Final thoughts....

Some time ago Rob the Canadian asked me why I was doing the Camino. I told him that it was going to be a ‘booster’ to my faith in human nature, explaining that in my experience people put in challenging environments quickly let their barriers down, open up and work with each other in a more constructive and positive manner than strangers tend to normally; they become more engaged and tend to become more social, more focused on the benefits of the group and less locked in their individual worlds. It is uplifting - in a way comforting - something that I believe lies in some deep-rooted evolutionary aspect of man’s social instincts that modern society can often smother.

The question between people now that we have finished - sometimes implicit - is what you have got out of walking the Camino? Are you a changed person? How has it affected you? For me I think the answer is ‘not that much’. Of course any extended period in a different environment with strangers will teach you something about yourself however self-aware you may be. But for me no great spiritual uplifting or ‘road to Damascus’ moment.

There is however something liberating about a long distance walk. Each day on the Camino is a cycle of simple acts: you wake, you walk, you find somewhere to stay and to eat, and then you prepare for that same cycle the following day. Your day is filled with the basic requirements of life and these basic requirements become the focus of each day. It doesn’t matter about the weather, whatever it brings you accept it, as you accept other issues more readily both in what is around you and in the people you meet; you begin to see the good rather than the not so good and in doing so approach each day in a positive frame of mind.

You spend a large part of your day walking. It is hard and it is tiring, sometimes you can’t wait for it to end and other days you want it to go on forever. Walking is your day, your entertainment and your frustration. It places you in, and allows you to think about, your surroundings or to be simply lost in your own thoughts while still giving you purpose. It takes the place that is filled back home by your work, your television, your radio, your newspaper but without all the distractions and intrusions these bring.  For a month I hardly listened to the news. I did not miss it and it wasn’t important. The reality is I missed out only on listening to reports - keeping myself informed as might I see it - on matters that I had no control over and yet which could affect me in some way and at the very least frustrate. Instead I filled my day with simple things that I could influence and that impacted upon me; where I was going that day and with whom; where I stayed; what I ate; who I spoke to – or not. In doing so I guess in some deep corner of my psyche I felt as if I had more control, was released from subconscious feelings of powerlessness and as a result was more content and relaxed.

What makes the Camino different is the length of time and the number of people involved; the experience goes on for longer and becomes an individual’s normality and it is a ‘normality’ that is shared with many others giving it even greater significance. There is a greater sense of breadth and depth to what you experience on the Camino than in other things I have done that have a similar effect. It provides an extended detachment from the world - a detachment that allows you a period in which you can get a different perspective of the world - rather than a fundamentally spiritual experience.

So it is with these thoughts in my head that I finish my Camino. As a result of the last few weeks I have met and got close to some wonderful people. I have made new friends with whom I have shared something different, even special. I have been touched by some of the stories I have heard and I certainly look on my life and upbringing with increased appreciation. Would I do it again? I think I might but not on my own: I would want to look for something different, although I can think of only two or three people with whom I would want to share it.  But I would recommend it to anyone.