn't at all what I expected."

Or, (as we've seen in another thread) "The Camino failed to live up to my expectations."

So, what are the expectations?

 

[Deleted member 3000]

I expected to be unable to complete it. I joked with my family that they should start a betting pool on when I would quit. I surprised myself, and I think some of them. I think the lack of competitive drive is what kept me going. I was willing to quit anytime, so really all I had to do was put one foot in front of the other a few more times and I was a success in my mind (which is what counts). Walking the camino is a completely optional activity. I cringe a little bit each time someone says that they are driven to make the pilgrimage. I know that everyone has a different motivation, but I don't know if I could walk it if I felt that I must do it. Maybe that drive gets others up and moving in the morning. I doesn't work for me, but I can see that it might work for others.

I expected to see the botafumeiro, but it took three arrivals in Santiago and dozens of masses before that happened. If there was disappoint in my camino, that was it! Pretty banal, I know.

 

[mspath]

In 2004 I only hoped to endure. Successfully walking alone from Saint Jean Pied de Port to Santiago de Compostela despite age and difficulties proved that I could. Ever since each time I begin again I hope that I shall.

Ultreia!

Margaret

 

[vagabondette]

I expect to walk. That's pretty much it. I hope for a few other things but I don't expect that they'll happen.

 

[LTfit]

Maybe unbelievable but before my first Camino in July 2010 I had no real 'expectations'. I wanted to walk, spend time alone, speak Spanish, enjoy nature and above all not plan anything. And that is exactly what happened. What I 'received' in return was much more than I expected - on many levels, but that is not what you asked!

My second Camino last summer was completely different than my first along the Francés: the landscape, the solitude (the Via de la Plata was empty in July) and my experiences. But once again I had no real expectations when I started off in Sevilla.

This summer will be my third experience on the Camino but this time as a hospitalera. And funny, I am more nervous about this than on my first day crossing the Pyrenees!

 

[JNel]

I did the Camino Portugues as my first Camino this July and August. I was unable to get a guidebook for the route before my trip and much of what I had read was about the French route. I set out thinking I would see many more pilgrims (& less roads) than I did the first few days on my way and was a bit disappointed and lonely for a short time at the beginning. In the end, I met many incredible people and could not be more happy with the way things worked out. I loved the bit of solitude, and the opportunity to meet many locals. It was only a few days before I met several other pilgrims, which was also incredible. Next year, I will know to expect nothing but adventure

 

[Thengel1]

I don't have a lot of expectations, in the sense that I would be disappointed if they didn't happen. Based on what I have read, there are a bunch of things I think might happen, but time will tell. For example, I may get the chance to meet and talk to a lot of different people, but walking alone as an introvert, my past experience has been to be pretty much left alone.

I do have a purpose in walking the Camino, but it is not the camino's responsibility to see that I fulfill that purpose, the camino is merely the place I have chosen to attempt it.

 

[jeffnd]

I want to drink from the wine fountain. This is non-negotiable.

I want to walk on the roman road that everyone talks about.

I want to see the botafumeiro too.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

I want to drink from the wine fountain. This is non-negotiable.

It has been dry every time (4 times) for me! You may need to wait. Hope the people in front of you have not brought canteens.

I want to walk on the roman road that everyone talks about.

You can't miss it; sections are everywhere.

I want to see the botafumeiro too.

Bring 300 Euro, or hope someone else does. It only swings for free about ten times per year. It swings for pay as many as four times per day in the high season.

 

[AJ]

I expected to have an interesting time. I did have an interesting time AND I enjoyed it immensely.

 

[PMSLAW]

Written in the middle of my Camino (SJPdP to SdC), just completed May 31st.

A Parable of Expectations and Disappointment, on The Camino.
Somewhere on the Camino, the year 1013, a weary and travel worn Perigrino surrenders the burro which he has ridden into town to a shopkeeper. The Pilgrim then slowly hobbles across the village square, entering the imposing cut granite Romanesque church that is the axis of the community. Confessions are being heard. Our Perigrino, adorned in his tatters, enters the confessional booth, and begins to recite the prescribed formula:
Perigrino: Bless me Father, for I have sinned. It has been one day since my last confession (Confession was a lot more popular in the 11th Century) and these are my sins. I have had impure thoughts, and I have broken my vow to the Blessed Virgin and St. James.
Priest: The breaking of a vow is a serious matter, can you tell me more?
Perigrino: Father, I am a Pilgrim on the Camino. I made a vow to Our Lady and St. James that I would walk the entire Journey assisted only by my own two feet. Earlier today I stumbled upon a rock and found that I was unable to continue. A farmer, taking pity upon me, gave me the use of a burro, upon which I traveled this day, and now have surrendered to the farmer's brother, a shopkeeper on the square.
Priest: My son, your sin is not the breaking of a vow, but in possessing such arrogance as to presume to tell our Lord what your Camino should be. God in his infinite knowledge and Mercy, provided you with a burro to continue your journey, but your disappointment, fathered by your expectations, has no appreciation for God's Grace.... A serious sin, indeed.
Perigrino: For my sin I am heartily sorry Padre, and I willingly embrace your penance.
Priest: My son, for your penance you shall go to the river, and divesting yourself of your robes, you will bath and clean yourself of all expectations for your Camino.
Perigrino: Please excuse me Padre, but is it not more common to just require that I recite 3 Our Fathers and 5 Hail Marys? Besides I have already bathed this year.
Priest: So my Peligrino, do you now also impose your expectations upon the penances which I give?!? By the way, I almost forgot, what were the impure thoughts?
Perigrino: Uhh, well, I don't really know. I have always given 2 sins, and since my parents are both dead I can no longer use "disobedience".
Priest: I see. Well, for the impure thoughts you could have had, you get your 3 Our Fathers and 5 Hail Marys... And after you bathe, wash your clothes and line your cod-piece with fresh herbs. I think your odor is delaying the Second Coming.
The Pilgrim was true to his word. He recited 3 Our Fathers and 5 Hail Marys, bathed, and washed his clothes. Unfortunately, some habits are not easily changed. As the Perigrino was searching for fresh herbs to line his cod-piece, he could be heard to declare, "I swear by the Blessed Mother and St. James that I will complete the rest of my Camino without further interruption!" Soon thereafter the Pilgrim chose a three leafed vine like plant to line his cod-piece.
Peter Schloss

 

[EviAnd]

I was struggling with a lot of things in my life at the time and I was expecting to spend most of the Camino alone (despite what I had read about making great friends, etc.) I believed that what I needed was time alone to process, to think, to journal and perhaps to even pray. Drinks, laughs and daily conversation were at the bottom of the list of things that I thought I needed.
Was I ever wrong.
The friends I made and the conversations we had provided me with more insight and perspective than all the time spent walking alone/thinking/journaling tied together. Snapping out of my own head, truly listening to others and honestly sharing allowed my brain and heart to work through problems far quicker than if I had just spent each day walking alone with the mad flurry of thoughts in my brain. I laughed, I cried, I learned and I healed.
This was my experience and it blew my expectations out of the water. I'm sure there are many people who found the solitude they were looking for and it brought them what they needed. To be clear - I don't think one way is better than the other, I think you find what you really need on the Camino - but this was my experience and I'm so glad that my expectations were so different than the reality I experienced.
I wrote in a bit more depth about it on my blog back in January, if you care to read a pretty cheesy blog entry:
http://deependliving.wordpress.com/cate ... dventures/

 

[jirit]

In terms of specific expectations I can not remember - done too many caminos only to know none unfolded the way I expected

Instead I have learnt and continue to learn (and I can be a slow learner at times ) that I should expect the unexpected and do my best to relish in the pleasure of the unexpected.

 

[Camino2014]

I expect to at least complete it, but we'll see next year!