This is an interesting one, I drive a BMW – however I feel like I have to tell everyone “it is quite old” – I work for myself doing something I like but I play that down a bit also.
I have a certain idea of success in my head, and much of that is connected emotionally to how much material goods I own or can buy if I wanted to. Logically, when I think about it, my ideas of success are quite different from my emotional hooks.
I see a happy life, a balance between money and time, a happy family around me, time for friends – but sometimes even when I get there all I need is a Merc or big BMW to drive past me and I am back at that emotional place again.
This video identifies some of these problems in our daily life – however it is funny more than a solution to anything.
I think the above is another one of the reason that the Camino is so healthy and liberating – I rarely had any of these thoughts while walking – strange.
Hello Leslie from France,
It is not strange that you didn’t have those thoughts on the Camino. Because the Camino is about something else. It’s about truth, about bare necessities, about human beings and heart feelings – don’t you think ?
I like your site : clear, informative. But let me ask a question : why do you hardly mention the Ways of St James elsewhere than in Spain ?
You may have walked in Spain only. Many people do, lack of time, generally.
But think about the thousands of kilometers of paths across Europe that lead to Saint Jean Pied de Port. There are now thousands of people who start from their homes or from more significant places than St Jean.
Yesterday I was with 2 ladies from Poland and they are busy making the Way of Saint James visible, “walkable”, between Sandomierz and Krakow.
One more suggestion : try to walk across France or other places on the continent. There, you will feel what solitude means, the one you were expecting on your arrival in St Jean Pied de Port. Pure landscapes, lots of monuments on the way, and … good food in Perigord for instance !
How’s that ?