As you start yourCamino planning journey, it is going to be a journey by itself since you have to decide how you want to structure your entire trip to be ideal for you specifically. Every pilgrim has a different vision of how the Camino de Santiago can be structured to help them more effectively. There are several factors including which route to take, what backpack to utilize, budget-friendly or lavish Albergues, or even how much food you want to consume. All of these are good questions to ask. You may even ask yourself if you like talking with a lot of people about the Camino de Santiago. It is always useful to get a support community around you while you begin the planning of the journey. When you tell friends and family of a trip you are planning that will consist of you walking across the entire country of Spain for 500 miles, many people will not be the right people to entrust in the journey during your planning phase. After you have worked out the details, you can start telling more people about the trip you are beginning to plan.
A support group is necessary for any challenging endeavor you decide you want to embark on which is why you should choose the people you tell about the journey carefully. You need someone who understands the importance of travel, adventure, self-discovery, and international interactions. There is a period in your planning that goes from entertaining the idea of walking the Camino de Santiago to pulling the trigger and fully committing to the adventure. This commitment usually occurs when you have specific data you want to leave for the journey. It doesn’t necessarily mean you have all the details worked out, but as long as you have blocked out about 5-6 weeks to be able to walk the entire journey. If you want to only do a short section of the trail (like starting in Sarria), I will highly encourage you to work harder to find a date that will allow you to walk the entire French route. The challenges it brings will be far more rewarding than any other journey that is along the Camino. Make the trek overly ambitious when it comes to the distance, but don’t be overly ambitious when it comes to the required miles you need to walk everyday. I have met people who plan a trip to walk 25 miles per day and they are frequently unable to do so and have to take a bus ahead to be able to get to Santiago by the time their flight leaves. Give yourself plenty of flex days, potentially up to four days of nothing planned that allows you to take rest days or a handful of slower days for your body to recover.
Read more about how others have found themselves on the Camino by reading more books about the Camino de Santiago. You can find Camino books and the ideal backpacking gear or Camino packing list for the trip at different blogs that are specialized in the Camino de Santiago journey.
About the Author:
Caleb walked the Camino de Santiago in the fall of 2016 and is planning another trip with his family and newborn baby in the fall of 2021. He works as a NetSuite developer at a family business in Wisconsin providing IT services to mid-market organizations. This career field is perfect for the Camino because it allows him to occasionally take longer vacations and work remotely. He wrote his first book about the Camino de Santiago and publish The Way of the Cross and the Struggle for Holiness a year after he completed the Way of Saint James.
