[Gocamino] - Ultreya rental cell phones

[deborah berman]

A cell phone is useful for making reservations. Some hostel owners will only hold your reservation until a certain hour---they ask you to call to reconfirm if you find you are running late. 
It is nice to think you can make this trip and only have minimal contact with the folks at home, but that simply is not the reality for some people. I cannot see the point in putting my family through such avoidable stress. This is not an excuse---they actually worry about me when I am away from home. For me, on pilgrimage, I couldn't have cared less about talking on the phone, but my family knew they could reach me if they needed to. This made my absence easier for them to bear, so was is a matter of being considerate of them. I send postcards too, Howard, but people do take comfort in modern convenience and my family wasn't on pilgrimage, so why make them suffer? Pilgrims need to remember that it isn't only "all about YOU." Besides, we aren't living in the 11th century. 
The Corte Inglés carries the cell phone brands sold in Spain. I bought one for 20 Euros and found I could have the minutes topped off most anywhere--news kiosks, supermarkets, Movistar stores. In France, I just purchased a different SIM card. This way, you have a local number in the country where you are traveling. 

> From: rspenger at earthlink.net
> Date: Wed, 4 Aug 2010 11:57:38 -0700
> CC: gocamino at oakapple.net; ultreya at yahoogroups.com; saintjames at yahoogroups.com; santiagobis at yahoogroups.com
> Subject: Re: [Gocamino] - Ultreya rental cell phones
> 
> I'll repeat here my reply to Wilna:
> 
> Quote:
> I don't consider the use of a cell phone to be "fun." I would be using it to contact places of accommodation. The internet is rarely available in the little villages along the route - it is hardly a substitute for a telephone, especially in emergency situations. There may be great magic on a pilgrimage, but when you are 85yo and lost in a heavily wooded area, it is not all that wonderful. I don't exactly relish living moments such as that.
> Unquote
> 
> Of course that particular situation was not one where a cell phone would have been much help, but I  could have used it to let the gîte owner know that I might be quite late and to hold my reservation. 
> 
> In Spain, I never felt any urgent need to have a cell phone, but France was a different situation. In both countries, the public telephones are now inadequate and, in France, I found the internet to be laboriously slow, since the French keyboards are radically different from the QWERTY keyboards. Also, the internet is not much use for making reservations (a necessity in France), since many of the facilities do not use the internet.
> 
> Bob S.
> 
> 
> On Aug 4, 2010, at 11:32 AM, hme347 at aol.com wrote:
> 
> Totally agree with Wilna.  Cell phones on the Camino are ANNOYING and unnecessary.  How did pilgrims manage so well for centuries of traveling without them?  Now they are considered by some as "indispensable" appendages everywhere you go, not just the Camino.  The excuses that people make to justify carrying them and using them are ridiculous. 
> 
> 
> They destroy the tranquility of the outdoors and are invariably intrusions indoors.  The argument that they are needed for "emergencies" is a stretch.  Also, if you are so concerned about keeping in touch with loved ones back home, you can use the internet, as Wilna suggests, or write postcards.  That assumes that you can still remember what postcards look like and you know how to write. I'm sure nothing will deter those of you who love to blather on your "cell" everywhere you go.
> 
> 
> Howard Mendes, NYC
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Wilna Wilkinson <twoxscotch at gmail.com>
> To: GASpangler at hotmail.com
> Cc: †GoCamino OakApple <gocamino at oakapple.net>; †Yahoo Ultreya <ultreya at yahoogroups.com>; †Yahoo Saint James <saintjames at yahoogroups.com>; †Yahoo Santiagobis <santiagobis at yahoogroups.com>
> Sent: Wed, Aug 4, 2010 12:28 pm
> Subject: Re: [Gocamino] - Ultreya rental cell phones
> 
> 
> Better still, my fellow-pilgrims -- leave the phone at home and avail
> yourselves of the internet if and when the need arises to let people know
> you are still fine and find out if all is well with those you left behind --
> and to get those flights. Think about what you are bringing with you on the
> Camino by bringing your mobile phone. If you are just walking for fun, by
> all means -- bring your phones and ipods and why not bring your entire
> 'filofax' as well, but if you want to be able to live in the moment and
> experience the magic and the wonder of the pilgrimage, leave everything
> behind that will not enhance your experience.
> 
> Wilna Wilkinson
> 
> 
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