Is Walking the Camino a Selfish Act?

For those of you who’ve been following my blog, you’ll know that about three weeks into the Camino, I went through a bit of a low period, feeling that I was rather being selfish taking six weeks out.

Why would I think that?

I think for many reasons, not least of which was that I had left a lot of people back home covering for me at work, and also had left my wife behind to deal with some family matters.

My brother asked me a couple of weeks ago what made me feel down and what made me have that feeling of selfishness.

So in case you thought I was a bit weird, I thought maybe I should share it.

My father in law has actually been having heart problems for quite some time. And it was two weeks into my Camino that my wife told me that he was going to need open heart surgery.

Naturally, I felt like I should be at home supporting the family. And that created a very difficult decision for me, which I pondered for a number of days.

It was only at my wife’s insistence, that I actually stayed to finish my Camino. “After all,” she said, “what are you going to do, if you come here, you’re not exactly a doctor, are you?!” 

Now I’m in Bangkok on my way back home to Sydney with Pat and her family, and it’s great to see her father back home and looking so healthy.

And a huge thank you, Pat, for encouraging me to continue my journey, “for us.”

I’m sure for anyone taking a number of weeks out to walk the Camino, you’ll also have conflicts on your priorities, that only you can deal with.

Perhaps this is one of the lessons that we also learn on the Camino?