Newsletter Number Nineteen (Camino Special)
I've been gone for a while but now I'm back - just checking in to let you know where I've been, what I've been up to, how you can read about it over the next few weeks, and what to expect
If you haven’t already subscribed and want to get free regular updates about my experience on the Camino, then sign up now
Hi all,
Just a quick note:
I’m sure you’ve all read my first email in a while the other day:
Camino de Santiago Day 0: St Jean Pied de Port
Some of you were very kindly asking what happened to the subsequent days - I’ve been posting them each day, however I took the decision not to be sending emails as I didn’t want to be spamming people’s inboxes.
You can visit the page any time to see the latest articles, now and forever more.
See the links to the articles here:
Camino de Santiago Day 1: St Jean to Roncesvalles
Camino de Santiago Day 2: Roncesvalles to Zubiri
Camino de Santiago Day 3: Zubiri to Pamplona
However: I’ve changed my mind.
I am going to spam away for the next few weeks, providing daily updates as I make my way along the Camino (I’ll let you in on a secret: I’m already home).
It’s a one-off project and I think it may be fun to let you share in on the journey as I go along.
I’m also posting daily updates with more photos on Instagram - check out @gav.is.gone if you haven’t already - and I’m trying to get around to putting some twitter threads - @gav_is_gone - with extra stuff.
If you’re enjoying this and think others will enjoy reading about my journey on the Camino, then why not share it?
In addition to this multi-platform experience - I’ve said before I find different platforms inspire different writing styles and ways of thinking, which I enjoy playing around with - I’ve also gone and done the unthinkable and crossed media: every day of the Camino I recorded a video (sometimes many) as I walked: I did the Camino in part as I was looking for not just some personal inspiration, but creative also, and to do some research for ideas and things I’d been writing about over the last few years, particularly since I started this newsletter, just over a year ago (I may do a belated year’s anniversary round-up soon now that I think of it).
Over the years my blog(s) have centred on two very broad topics: travel and well-being. Mainly because these two things have been the focus of my life over the past number of years. I’ve always been interested in the intersection between the two, as I do believe that travel can be good for you - though through writing about my own experiences and by continuing to live my life, I’m trying to find out how and why. Much of my creative and personal experience has led me back to the idea of travel as a very literal and definite journey.
Which led me to the Camino - the oldest and most renowned pilgrimage trail and journey in Europe, if not the western world. In documenting my journey, I thought it would be a fun experiment to record in what I was seeing and experiencing in real-time (I’ve also been interested in conversation-as-a-medium for a while, so this is maybe testing that format out).
There’s also of the fact that travelling and walking have both been the source of great inspiration for artists and non-artists alike for millenia, and so I thought it would be interesting to try to capture the ideas going on an epic walking and travelling expedition would bring up.
The writing process is a craft that combines chaotic and intuitive creation (drafting, writing) with the imposition of rigorous order to make the work ‘perfect’ (editing) - I found making off-the-cuff videos with little preparation as I just walked and talked was more an exercise in the former - so it’s a bit messy at times. But like the first blog I posted several years ago before hiding behind the couch, it was a work-in-progress as I went along - though I do feel like it got better as I went along, and I was able to articulate what I was trying to say that bit better.
So anyway - have a look at my Instagram stories over the next weeks if you want to see how the chicken nuggets are made - don’t say you weren’t warned though, it is all a bit chaotic (it’s fun and interesting though, I promise).
Once the six weeks or so ‘real-time’ daily updates are done I’ll revert to the format I had before: weekly articles or a newsletter roundup if I manage to get through a few (winter is coming so I’m going to have more time to attend to this page again, I hope - my apologies for neglecting you these last few months of extended summer, though as I mentioned in an earlier newsletter: there’s no point in me writing about going out and living life if I’m not doing that as much as I can myself).
So anyway - I guess it’s all a bit self-explanatory anyway
TL;DR: I did the Camino, I took loads of notes and photos and made videos, and I’ll be writing it up, uploading it and sharing it across a whole range of platforms over the next few weeks, including this one, taking my first steps into the metaverse if you will:
A gonzo exploration of the Hero’s Journey along the Camino de Santiago.
Ciao for now,
And Buen Camino, wherever you’re walking,
Gav
If you’ve done the Camino, are thinking of doing it, or are just interested in discussing the Camino or travel in general - then please leave a comment. I’d love to hear from you.