Losing Myself on the Endless Plains: Camino Diaries #19
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 19 พ.ค. 2024
- The vast, open plains of the Meseta have a way of stripping you bare, leaving you raw and vulnerable, yet somehow more alive than ever before. Yesterday's solitary trek across this endless expanse left me mentally, physically, and emotionally drained, and today I feel the reverberations.
Time and distance blurred into one as I lost myself in the solitude. Days melted together, and suddenly, keeping track seemed irrelevant. It was just me, the endless horizon, and the symphony of the Meseta for company.
Today, as I walk the familiar road to Carrión de los Condes, I can't help but reflect on the immediacy of this experience. These unvarnished video diaries, captured in the moment, might have a quality all their own. They're a raw, unfiltered glimpse into the Camino, where the tone of my voice and the ambient sounds tell a story words alone cannot convey.
So, join me on this solitary embrace of the Meseta, where the dark clouds dance around me, and the only constant is the endless path ahead. Let's get lost together in the music and the journey, forever and ever.
here’s some of the tracksI listened to:
Warpaint:
• So Good
Bill Callahan:
• Spring
**NOTE: I edited this while beingsick like a dog in an albergue. It wasa good distraction from the misery - but i don’t even know what it is:
too much sun, exhaustion, a virus in the water?anyway… very rough going right now.**
So come walk along with me…
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shot and edited by the flesh of my teeth on iPhone 15 Pro Max (the "Everything Machine"), shot in Apple LOG x265, video Editing in LumaFusion, audio editing in Hokusai, wireless microphones , external audio recorder Roland DR-07 🥰, writing in the great Drafts app.
I've watched all your videos from your 2022, 2023 and 2024 (so far) Caminos. This 2024 series is my favorite. I am getting more a sense of you as a pilgrim. Thank you for all the time you put into your work.
thank you, Danielle! all three were intense in their own way, although this one cuts deep in more ways than one. And video-wise, it’s definitely my most personal. The first two seem like a breeze in comparison! 🤨🤩
Thanks for all these regular uploads - as always, you're doing a great job.
thank you David! I appreciate it ☀️
That's awful, being sick! Rest if you feel you can. This whole journey looks tough. What with the knee injury at the beginning too...
I absolutely love this video. Epic skies to get lost in. The cafe shot with the tv in it, I half expect a gang to burst in with guns but no, life just gently continues on, coffee, chat, dinner and the bill. No need for big drama.
The witty, almost existential reference to 'alone or alone with cheese...' or you could choose 'complete' on the menu. That made me laugh so much! A stroke of genius. 😂I noticed on the right of the menu you could have 'calluses' too. Brilliant, you couldn't make that up!
I hope you feel better soon. 🌷
And then there is no one to bring you a banana, some salt sticks and a lemonade or to whip down to the pharmacy round the corner. So sorry to hear you’re sick. 🤢 Hope you will recover soon. Take a serious rest!
The video was great as ever. You manage to show the true Meseta with all of its phantastic juxtaposition of the quaint past and the unpolished now. The Meseta and its dusty towns is a photographic treasure box. Already I had in mind to revisit it at some point to explore exactly that Meseta atmosphere with its big skies and weird places. Your videos underline this. I know I need to be back there … walking? Cycling? Who knows … but the Meseta will see me again. And maybe I’ll try listening to music on the way, too. Never tried that before.
thank you, Kater… yes it is incredible to me that the Mesita, as a photographic subject isn’t explored more. It has everything. And there is so much more to explore… I’m sure you will be back there either on foot or by bicycle…. Whenever someone on the bike passes me, I think about you 😅
Hi Gerrit! This may seems to be very rainy and cold...🤔 2022 in may it was sunny all my way and no rain at all. About sickness on the way: I've also met people (most behind Burgos), who have had some Illness, some over 4 days at one albergue. Meseta deephten all, if ur going alone. I think: the body follows the soul. U can take the bus, if time is a problem. I had 3 difficult illness problems on the way. Everytime resting, then walking. No bus, it's a question of time. 😇 Good luck & healthy ways! Apropos: Epic skies to get lost in, thats it!
yes something seems to be going around - maybe it was just a bad sip of water? who knows… I’m in a taxi from Sahagun to Léon now, walking even 500 m is out of the question. all i want to do is lie down and recover. I might have burned my candle from both ends, not sure… thank you!
Video is superb. The big sky at the beginning was incredible. Poster worthy. Maybe you need more zero days to cut down on your exhaustion. You could take videos on 10 minute walks of the town, videos from your outdoor cafe or videos from the balcony of your apartment. Diminishing returns are real. Rest is productive too!
Working on it! indeed - my body is now fully emptied of whatever was inside 🥹 but the acute nausea is gone. feeling utterly exhausted, walking would be madness, as would be being sick in an albergue 😃 i’ll take the bus to leon and kick back and recover for a few days, it’s the only way. and thanks for your ideas, they’re good! 😁
@@storiestellr I'm glad you're on the mend. The Camino will be there for you when you heal/rest. No shame in taking the bus.
yeah, haven’t left the bed all day. super weak.
@@storiestellr oh no! I'm sorry. Are you in Leon? Can you stay in this hotel or apartment to get healed?
yes, I took a cab to Léon, there was just no other way. I’m now in the apartment that my friend Jim had booked, but couldn’t use due to change of plans - it’s a beautiful place and I haven’t left the bed all day.
I somehow managed to edit a video, I have no idea why but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I might have to slow down that pace, too, because I think it plays a part in my exhaustion.
There is a kind of Route 66 meets the Camino via about many of the shots/sequences in today’s video- the television, the streescapes, the cars, the hotel bedroom, the highway, and the shop. What is the everyday now will be a historical document in a few years. It’s amazing how you have not succumb to the romantic-fhe vernacular is much more interesting. I hope you get better soon and keep the conversation going. A question; do you think your diary will be more interesting to people like me who have walked the Camino or to those thinking about walking it? No tips, no hacks, no reviews. I think because I remember all of the places you have shown I am more interested in your reflections and thoughts. I am not looking for information. As I said before, the videos are more like the many conversations I have had on the Camino. If there is such a thing as a higher level video yours is it. Buen Camino.
Good question, who is addressed more, those who want to do the Camino, or those who have been there? As a first timer with romantic ideas about this walk, I might think twice … but fact is, the Camino is a toughie. It requires a lot of effort and willpower, especially when weather conditions are not ideal, or if one doesn’t feel fit, or, if there is time pressure to get somewhere.
On my very very first Camino I did not know what I was in for and had to learn the hard way … but that lesson was useful for later Caminos, which were very enjoyable indeed, but also not without injuries or feeling off colour.
No video tells you what it’s really like out there, and even if you think you know, then something else happens.
The Camino does not just provide but is always good for a surprise.
those are some great questions…
And I'm very glad to read that some viewers make the connection of the American West and the Camino, because to me the similarities are almost eerie. But of course they're not the same at all. My answer would be that I honestly don't know who it's for. Is it for people who have walked it, or who want to walk it? I cannot say.
What I'm trying to convey is what it's like - as close as possible. Which of course will always remain fool's errand to a degree. But it is what I want to transport. Whether you've walked it or not is secondary imo.
I probably don’t think of an audience at all - I see the audience as an abstract entity, if that makes any sense. I’m making the videos I would like to see myself, that probably comes closest.
I think those who have walked it can relive and re-think some of the experiences; and those who are thinking of walking it might get an idea of what it's like. Albeit from a very subjective point of view. And like Kater said, the Camino will then do its own thing. There’s no script.
Just a side note: I have read your comment when you wrote it, and then TH-cam decided to hide it from me so I could not reply. It was now gracious enough to show me again. But really the commenting system is oddly strange. I really appreciate these comments because they also inform the making of these movies. It’s truly a give-and-take 😅 🌟
Is it always this cold on the Camino in May? I had the impression it's supposed to get warmer by now, but I keep seeing people wearing long sleeve and winterish clothes. Was it also this cold in your previous 2 Caminos? :)
to tell you the truth, Northern Spain in May can be super-dicey in the weather department. If i’d do it again, i’d start 2-4 weeks later. the cold is really something else.