It is coming back that is really difficult.
By the title, I don't want to imply that the camino is a total breeze without any problems. It was physically demanding at times, I was plagued by painful shin splints for three of the six weeks that I walked, walking on the carretera is downright awful and pretty dangerous, as a vegetarian, my diet had to be very basic and sometimes I was simply a bit homesick and wanted to hear my own language, Afrikaans,
BUT when I think back I realise that the things I loved most about walking the Camino far outweighed the so-called difficulties. Firstly, there is nothing on earth that beats the freedom of the open road, with everything you need right there in your backpack. Every day brings a new adventure, new places, new faces, new sensations and new thoughts.
Secondly for the first time in my life I deeply understood the phrase "live in the moment". The meaning of this phrase has always eluded me and as for the practice of "living in the moment"...... well let's just say that I am a dreamer and by preference live in some undefined future. Walking the Camino I realised one day that I was totally content and happy with myself. For the first time in my life, I managed to be present right there, no dreaming, no chattering voices (no I'm not mad;-), no discontent, simply a calmness and acceptance of what is, a living inside my inner landscape.
Back home I found it really difficult to stay in the moment. Quickly caught up in "normal" life, the old way of doing things and dealing with issues, that before you know it, the Camino is a distant dream and "normality" takes over. Then again, four months down the line, I realise that I am somehow more content, more philosophical and more tolerant of the "human condition" although a little more focussed on those things that are important to me. Still, even with the awareness that one needs very little to survive and thrive, I find myself again striving, acquiring, wanting to "count", wanting to drive, when simply "being" is so much more.
Yes, walking the Camino is easy. It is life that is challenging.