Its been nearly 2 months since my first entry and we have been busy sorting things out and of course training. Just five months away from departure and it is amazing just how quickly the time is slipping away. We have made great strides forward having attended an evening presentation about the Camino and a wonderful daylong seminar hosted by the Canadian Company of Pilgrims. Both events were over subscribed with some 350 participants for the two evening sessions and 200+ folks registered for the seminar. We have had a few thoughts about the increasing interest in the Camino and were somewhat relieved to find that many attendees were there for general interest or just ‘kicking the tires’ to determine their own level of interest for a possible future walk. I spoke with a woman who had attended the seminar the past 4 years, but had not yet committed to walking. We are learning that the level of commitment required to simply prepare is considerable, but enjoyable.
The seminar was extremely helpful with presentations from various authors and others who have walked one or more of the various Camino routes on numerous occasions. One after another the presenters spoke at length about their personal experiences in an effort to help us to understand both the outer and inner preparation required. I appreciate this sounds a bit touchy, feely…however, I'll explain further. The outer preparation involves getting oneself in adequate physical condition to actually walk the 800kms. One presenter who has walked the route 5 times helped put the physicality of the experience into perspective. His point was that most any reasonably fit person can manage 20-30kms on a given day, but that it’s a completely different matter to get up in the dark each morning for 30-38 consecutive days and walk from 5-7hours. Each morning pulling your pack on and heading out the door into just about any condition imaginable from hot sun to heavy rain...not to mention the related glue-like mud conditions on the trail and the many ups and downs of the North Spanish terrain. While his audience was absorbing this with widening eyes, he went on to explain about the challenges of walking with nasty blisters and injuries to the knees, ankles and hips. No wonder the lady I spoke of earlier hadn’t committed after 4 years...she must have heard this same presentation 4 times before!!
However, we also heard over and over from each speaker about what a wonderful experience the Camino is. I’ve been reading a blog written by a 74 year old woman who has managed to successful complete 7 of her last 8 Caminos over the past 8 years. She typically walks during the late fall and winter, solo. Clearly she is an exceptional person, and I’m hopeful that we can live up to her standard...most humbling.
The other side of the outer preparation involves the gear…backpack, walking shoes, clothing, etc., with the focus on minimalist planning. I’ll write another entry about this at a future date as its pretty interesting.
The inner preparation bit involves the mental, and if you like, the spiritual element of the experience. This is different for everyone and I’ll admit that I’m still working this aspect through. Perhaps it would be better if Annemarie took a stab at this topic in an up-coming entry as she has a better handle on this element. My strength lies in the physical preparation, but I’m working on the inner preparation thing too. However as I’m a guy I think that perhaps this comes a bit slower. I’ve walked a few kilometers since making the decision to tackle the Camino…enough to burn through one very good pair of hiking shoes...and I’m still trying to figure out the spiritual side of things. The good news is I’ll have loads of time in Spain to mull this over with other confused guy-types hopefully over a glass or two of vino tinto!
We recently had the pleasure of a training walk with Mary and Les who we have met during this process. I’ll digress for a moment…during the volunteer activities that I have enjoyed over the years, I've learned that there is always a core of people who drive and nurture the process, and without those people nothing ever happens. The Camino experience is no different as we discovered while meeting members of the Canadian Company of Pilgrims at the seminar. To carry on, prior to the seminar and through Annemarie’s connections we met Mary and Les. Mary is one of those core volunteers, being one of only two people in Canada qualified to train hospiteleros to work in the aubergues (pilgrim hostels). Mary has walked and also cycled the Camino, and she and Les are preparing to depart for their next Camino in about a week. When we contacted them they immediately invited us on a training walk where they patiently answered our endless questions. They were completely open with information, so much so that within seconds of being introduced Mary was explaining to me in extreme detail about a device which allows women to urinate standing up. Talk about breaking the ice! We are excited to follow their progress and plan to get together on their return. We really appreciated learning from them.
Next entry will cover a few statistics about the Camino...bet you can hardly wait!
"for some people the experience may be greater than the pain,
for others the continuing in spite of pain might be part of what they need to experience,
pain and suffering is a fundamental part of life,
if one was to stop once things get painful one might never get anywhere..."
No comments:
Post a Comment