Poll Why are you walking the camino?

[Pelen]

Yes, why do you walk? Choose up to 3 answers.

 

[Tincatinker]

Hmm. The foot-note states "Multiple votes are allowed" but actually we are limited to 3 which isn't enough

 

[Pelen]

Hmm. The foot-note states "Multiple votes are allowed" but actually we are limited to 3 which isn't enough

Yes, I limited to 3, I thought I could have answered most of them myself. It is more interesting to see the main reasons for all of us.

 

[Pelen]

If someone have a better text than "For ascetic reasons (that are not religious)" let me know.

What I mean is that it might be nice to live simple, just carry the few things you need, don't use so much money (even if you have) and so on, without the religious reason to do it.

 

[Togabogie]

I know some people do it for charity reasons also
I.e to raise money for a cause etc

 

[Former member 49149]

Tongue in cheek, will any introverts fill in the survey? Actually, I am really enjoying the space that Davebugg has opened up on the topic of introverts on the camino. I did a MyersBriggs personality type indicator test 40 years ago. 50/50 extravert/introvert. However , it is not a life sentence. It is an invitation to open your eyes and see the world from the point of view of the other! It would be an interesting additional question, what is your score on the Myers Briggs?

 

[Deleted member 29041]

How about "getting rid of stress" - which happens to be the major reason for quite a few walkers that I know of.

 

[Pelen]

How about "getting rid of stress" - which happens to be the major reason for quite a few walkers that I know of.

Yes, it was just possible to add 10. I think it can fit into "Time out/tune more deeply into yourself"

 

[Pelen]

Tongue in cheek, will any introverts fill in the survey? Actually, I am really enjoying the space that Davebugg has opened up on the topic of introverts on the camino. I did a MyersBriggs personality type indicator test 40 years ago. 50/50 extravert/introvert. However , it is not a life sentence. It is an invitation to open your eyes and see the world from the point of view of the other! It would be an interesting additional question, what is your score on the Myers Briggs?

Yes, why not start a poll? I, myself did the test 20 years ago and I was ENFP. I was very much extrovert and I still nejoy being with people but have got more need of being alone since then. Or maybe the reason is that I know have a familiy around me most of the time so I value the time alone more.

 

[Turga]

Just out of curiosity: Are you collecting material for a book/thesis or something or is it just personal interest?

 

[Pelen]

Just out of curiosity: Are you collecting material for a book/thesis or something or is it just personal interest?

No plans at all to write a book. I am just curious.

 

[Turga]

No plans at all to write a book. I am just curious.

Fair enough. When thinking about how to answer the questionnaire I realised, that my answers would have been different if asked before my first camino. Just a little personal reflection

 

[trecile]

Because I can't not walk the Camino.

 

[MikeJS]

Because I like long walks.

 

[Isca-camigo]

I can't vote because apart from 3 reasons family/ friends, ascetic and compostela they are all just applicable to me and if my partner decides to walk again, which I hope with all my heart then its just 2 reasons.

 

[Deleted member 67185]

I'm on a Mission from God.

 

[Derrybiketours]

I expect most people by end of this poll will be ticking box relating to religious/spiritual reasons but as I found out during my own pop quiz might be worth reconsidering separating the two

https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/what-is-your-main-reason-to-participate-on-the-camino.57765/#post-658556

 

[Anniesantiago]

For my health is one answer that isn't on your list

 

[sasecurity]

For me it’s a bit of soul searching, the physical challenge and to meet new people, heading out on the 1st April and have decided to give myself 8 weeks so I can go at a steady pace and take in lots along the way, can’t wait

 

[Terry Callery]

Some people ask why?
I say why not!

 

[Aysen Mustafa]

I thought many also walked to deal with bereavement. That was partly mine.

 

[Terry Callery]

I am not sure any deep truth about the Camino will be revealed "survey monkey" style.
This because the Camino experience is very nuanced - so multifaceted.
If it really is "One man, one Camino" then the answers are like so many grains of sand.

Asking someone why they went on pilgrimage, doesn't reveal what they actually found.

Actually it is a Rolling Stones sort of thing.
People go to Saint Jean Pied a Port to get what they want.
They end up in Santiago de Compostela actually finding they get what they need.

The truths I found were not about what to know, but how to be.

 

[Peter Fransiscus]

Yes, why do you walk? Choose up to 3 answers.

Why not ??
In my honest opinion, most people like to walk for what ever reason.

 

[Jeanne from Washington]

After watching a documentary/movie I knew in my heart I had to walk the Camino de Santiago.

 

[SabsP]

Why not ??
In my honest opinion, most people like to walk for what ever reason.

Well in defense of @Pelen ( not that she needs defending ) She is just curious.

Cheers @Pelen I think your thread gives us food for thought.

 

[Eugene Carroll]

Walking the Camino is like jazz...if you have to ask why you will never get it.

 

[Peter Fransiscus]

Well in defense of @Pelen ( not that she needs defending ) She is just curious.

Cheers @Pelen I think your thread gives us food for thought.

I know , it's just my opinion.

 

[Stivandrer]

Walking the Camino is like jazz...if you have to ask why you will never get it.

One pilgrim in this forum once wrote:
"I found my tribe"

Once started, I now cannot stop walking (another new ) camino....

 

[Eugene Carroll]

One pilgrim in this forum once wrote:
"I found my tribe"

Once started, I now cannot stop walking (another new ) camino....

Stivandrer, I have the privilege of walking the Via de la Plata now and I am in Merida. I never ask others why they are on a Camino or what they do/did for a job.

 

[nycwalking]

Stivandrer, I have the privilege of walking the Via de la Plata now and I am in Merida. I never ask others why they are on a Camino or what they do/did for a job.

Enjoy!!!!

Buen camino!!!!!

 

[martyndeh]

Although many do not think it the Camino is a christian walk. Not that all walkers are christians. The care and support that walkers help each other is a caring and christian way. But the essence of why people walk is in the fellowship that they have with other walkers whatever their beliefs.

 

[cher99840]

I don’t think my reasons fit into a box, although I think they are widely shared. There is something so freeing to wake up every morning thinking “all I have to do today is walk, avoid physical injury, and maintain a level of cleanliness to not be a menace”. The fact that I do this while carrying everything I need on my back, adds to my feeling of freedom rather than weighing me down and that seems rather paradoxical. Finally I walk because I can, and keeping that fact in the forefront of my mind helps me maintain an attitude of gratitude.

 

[martin1ws]

Can I explain why I am walking the camino (again)?
No, I can't... 'es imposible' ... as F., a Spanish pilgrim on the Camino Aragones, said about explaining the 'magic' of a camino to a non-pilgrim...
So I have not voted.

But I have a link to another thread:

https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/walking-the-camino-frances-multiple-times-why.65738/#post-808613

And another link to a video:

https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/what-i-learnt-along-the-way-film.49141/

And two quotes I like:
"I keep walking, not to add years to my life, but to add life to my years" (Stivandrer, in this thread)
"Le cœur a ses raisons que la raison ne connaît pas/ the heart has its reasons, of which reason knows nothing."
Pascal, Les Pensées (quoted by mspath)

 

[Bradypus]

I've just read this paragraph on a BBC History website. I am now wondering where that might fit into your list of reasons for walking a pilgrimage I am also wondering if anyone is willing to confess that they have been walking more recently for similar reasons...

Monks behaving badly

If contemporary chronicles are to be believed, England's medieval clergy may have spent as much time drinking, gambling and fornicating with prostitutes as attending to their flocks' spiritual needs

www.historyextra.com

 

[Eugene Carroll]

I wouldn’t dream of getting involved with the alleged activities of medieval monks however..... a contemporary pilgrim in Spain can drink to their heart’s content, gamble online through their smartphone and fornicate in the numerous, legal clubs and brothels along the Camino routes.
Not much change over 1000 years eh.

 

[Sean Lad]

Because I can

 

[Stivandrer]

Really, we need a two fold questionaire:

What reason for walking the Camino the first time

&

Why do you keep walking Caminos

 

[Lexicos]

I read a book by an anthropologist (some years ago) in which he writes that we are hard-wired to seek out others like ourselves and that in our DNA we are built for the nomadic life.

My list of reasons would be too long.

 

[Terry Callery]

One can learn a great deal about the magnetism of the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage simply by listening to the stories of those who walk it. I discovered four general categories of people who had been drawn to the Camino.

I always get asked this question. What did you find on your Camino?

I think this is the more revealing question. What were you in search of?

The first category was the adventures. They were people looking for an inexpensive travel diversion who liked making new friends, drinking wine with strangers and hooking up with other pilgrims, occasionally falling in love. The spiritual component of their pilgrimage was secondary to their search for adventure. The younger pilgrims seemed to make up most of this group.

The next category was the damaged. They were looking for healing. Some were recently divorced or widowed, some had lost a family member and others were dealing with sickness, addiction or depression. For them the Camino was a kind of reset button, a chance to do a rewind and start over, a chance for a rebirthing. These people were especially grateful for the kindness and empathy of others.

There was a group I call the “New Age Zen-Types” who were authentic in their spiritual search, but that search did not involve the Catholic Church. These were the people who were looking to be fully aware in the present moment – they were in pursuit of mindfulness. Their inner journeys were often a winnowing that peeled away ego, resentments, prejudice and attachment to material possessions.

The last category was the faithful. Usually Catholic, sometimes Christian, but the faithful included people from all faiths. All of these pilgrims believed in God, or at least the possibility of God intersecting with the arc of their lives. They all had a personal relationship with God; they spoke to him, prayed to him and humbly asked him for guidance. For most of the faithful, the Camino pilgrimage was a way to broaden and strengthen that personal relationship.