I'm free . Everyone welcome back to the Camino .
Cafe podcast . I'm so excited to have you back here with me . We have a UK based pilgrim who wrote a memoir about her Camino , and that is Carrie Gillespie . And Carrie , welcome to the Camino Cafe . Hi , very nice to join you .
I've got my coffee ready .
Really excited , carrie , because her book is our very first book selection for the Santiago de Compostela book club and we have our first meeting this Saturday and we have a lot of people that are coming to this call , and we have a lot of people that are coming to this call and we have a lot of people that are so much excitement about this call .
We have people from over 23 countries that are coming to this call , which you and I were just talking as we were Meeting , and everything here for this call that you know , it's a lot like a Camino , isn't it , that we have people from all around the world and what a great way it's going to be like the greatest Camino family , I think , on Saturday .
So thank you for agreeing to be a part of this First meeting . So I would like to make sure you're all aware of that . If you haven't already registered for the call , please do so . The links will be in the show notes . It's also on our Facebook page as well as our Facebook group .
So make sure you get the length , and the only way you can get to that is by registering . So please do so . So that's this . Saturday , august 5th . We have two call times , one at 11 am Central European time and the other one is at eight pm Central European time . So you have two opportunities to make this call .
So that's a great opportunity to have a chance to chat with you and you can come to either and you get to meet Carrie . So this is a super big bonus . If you haven't yet read her book , that's okay , you're still welcome . If you have read her book , I know you're probably going to have questions for her .
So this is a great opportunity to put a face with a name and to get to ask some more detailed questions about her book . Just to wet your appetite , we're going to play 20 communal questions . She has no idea what I'm going to ask her , but everybody knows here I don't ask anything that's going to trip you up .
I don't know if you've heard of this before , but , carrie , are you ready for this challenge to play 20 communal questions ? I think I am . We're going to start with number one , and that is you know a lot of women particularly ask is it safe for women to walk the Camino ? And I just wonder you know what was it like for you ? Did you feel safe ?
What was ?
your situation . I felt safe . I did feel I felt really safe and I was walking with a friend , but there were sections of it , in fact most of the time during the day .
We started off at the same time and we were walking together , but we we were walking together for a couple of minutes because our paces were slightly different , because I stopped to take lots of photographs , so we were separate for a lot of the time and I and I never felt unsafe and I felt always as if I was never too far from anyone .
We're a couple of moments when we felt slightly freaked out , but but I think that happens wherever you are . But I know I felt very safe .
It was a really , really comfortable environment for me to be in Perfect Me too .
Well , I have to say it's John Bryl's kind of book which just touched my heart so much , and this month , particularly since we've lost him , that's the one . If I had to save one from the waves on my desert island , that would be the one I'd save .
It was such a beautiful mixture of the practical path and the spiritual path and it was just what I needed as a new pilgrim . It really kind of spoke to me . I heard his voice almost as we were walking . Yes , yes .
Now I should say , the name of your memoir is Pilgrim Finding a New Way on the Camino de Santiago , and I wonder when did you decide you were going to write this book ?
When I was walking I wrote a diary . I said to I told the family that I would keep in touch by writing a post each day . I didn't want to be too much on my phone and I really enjoyed that . But I had no intention of putting into a book .
It was only when I came back and a number of life events happened in the months that followed my return that made me think maybe I can do something more with this . And people who'd followed the journey said to me you know , we really enjoyed your post . Maybe you could do something more with this .
How many caminos have you done with the one that you did for that book After ?
that we did last year . We did the Portuguese from Porto and then we went on to Finistero , so that's another two , but it feels like kind of two in one , I agree . So that was another two , and I've actually done the pilgrims away in England from Winchester to Canterbury , which was interesting . That's three , three proper ones .
Did you plan on walking another Camino ? Yes , yes , I do . I'd really like to walk the new British Camino which goes from London to Walsingham , which is a Marian shrine in Norfolk , and I'd really like to do that one next . I think I'm also quite keen to do the Norte , but I'm just slightly anxious about the Norte .
I feel like you've got to be super fit for that one , me too .
Okay . So on your next couple of walks , do you plan on walking solo , with another person or with a group ? What do you prefer to do ?
Well , I have a kind of inkling that I'd quite like to do it on my own , but my husband is really nervous . I think he has this feeling oh no , you shouldn't be on your own , but I think that I would like to walk solo . So I may do the Walsingham one solo , just to give that a go on . It's about two weeks , just to see how that feels .
But I definitely have a little bit of a calling to do one on my own . I love being part of our group , the Sturdy Girls , but I also wonder what it would be like to be by myself .
Okay , and you know , when you look back to that very first Camino , what was going through your mind ? You know , you see on the Facebook post people asking like , oh , what about this , what about that ? And there's a lot of worries out there . Could you think back like did you have a worry ?
And once you started walking , you're thinking I didn't need to worry about that ?
I kind of went into it without having really read very much about the Camino . So my first Camino was in 2016 and I wasn't on any Facebook groups or anything like that . So my you know , what I understood about the Camino was very , very little . So I didn't have a huge amount of worry because I hadn't really overthought it before I went .
I just kind of knew I wanted to go . So my main worry was in the very in the first couple of days , when I realised it was sort of I was planning a walk , and when I realised it was a kind of pilgrimage , I was quite worried about that .
I thought , oh , I don't know if I want this to be a communal experience , with strangers and people speaking to me . You know , I was quite kind of buttoned up and I wasn't sure how I felt about that .
And that was my main worry those first couple of days was you know , is somebody going to start singing Kumbaya with me and is this really really uncomfortable ? And it wasn't . You know , those worries I completely shared on the walk and I completely embraced the sort of communal aspect of it and there was a real kind of softening of my heart . That happened .
That was just glorious .
So those worries .
I suppose it was good that I had the worries , because then there was then , you know , something really shifted in me as I walked .
Oh boy , okay , I'm gonna wanna dive into that when we have the book club , because that is very interesting . Okay , but next , since we're just doing the quick twinning communal questions , do you have just a couple of quick tips that you would give to first time walkers ?
You know somebody who's sitting here watching us and they're like , yeah , I really want to walk , but what would you tell them ?
Firstly , just do it , just do it , don't overthink it , just do it , just go for it , and even if you think you're not fit enough , you get fit on the way . Don't let things hold you back , don't think everything has to be perfect for you to set off on the walk . And secondly , pack as light as you can .
If you can make your pack under six kilograms , it will make a huge difference to how you feel on the walk . And so take absolutely the minimum , because you need so little , and that is part of the joy of the walk , really . Oh , my dog has joined us .
My dog's right behind us so he may join as well . We love having dogs at the communal camp . So let me ask you was there anything you took on that first Camino that you ended up throwing away or giving away or saying , oh why did I bring this ?
On this last Camino I was persuaded to take a giant long extension cable to charge my phone A really long one , like two meters long or maybe three meters long and I really , really didn't need it and I should have shared it halfway . I'm too typefisted to carry it away , so I carried it the whole way . I absolutely didn't need it .
On the first walk I think I took some toiletries that I dropped them in a bin . In Ronchesvayas there's a big bin that people put their conditioner and things in , and I think I had like a moisturizer and a conditioner or something that I just left there . I didn't need any of that .
My hair survived , beautiful . Okay , what was your favorite thing about your most recent Camino or last pilgrimage ?
Actually I was completely blown away by seeing Finasterre , the lighthouse at Finasterre . As I came around the corner we were in sort of a long , long kind of path with lots of vegetation on either side and it clears at the end and you see the lighthouse and it was actually a really really moving moment , almost as moving as seeing the cathedral in Santiago .
It felt really wonderful to be at the sea after that very long journey . Seeing it felt absolutely wonderful , really a moving moment .
And when you think back to that very first Camino , what was the most difficult thing for you ?
I had a tendinitis in my shin , particularly in my right shin , and it was pretty painful and it was the sort of last third of the journey .
So I think from Leon onwards , it sort of started in Leon and got gradually worse towards the end and there were moments , particularly in the morning , where I thought I don't know if I'm going to be able to keep on going . Luckily , the person I was walking with was a physio my best friend is a physio .
Everybody should be able to walk with Ali , because she's like a Camino saint and she figured out all kinds of strappings that got me there , and if I wasn't with Ali , I'm pretty certain I wouldn't have made it to Santiago . There were moments where pain proved something really to wrestle with and my relationship with pain really shifted .
Fascinating . Yeah well , we're going to dive into that during book club . For sure you know now that you've walked a couple of Caminos . Are you the kind of pilgrim that books ahead , or do you just leave your lodging to chance ? What are you more comfortable with ?
Well , it's quite funny because I'm definitely somebody who is absolutely happy to leave it to chance and just see what , just see what happens . And if it was me walking solo , that's definitely how I would do it . But my friend Ali , who walked with me the whole way on the front , says it's less easygoing , I would say .
And towards the end of the walk from Surya onwards she was really keen that we book , and this time on the Portuguese . A number of people had advised us that it's harder to get accommodation on the Portuguese , so we booked in advance on the Portuguese and actually it was very nice . It was lovely to just not have that worry .
I adjusted very quickly to that easy . That also felt easy because we didn't have to think about it . That's good . But I think if I was doing another Camino in Spain on my own , I'd Especially . If you're a one , it's quite easy to get a bed for one . If you're four of you , it's harder to get a bed for four weeks .
I would also just go with the flow and see what the Camino provides me with .
Are you a bunk bed , kind of gal , or private room , or are we talking a parador , anytime when it's available and no shaming anyone , no shaming .
No , Well , on the last one , on the Portuguese , I did with the story to girls with my three best friends . We did a real mixture . So we had lots of dorms , lots of dorms and bunk beds and a couple of private , because on the Portuguese it's more difficult to find albergues .
So there were a couple of private albergues where we had rooms for four and we finished in the parador in Santiago , which we didn't do the last time . So I've done a bit of everything and they're all lovely in their own way .
What about luggage transfer ? How do you feel about that ? Have you used it ? Are you just like , no , I've got to carry everything kind of pilgrim .
We haven't used it . We carried our own things .
And for me , because it's a kind of the walk as a sort of meditation , there was a kind of austerity in carrying everything that you need and it was a way for me to let go of things that don't matter by carrying everything I need on my back , and I really enjoyed that and it felt to me like a really important part of my journey .
But I have absolutely no problem with anyone doing the Camino in any way that they choose . The most important thing is to be there and to be walking . It's none of my business what anybody else does with their luggage and I find it really upsetting actually on the Camino forums where people kind of wade in and start criticizing other people's choices .
I don't know why that would be of any interest to anybody or anybody else is doing with their luggage .
I agree with you . I don't know why and we never know . We never know what someone's full story and there's many reasons that you might choose to do a Camino in a certain way at a certain point in your life .
So I think , giving each other the space to do that and that's what I hope with these 20 Camino questions that we get across Right , it's like it's your own Camino , right ?
Although at the beginning , when Ali and I were talking about it , we had both said , oh no , we won't carry our luggage and we'll get it transferred . And then we thought , well , maybe we could . And I thought in the beginning that I wouldn't be able to do it . I just thought , well , I can't do the walking and carry my luggage .
And actually there was something really , really wonderful and really empowering in discovering that I could do it . So you know , I suppose if I was giving anybody advice , it would be give it a go , because you don't have to book it in advance , the luggage transfer .
So you could take your luggage and carry it for a couple of days and if you're feeling good , carry on , and if not , then then get the transfer .
Oh yeah , I'm glad you said that because I mean , that's true . What if you all of a sudden you're having some kind of injury , like you talk about tinnitus ? A great opportunity , as you can go ahead and ship some things on for a couple of days and let your body heal and maybe still walk some mileage or whatever , if needed .
All right , what's your favorite food and drink to have while you're walking a Camino ?
Well , there are so many . There are so many of the Spanish foods that I absolutely love , but I think probably the gambas ala here , the prawns and garlic , has probably been my absolute favorite . If I was doing a little tapas night somewhere like Lagrano , that would be the prawns and garlic .
If I had to pick just one thing , I did have a deal in I forget the name of the town now , I forgot the name of it but where we we'd had a really difficult day and we had a plate of just grilled red peppers that were probably the most delicious thing I ate on the Camino . They were just like heaven .
There was so soft and garlic and oil and they were just exactly exactly what we needed to be provided with that night .
Heaven , do you have a special drink ? You know , are you just water ?
only , or what ? No , no , we were shipped at the Shrine of San Miguel every single night .
I love it , love it . Are you an early riser and you skip breakfast and eat a little later ? Or are you the kind of pilgrim that eats a little bit in the morning and then has that infamous second pilgrim ?
breakfast . Well , I mean , we were early risers . I liked walking at dawn , I thought it was absolutely beautiful , but I am also somebody who likes to eat . So I get really , I got really grumpy if the , if that breakfast didn't arrive fairly quickly , if it was beyond sort of five or six kilometers .
It was a good company until we got to the coffee , the coffee in the Neapolitan . So I agree . So I'm a bit of both , but I did like to be up and out early and see the sunrise .
Yeah , the sun rises . If you could go back and tell yourself just one thing before that first Camino , what would you have told yourself ?
Oh , that's a really good question . I think I would have just said just be open to it all , you know , just just have no expectations and just see , just see what's coming your way and just open your heart to it all .
Wonderful , and for you , carrie . If you had to give three words that would define what a pilgrim is to you , what would you ?
say Accepting Um kind .
Welcoming , accepting kind and welcoming . Final question I should people come to the book club meeting on Saturday , what are they going to learn ?
I don't know , I don't know I can share my story and if that in any way inspires people to go and walk the way , then then I really really hope they come , because the point of writing the book was really just to share a bit of the magic of the Camino and the impact that it had on me and the changes that it precipitated in my , in my life .
And talking about the Camino with people who are interested you meet kind of like minded souls . So hopefully at the Camino group there'll be a , there'll be a group of people talking Camino and sharing in that kind of warmth and magic that comes from that Camino space .
You have two times to sign up . Make sure you pre register and we'll be looking forward to seeing you . It's going to be so much fun and please come Saturday . All right , everyone so next time . Camino , camino .
With my feather wings .