It's Over

I still have a few more travel day blog entries to write but I thought I would write a few notes about what the camino has meant to me…
Having decided to start this walk having seen the movie The Way I have to say the movie is mostly wrong but some parts ring true.

Firstly, the movie is romanticised: none of the blisters, injuries etc that we all suffered (some more than others) was shown!

Secondly, I think your motivation for walking the camino can make a lot of difference to your experience.  Some people come here with burdens or traumas that they have had to deal with and for them this can be a cathartic experience.  The movie showed this well with the gradual healing of Tom from the shock of his son's death.

Thirdly, being a Roman Catholic would be a big help.  This is hinted a bit in the film but if you are not RC many of the iconography and statues mean nothing and are just plain confusing.  Having seen many people deeply in prayer in front images of saints & Mary it obviously meant something to them but that was all lost on me…

Fourthly, it was crap the way that Martin Sheen's character came here with no training and his son's gear and power walked through Spain, especially over some of those hills!

Fifthly, in the movie everyone spoke English, maybe with a trace of the Inigo Montoya about them but perfectly understandable.

Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die.

Leaving the movie behind.

Was it worth doing?  Yes, I'm glad I did it.  I hated it at times and was very frustrated and in pain for a lot of it but I'm glad I finished it.

It was great spending time with Andrew, I doubt we have ever spent so much time in each other's company.  Chances area we won't ever spend this much time together again and I'm glad we were able to share the fun & the pain together.  Certainly, it was Andrew that kept me going a lot of the time.

Did it make me a more religious/spiritual person?  Nope, no effect whatsoever.  I think some people are more spiritual, have a sense of inner peace or whatever that I just don't have.  These people would probably get a lot more out of it than I did.

As one fellow pilgrim said about two day before we finished "When is this clarity of thought supposed to kick in?"

As far as faith, I'm confident in my faith but it is a very reformed/protestant type of faith.  So, this walk made no difference to me.  The excessive RC showiness annoyed me more than anything else.

Finally, the big question.  Would I do it again?

Probably, I would make a few changes but yes I think I would.

What I would change:

• Make certain your jacket was waterproof
• When you buy your backpack and there are waterproof covers available, don't think I'll come back and buy them later.  And if you do think that, make a point of going back and buying them.
• Waterproof boots are really important (mine weren't).
• Have a spare pair of shoes (runner type so you can swap out of your boots).
• Carry less clothing, when walking you don't need much.  One set of walking clothes is probably OK, have 3-4 days worth of socks & jocks though!
• Consider merino rather than the technical clothes we had.  They really, really stink!

Most importantly do more training than I did.  My big problem was lack of hill training.  Distances were no problem but ascents and descents were not fun.

There's probably more but that's all I can be bothered with now!