Modern gadgets are part of today’s Camino like it or not. Each night in the albergues the darkness is broken by peregrinos from all corners of the globe checking in on loved ones, catching up on news, looking at photos, looking at next day’s route, booking a bed, even reading a blog! The mobile phone is such a wonderfully powerful device that it has become the Camino de Santiago MVP. I could not survive without mine, well I suppose I could, but I don’t want to. For me it’s a super lightweight camera, a guide book, a room-booker, an atlas, music system all in addition to it’s primary purpose – speaking to people. Traditionalists may not want to read this but, as the very same traditionalists tell me it is “my Camino” then I’ll be gadgeted up as much as I like!
Today, first thing, I contacted my brother in Sydney by email and asked if he’d like a Skype chat when he’d finished at work. He texted back to see if it was ok 3 hours later … I had no other plans other than one foot in front of the other for next 7 hours.
I was happily walking along after about 10km singing to myself, quite loud and very out of tune, but I could see no-one in sight in front or behind. After about an hour of this, for the first time on Camino, I reached for my earphones and had a great sing-song for the rest of my day’s walking.
Then mid-afternoon I took my brother on a little bit of a Skype Camino in the comfort of his lounge in Australia. In fact, as ‘we’ approached Sansol, I told him he was navigating, to keep eyes peeled for the flecha amarillo and that I wanted a drink at a bar. He also said hello to fellow peregrinos from Croatia and the 1800km Italian pair, who were all resting up in the shade of the village. The wonders of modern technology enabled me to share this tiny part of my Camino. I even sent him a picture of ‘his’ sello.
As well as being able to speak to people in other time zones and listen to Stevie Wonder’s Superstition while clambering up another steep path on today’s ‘downhill’ route, the most useful thing on the phone has to be is it’s camera. Without this it would not be possible to share and preserve my wonderful memories. So I will say ‘poo-poo’ to the traditionalists, and happily keep snatching the evil device from my pocket to capture something amazing, amusing, odd or whatever. I may also partake in some more singing as I venture on west. After all “it’s my Camino”.
Last words of today’s post go to a poor gorrion – spanish word for sparrow- in Los Arcos. The tiny fledgling only had one leg and was hopping around the bar tables in the square, intermittently toppling over slightly. I took pity on the little thing and share my wonderful oat and ginger biscuit I had bought in the nearby baker. It appeared to be happy with my gesture, however, I got the sense it may ultimately be futile, and that I was just fattening it up for the local gato!
Hasta mañana and Logroño and it’s tapas …
My Long Walk 2019 