Life After the Camino...What a Concept!

We've had questions about this since returning so thought I'd give it a try. What a concept indeed! This is probably the toughest subject to explore after walking a Camino. The literature and forums are full of folks trying to rationalize things after they finish, with emotions ranging from depression, or sadness that its over, to excitement about next things and the brilliant experience that the Camino was. I don't think we are any different in this regard, lots of emotions...but we are fortunate in that we have each other to sort this through with, as well as some very good Camino friends who are also going through their own re-entry. Its something like a Camino Support Group...sounds a bit desperate! Fortunately we discussed re-entry a number of times before we departed and again close to the end of the Camino, but there were still a few surprises on our return...mostly all positive. 

Perhaps the biggest change next time would be not to return to work the very next morning after arriving home the night before...not a great idea, but little choice as I had no more time off. To those of you who follow, I would suggest that you give this some thought and sort it out as much as possible before you depart. I guess the best way to address our own re-entry is that everything in our daily world was essentially the same when we returned...work was painfully much the same, family (more or less), the house looked the same, our car started, the usual Christmas prep (not)...but everything from a personal perspective will likely never be the same again. In our case this has been a good thing, a positive change. We all need to shake up our lives from time to time (things do stagnate), and boy have we given our lives a good old shake!! As I've indicated, its fortunate we did this together...I imagine this could cause a few problems if it happened for one person in a partnership, and not the other...think of the partner left behind who missed the experience. In fact I read about a person who decided to un-clutter her life while walking and unfortunately (or fortunately) part of the un-cluttering involved discarding her spouse when she returned home...painful. 

The walking meditation and time to contemplate past, present and future was unrivaled by anything we have previously undertaken. Old baggage was ditched somewhere out there on the trail, new ideas were contemplated and some have even started to move forward towards becoming a reality in the brief 7 weeks since returning. We have both made decisions about continuing or ditching work (you will have to wait a little while to learn about this out-come!) and I have already started to plan my next walking journey...more of that in a future comment as well, but you won't have to wait too long. Some decisions were short term, others longer term with new doors having opened for each of us since returning. Our brains sometime seem overwhelmed by the possibilities and at other times less so. One thing that has helped deal with all the new information and ideas is a recent return to regular walking. When we returned I was some 8-9 lbs below my training weight...a big surprise! I initially decided to curtail walking a bit and focus on the gym to rebuild depleted muscles and I've now put about 3-4 lbs back on, but our daughter who just arrived home for the Season commented that my pants are all still way too baggy...gee thanks! So I guess there is room to indulge at Christmas! Beginning to rack up the miles again and I'm finding hill climbs dead easy...a good thing, but then I remind myself that I'm not carrying a pack as I walk these days...so once again, humbled. Will start pack training again at the beginning of March. 2014 might just be a excellent year, just like 2013 has been. I guess the simple answer is this...there is life after the Camino...albeit, its different for everyone. That's where things stand for the moment. Stay tuned. Merry Christmas to all, and best wishes for the Season and onwards into 2014. Geoff & Annemarie