[Gocamino] [saintjames] Thinking of writing a book about your camino?

[Grant Spangler]

The effects of the Road vary. 
 
Ponder if you would, how many different reactions there might be from the demise of a relationship. Some consume their weight in chocolate, other stop eating all together. Some hit the bar scene, others stay at home. Some crawl into a bottle, others don’t go near liquor or libation. Post-Camino effects of the Road to Santiago can be just as diverse, but not quite as obvious. 
 
I meet folks who want to experience all the ‘good stuff’ and none of the ‘bad stuff’ the Road has to offer. Sometimes that’s skipping the perceived boredom of the Meseta. Sometimes that’s taking a bus through a ‘tedious’ part of a big city. Tour groups promise travelers a ‘Camino’s Greatest Hits’ approach instead of the more traditional and taxing Pilgrim experience. There are as many variants as there are walkers. 
 
I have read many of the treatises offered by the newly-minted Pilgrims. Not all are born to write. Yes, many make factual, spelling, grammatical and even mathematical errors. Oh, well. Skipping the ‘boring’ or ‘problematic’ literature is like skipping the ‘boring’ or ‘problematic’ parts of the Road. Many of us come home a bit disoriented. Something happens we can’t quantify .. something a bit intangible. Try to translate the intangible into any language, please. Now ask a non-writer to do that. All can write, but not all are writers. Perhaps the unskilled word wranglers are at a loss, and the baseline experience is all they can muster. It’s their way of decompressing. You know, that Post-Camino thing.
 
Why do we walk in the first place? What’s so strong a draw that many of us are repeat offenders? Why do we seek out Camino literature, Camino pictures and Camino music? Why are we even talking about this? We’re addicts. Every Camino is different for every Pilgrim who has ever walked. It’s been that way since the whole Walking-to-Compostela thing began. Chill. We’re not all clever people and not all brilliant authors. Be kind to our less gifted family members. This was supposed to be fun. Let them do what they need in their life (Camino). None of us are finished yet. Even the bad writers need a break. “The tourist demands, the Pilgrim appreciates”, as the saying goes. Let’s all aspire to be Pilgrims. Appreciate, help and encourage those who might lag behind.


Buen Camino, 
 
 
Grant
 
http://www.ElCaminoSantiago.com
Resources for the Pilgrimage Road to Santiago