Amerikansk lovprisning af Caminoen

Der bliver flere og flere amerikanere på Caminoen, og flere af dem sender begejstrede beretninger ud til "alle der vil læse dem". Her fra Beth, der netop er vendt hjem igen efter at have gået en mindre stykke af Camino frances her i april.
Læs selv med:
I'm just back from my first Camino. I did Ponferrada to Santiago in 9 days. To those that are just starting out, I thought I'd share some lessons learned.
- I packed really light - and I was glad of it. My pack was under 15 pounds and I used everything I packed.
- Don't be afraid to use the pharmacist - I didn't go until Day 8...and the IBprofin they gave me and the cream for my odd rash worked wonders - I didn't have to suffer for days.
- You really don't need to worry about anything other than walking, sleeping and eating.
- All the guidebook reading I did.....it helped very little. Things really are pretty self explanatory.
- TALK TO PEOPLE! The people I met on the camino are some of the best I ever met ---- and the camino has a way of having you run into them again and again even when you see hardly another soul.
- Don't be worried about crowds. We only ever saw any other people (really any others - it was a very desolote camino the week after Easter) was on Friday as we came out of Sarria - we stopped early and got out of the crowd and didn't see anymore the whole way. Note - we didn't stop at traditional stage ends.
- Plan for any weather...but still pack light - ie layers.
- The camino has a plan for you....and sometimes the lessons it teaches take the form of a not pleasant day--- remember to let it go and learn from it. I walked by myself through over a foot of snow, got bit by a dog, stung by a bee, almost trampled by sheep, hailed on...twice, and had to walk 10 miles more than planned on this day. But I learned a lot about myself and also learned how to let things go so the rest of my trip wasn't marred.
- ENJOY. Live in the moment - don't let the overplanning, over information, over researching get in the way of just enjoying the moment and taking things as they come!
Truthfully, regardless of the dog bite, the endless rain (8 out of the 9 days it was almost constant), and some tough learning moments --- this was the best trip of my life and one that will stay with me forever. I'm glad for the research I did - but I'm also glad I didn't get caught up in overplanning. Its so easy to do.