Comments for Camino de Santiago

Comment on How to Choose the Best Walking Boots by Melanie dorien

Melanie dorien — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 12:24:25 +0000

Thanks for putting up this advice. I am planning to walk part of the camino in 6 months and am starting to lok for the right boots to get them broken in so this is very handy.. I am going to walk a lot from here on in order to be fit enough to tackle. The Camino

Comment on Life after Life by Gerry Cunningham

Gerry Cunningham — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 07:43:06 +0000

I walked “the way” in 2003. I first met Dara in college and he got me a part time job in the Shelbourne Hotel. Dara was a true gentleman, great fun to be around, truly generous, was always well-intentioned and spirited. The last time I met Dara was in Maynooth, we chatted and he told me that he was going again to walk the camino. I wish that we had the time to walk this ancient path – Dara, rest in peace. Gerry

Comment on Using Imagination to Overcome Obstacles by Leslie

Leslie — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 13:50:36 +0000

Hi Tina,

I suggest that you join the forum, it is a great place for help and advice on the Camino. http://www.caminodesantiago.me.uk/forum/forum.php

all the best.

Comment on Using Imagination to Overcome Obstacles by Tina

Tina — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 20:42:47 +0000

Hi,

I just saw the film “The Way” which is about the camino de santiago. I am struggling greatly in my daily life and it brought me back to my Outward Bound Experience, which was hugely rewarding.
I realized I need to do something along those lines again, so I find myself now researching the camino. I was considering going in July 2012. Does anyone have any advice? I would be very interested in any information or experiences that would help.

Thank you,
Tina

Comment on Charity Walks, Cycles and other Challenges by Leslie

Leslie — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 17:09:17 +0000

Yes, you are right. I have started to do something about being cynical – see here http://www.caminodesantiago.me.uk/using-imagination-to-overcome-obstacles/

Comment on Charity Walks, Cycles and other Challenges by Mike

Mike — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 11:19:45 +0000

Sounds like you are incredibly cynical. Dont do it for charity and self fund. Then you will know the real cost of the event.

I did Hadrians wall for charity 2 years ago and was £50 short of my fund raising target – they still let me do it. I raised money via an online collection service that went straight to the charity.

You need to stop moaning and actually get out there and do something for yourself or others regardless of who gets what and what costs what.. DO it for the experience.. It’s only money…

Comment on Charity Walks, Cycles and other Challenges by Florencia

Florencia — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 21:16:54 +0000

Hi,

I came across your post and as founder of a very small charity and organizer of some “challenges” such as walks, I have to say that we are not all on the same boat. I am sorry to hear about your experience with other organizations, but I can assure you that it is not the way all NGOs or charities work. We do organize walks doing El Camino de Santiago and it has been great experiences for everyone involved and we are as clear as we possibly can with the costs and funds that go to the organization.

If you have any questions or would like to discuss, do feel free to contact me.

Regards
Florencia

Comment on Preparing for the Camino Frances by Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 00:26:34 +0000

Hello.
Read with great interest your preparation for your 2nd Camino; I am impressed with the distance you covered (47km) on the one trip. I am preparing for my initial Camino trip and would like your advice on many things;
1. I think I will have two weeks to devote to this pilgrimage, and assuming I can skip over some areas of the route, I would like to know which areas you would recommend. This would be for the camino in the north, traveling around 8-15 miles a day.
2. What brand of walking boot do you recommend?
3. What are some essential items to pack?

Thanks! Elizabeth

Comment on Walking in Glendalough by Catherine Todd

Catherine Todd — Sun, 09 Jan 2011 05:03:45 +0000

I know exactly how you feel… I ended up moving to Panajachel, Lake Atitlan, Guatemala in 2006 and it has changed my life completely. I live there part time, working with artisans who do the most beautiful beadwork and I sell the handmade keychains and jewelry here in the states the other part of the year. I went from building houses and doing land development for big bucks to working with a hundred or a thousand dollars at a time. It’s completely changed my life. We start work with a prayer in Guatemala and end it with one. And I really look forward to this, even though I don’t even go to church! And I thought “faith” was completely lost on me.

But I ask God to “Show me the Way” and my camino led me to lovely Lake Atitlan. Now I’m helping fund student scholarships, medical care for the artisans I work with, a street dog program and I hope to start building a school with recycled materials: used tires, plastic bottles filled with sand, dirt or adobe to create “bottle bricks” and beautiful glass bottles to create stained glass windows into the ceiling and walls. I can’t wait to get started on this project this coming year. And almost all the materials will be free! Once we learn how to do this, we can show all the people in Panajachel, and the people who lost their houses in the two recent hurricanes will be able to rebuild with recycled materials for free from the land fill. Talk about a dream come true for everyone concerned.

For five years now, I have been reducing everything in my life. Downsizing. And finding out all the things that really matter in my life. No amount of money ever made me feel secure, no matter how much I earned. No matter how much I had or saved. Now I have very little but I constantly remind myself that I have exactly enough for what I want to do and what I need to do.

All the projects I work on benefit me and everyone else at the same time, people, kids, dogs, the world. I couldn’t be happier now and would NEVER return to my old life. I’ve been self-employed my whole life and worked for 8 years without a day off at a time. Now I make sure I rest when I need to and take trips when I want to, since I can always combine them with the sales that I do with the beautiful hand-beadwork.

Life is very different, and not in small part from reading your wonderful blog documenting the Camino de Santiago. I go there in my mind all the time. You have connected so many. Now is the time to re-connect yourself.

Lots of photos, music and more on all my links, with projects I am working on. Hope something here is of interest and inspiring for your journeys to come. Yours, CatherineTodd2 at gmail dot com.

–
“The winds of grace blow all the time. All we need do is set our sails.”
“Los vientos de gracia golpe todo el tiempo. Todo lo que necesitamos hacer es establecer nuestras velas.”

“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” – St. Augustine

“Peace and justice are goals for man.” – Martin Luther King

Comment on Preparing for the Camino Frances by Catherine Todd

Catherine Todd — Sun, 09 Jan 2011 04:45:22 +0000

What an excellent post… you are getting ready to do for the SECOND TIME what I have been dreaming of doing the first! Even with heartache, footache, bad news from home, and all the rest… to be able to “just keep walking” would be a dream come true. Where I live there is really no place to “just walk” so I’m dreaming of doing just that. When my bad back will allow it and my mental state will help create it.

You wrote: “I feel better mentally for the walking exercise this week. May it continue.”

Amen. Looking forward very much to reading about how it goes… second hand experience is better than none at all! And surely this will help when you’ve been spending 12 hours a day in front of a computer. I did that for 14 years and I think that is what help mess up my back, so now I use a laptop laying in bed. I can’t wait to get back into some kind of shape so I can “walk and ride.”

Love the Camino de Santiago and can’t wait for more! Happy New Year.