My answer is: ALONE! In the most absolute way. The journey must be a sort of inner rebirth and must make us find face to face with our soul. In everyday life we are used to surround ourselves with people, such as family, friends, wife, husband, boyfriend, lovers, etc. How alone are we really with ourselves? If there are no such figures, there is TV, internet, etc. to keep us company. This is one of the biggest reasons why I often travel alone. In these moments of solitude without distraction, we can really look at ourselves, take stock of this life, take stock, and understand if this is the right path. A solo trip can help us to really understand if up to now we have lived this life the way we would have liked, if there are unresolved ifs or buts and maybe give a different consideration to those who have stayed at home or to those who are not there. ‘it’s more. This path will make us stronger and more aware of ourselves. After the journey, after reaching Finisterre, we will be new people. This is also the reason for the choice not to bring technological equipment, we would end up hopelessly distracted by writing on Facebook, posting photos, chatting on WhatsApp and at that point the journey would become just a holiday, treasure these words of mine and remember that every minute spent watching a display is a minute taken away from looking at nature and a precious moment taken away from ourselves. 90×100 of the people who will read this book will not have the courage to live the journey in this way. How can I not use WhatsApp, chat on Facebook, not make stories on Instagram, stay for more than a few hours with my eyes turned towards the sky and not on the display of my smartphone, not to talk two hours on the phone with mom, with my boyfriend, with my friends etc. Do what you like, life is yours and we alone are the architects of our destiny. Who am I to tell you what to do and how to experience something, NONE. But if I insist it is only because the Way can really change your life. There are things that are appreciated only when we no longer have them, that we miss only when they are not there. The Way is giving us a second chance. This life has become too hectic and we do everything we can not to think, devising every stratagem so as not to be alone. We are always in a hurry, always looking at the clock, our existence is completely programmed. The plain and simple truth is that we are slaves to the system and since we wake up opening our eyes, there are few real free choices. The thing that angers me most is that out of 365 days a year we dedicate a maximum of 30 days to us. But do you realize? But what’s the point. Is this the purpose of our life? Is this what we live for? Work to live, live to work? I believe there is a higher purpose. This life is something exceptional, magnificent, crazy and it is up to each of us to appreciate and enjoy every single drop of this existence. Every day that passes is a day that never comes back. Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today. Make mistakes, make mistakes, but never have remorse. Remorse is the feeling that must never accompany your life. You will always have to look back and smile or cry but never regret anything. Make choices and do not regret not having made them. It is true that when you travel alone you are in every sense, for better or for worse, your problems are only yours and no one will carry the weight of your backpack in your place; but do you want to add the satisfaction you will feel when looking back you will realize the road you have made and the one you are still able to do? All this is priceless;). And then, as the great Henry David Thoreau said: “The man who travels alone can leave today; but whoever goes with another must wait until the other is ready “.
To deepen the subject, to find out more and if you too have decided to walk the Camino de Santiago or dream of wanting to do it sooner or later, I suggest you buy my book where you will find out why every year, 300,000 people from all over the world, they decide to tackle the most famous Way in the world. If you too, like me, have always dreamed of giving up everything, aware that the life you lead is not the one you dreamed of as a boy, perhaps my experience could give you the courage that I lacked for 36 years …
Reading my experience, you will discover in detail and above all proven in the “field”:
- the history of the journey (historical notes, symbols and legends) and symbolic places;
- suitable clothing and shoes, which backpack to buy and above all what to put inside;
- duration and distance of the journey, how many days it takes to complete it and where to start based on the days available;
- how to train before leaving and the necessary physical preparation;
- how much does it cost to walk the path, where to eat and sleep along the path;
- whether walking the path alone can be dangerous for a woman and whether there is a possibility of getting lost;
- the answer to many questions and concerns (which were also mine) posed by many aspiring pilgrims and the possibility of contacting me to dispel all your doubts / hesitations;
- finally, I will tell you why a journalist and radio host gave up his whole life of comfort and materiality, to travel more than 900 km on foot from the Pyrenees to the Atlantic Ocean, alone and without a telephone, sleeping over that in the various hostels also on the street, in a stable, in a tent, in an abandoned monastery and living two days in a hippie community.
…. “I gave up everything, I left home, sold my car, motorcycle, clothes, my rolex and most of the material things I owned to follow that almost nagging, suffocating, undeterred feeling that once known does not make you find peace: SANTIAGO, the Camino de Santiago. My life needed answers that only a journey in complete solitude could give me “….
If you want to get to know me better, in the link below you will find an interview where I talk about my experience 👇👇👇
https://www.italianmadhouse.com/libri/i-dropped-everything-to-do-santiagos-way-cesare-desertos-book/
