Tips for Turning Your Smartphone into a Tool Not a Distraction

Tips for Turning Your Smartphone into a Tool Not a Distraction ~ Balancing safety, connection and immersion on the Camino.

Should I take my mobile on the Camino? Can I manage 5 weeks without social media? What about safety? Wouldn’t my mobile be a useful tool!
These are all great questions. And in some ways the answer depends on why you are walking.

When I undertook my first pilgrimage almost 10 years ago I carried a mobile. It was necessary to find a café/restaurant with free Wi-Fi. And it was a case of downloading emails and checking Facebook, and perhaps uploading a photo or two.

Nowadays most of us have become addicted to our phones and receiving instant news, or what family had for breakfast! There are useful apps which can help us have a successful Camino. These assist with safety (Alert Cops Spain only), direction, accommodation, translation, keeping track of newly found Camino acquaintances. The price of a phone plan in Spain is ridiculously cheap so how can we turn a smart phone liability into an asset?

If the Camino is being walked as a pilgrimage then there are steps we can take to keep mobiles as a very useful tool.
Firstly discuss with family and close friends why you are “going off grid.” That it is important to have this time out for yourself. That there is the opportunity to cross a threshold and become immersed in all the Camino has to offer. Say you welcome emails (which can be read and answered at leisure.) Some utilise the “Polar Steps” app. This enables the pilgrim to keep loved ones across developments as they track you in real time.

Secondly I turn off all notifications. This helps keep me in the moment and present to fellow pilgrims.

There are a number of apps which are useful depending on the route. Gronze Maps is excellent for terrain profile, distances between towns and available accommodation. It also has useful route descriptions.

Some degree of self control is also needed. With huge amounts of data it was easy to sit under a tree and watch the King’s Coronation thus being removed from the fully immersive experience that is Camino.

Maybe there is an elderly parent who expects continual contact. Obviously that pilgrim will need to deal with that situation. I read where an author’s husband expected daily calls. She wanted to step back from that dynamic. Instead she suggested he text a daily message. This revealed another side to him and their relationship changed for the better when she returned home.

‘15 Tips for Keeping Your Head Out of the Cloud: Pilgrimage in Body AND Mind,’ is a great read. Nancy, the author was walking the Camino pre-internet and still leads groups today. She makes a case for paper guidebooks rather than utilising apps! This article commences with two most interesting communication flow diagrams to and from pilgrims pre and post internet.

For the above and other in-depth articles regarding mobile phones and the Camino see: www.walkingtopresence.com Nancy L Frey. This is an information rich website.
© Philip 2025