Camino

We have completed our Camino Pilgrimage and this will be our last post as Pilgrims. We have, however, learned that our real Camino only starts now in real life.
We will start a new Penguin trip as “Tourists” tomorrow but hopefully will behave more like Pilgrims! So for those who just wanted to follow the Camino I suggest you turn off your notifications or you will get ambushed by our tourist posts. Thank you for following our trip and your support. We loved having you. As you can imagine we have a lot of thoughts after 60 days so some reflections follow but we need more time to fully respond so consider this a summary although caution it is long …

Pilgrim or Tourist?

There is an element of pilgrim and tourist in all of us and in each trip. Essentially after a trip, a pilgrim is in some way changed or their behaviour / outlook is changed. A tourist sees and experiences the same things but returns home enriched by the experiences but mostly unchanged.

On the Camino, whenever anyone showed signs of tourist behaviour we were reminded of the differences by the locals: A tourist travels and visits places with the mindset of having experiences and seeing places that meet their expectations and standards, and responds accordingly when they are met or not met. Perhaps a mindset of entitlement.
A pilgrim travels and visits places with a mindset of being aware, adapting and obtaining enjoyment from the local expectation and standards. A mindset of a visitor.
This is usually evident in complaining about something which is considered normal in the place you visit but not where you come from such as waiting more than 2 minutes to be served, not offering a meal to meet our dietary preferences or that a shop is closed when you need it between 2pm and 5pm or …

Why do people walk the Camino? There are so many reasons but the must common are:
1. As a spiritual/ religious pilgrimage which is what it originally was.
2. As a physical challenge or activity - how far can I walk, how fast, how many km or hours per day, etc
3. As a break from the stress of daily life and a means to focus on self (work, relationships, process a tragic event)
4. It is just something someone wanted to do - a combination of any of the above or - I saw the movie “The Way”, heard about the Camino from someone else, saw it on You Tube, thought it would be a good social experience, etc

Our reflections are obviously influenced by our reasons which were primarily (1. Spiritual) and (2. Physical - as in can I actually do it?)

Jane’s Reflection

The Camino for me is a lot about the people we meet, both as fellow pilgrims, volunteers and all those you meet along the way, even the local taking their dog for a walk. The sharing we encountered over the many pilgrim meals and the care given by the various hosts. When walking it can be like walking side by side with our guardian angel in a place where happiness, kindness, and thoughtfulness are experienced. The people along the journey are remarkably compassionate towards each other. It's a precious time when God allows us to reflect on our lives, embrace the countless blessings and graces we receive, and fully immerse ourselves in the awe-inspiring beauty of His creation.

My Mum also played a big part in my pilgrimage. As long as I can remember she had wanted to walk the Camino but never did. Along my way, almost daily, I would see signs of her sharing my journey. Whether it was her name written on a rock, or a poster we passed, a piece of music I knew she loved, a particular flower, or view, church or prayer. I was able to dedicate my Camino to her loving memory and had her name written on my Compostela. She was my first teacher of the faith that is so precious to me and I will be forever grateful.

What kept coming back to me while walking, were the countless people who have walked the exact path during centuries and centuries past. I would try and imagine their fears and anxieties along the way, the unknown that they faced, their trials and tribulations. Their faith that kept them walking. This helped me so much when I was encountering pain and discomfort with my endless blisters.

I know my own apprehension before we started and the doubts I faced. What I have learnt and will take home with me is a quote I read:
“If you could see the journey whole you might never undertake it, might never dare the first step that propels you from the place you have known toward the place you know not”

Ant’s Reflection

When I started the Camino my objective was to use the time to work out what I do next following 25 years with my primary objective being raising our family and building my career. I thought the time would allow me to put together a grand life plan. Through the wisdom of all my Camino influencers (see below), I realised that I first needed to empty my current bucket of objectives, “self-focussed /motivated” principles, wish lists and plans. A good example for me was to let go of my need to create a grand plan now with the knowledge I have now.
Then, with a truly open mind (empty of previous bias and objectives) I was challenged to to look around me, listen, observe and be open to what was being shown to me and then over time my purpose would become clear. The hardest thing was knowing what in the bucket needed emptying but I think it was removing all preconceived ideas and especially differentiating between my self motivated or community motivated principles. The words repeated by the influencers were humility (not being I focussed), waiting patiently (not easy as this doesn’t mean waiting without showing frustration it actually means waiting peacefully…).
In trying to be a better Christian Fr Mike simplifies it so well by referencing several passages from the scriptures (see references below) where he reminds us that Christ focussed on the sinners, the poor and the sick and we are called to imitate him. We are not expected to achieve the impossible. We start with what is necessary around us and then do what is possible. Impossible outcomes will result from those. We need to make a committed decision “to be there - to show up” for the people and things around us, not just be there but completely be there. To do that, we need to really see what is right next to us (Emmaus). For me that means I don’t need to focus on the long term grand plan to change the world or stick rigidly to a plan but rather have a mindset to look around, observe and serve / respond to what is around me now and that may be different tomorrow. Not very corporate at all!
So my mindset is different, I feel like I am more aware of my (maybe many moments) of impatience and my need to stick to a plan where the consequence doesn’t matter. My actions may not have changed yet (that is for others to judge) but I am more aware.
All of this has been a gift of the Camino and my influencers. And especially my main influencer Jane, my walking buddy, my beloved wife and the one who knows me best, She sees and deals with my “lack of humility” moments and shares in the best moments which remind me of the words from the sister in Lourdes “ don’t spend too much time planning where to go but rather who you go with and who you will meet” and a pilgrim blessing quote “It isn’t important where you go but what does matter is who you arrive with”.

Camino physical influences
“If you look you will see signs”
“If you believe, you will see signs everywhere”. The signs we saw that influenced us were:
The churches
The crosses
The devotions / statues to Our Lady
The statues of so many saints
The fields of farmland
The wild flowers
The mountains
We could write about each but every day they were all around us and so inspiring.

Most influential people on our Camino

For us, this is heavily biased towards people and places with a spiritual objective. They are on the Camino to help our journey and they did their job!
- the priests, sisters and brothers that went out of their way to make us feel welcome, give us blessings and be there to serve us especially at St Jean, Roncesvalles, Puenta La Reine, Logrono, Santa Domingo de la Calzada, Burgos, Carrion de los Condes, Sahagun, Rabanal del Camino, Finisterre and Santiago.
- special individual influencers were the sister that performed the washing ceremony at Lourdes and the sister who did the Tour at Lourdes. They provided some hope and challenge.
Our friends and families back home, knowing we were in their thoughts and prayers and that they were in ours.
Our Penguin followers - the support and comments motivated daily posts even when we were too tired.
George Ezra (singer) album “This is George”- the beat of Green Green Grass was used to kick start a good pace to finish the day when we were tired. Such a good walking beat.

Major on-line influence is Fr Mike Schmitz - Sunday homilies are awesome. (Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts). Strongly Recommend listening to his homilies from the Sunday after Easter (April 23) to Pentecost. The first homily is the road to Emmaus (Luke 24: 13-35) and the other homilies helped showed how we can follow Christ in our daily lives.
The other passage which appeared often on the Camino and made it sound simple was also a call to imitate Christ from Matthew 5:16 “ In the same way your light must shine in the sight of men, so that, seeing your good works, they may give the praise to the Father in heaven”

The hospitaleros ( people who volunteer for pilgrims), the Albergue owners especially at albergue in Lintzoin, Villamayor de Monjardín, Trabadelo, Fonfria

Pilgrims - we don’t mention names as there were so many. They know who they are but also those we met for maybe an hour that had an influence like the Canadians at Elvis bar, the stain glass maker, the 81 year old, the Frenchman at Carrion, the Dominican medical Gastro specialist

One Canadian hearing my story suggested a book which helped me - I downloaded the audiobook and listened to it. It described the transition from the first to second part of life. Falling Upward by Richard Rohr. It is written by a Catholic priest but is good reading for anyone looking for the purpose for second part of life. Stage 1 is essential to create a solid platform and then we need to let go some elements to use that platform in stage 2. before you can work out stage 2 you need to know what your purpose has been in stage 1 and what of that still matters.

Other stuff we were asked was mostly about our luggage
Our Camino stuff was just about perfect - thanks to Jane’s research. Lightweight clothing that dries quickly and we used everything except thermal underwear thanks to great weather. We probably had too much medicinal supplies not knowing that most towns had a pharmacy or 2 and they were excellent and had some English if not good English. So maybe just needed a few of each. We did take playing cards but ditched them about half way. And we had a spare collapsable water bottle that we didn’t need.
Apart from new shoes which Jane needed to stop blisters, we purchased nothing on the way which is amazing for us. A few tiny souvenirs.
Jane pack weighed about 8kg and Ant’s about 10kg plus any food supplies.
So, Camino packing gets a 9 out of 10.
The packing for the next part gets about a 5 out of 10 and we sent a lot home - Great to see the big box go and be left with 1 bag each. Cannot say enough about lightweight clothing and not your standard T shirts, underwear, etc.Read more