StCirq

Maybe we should put together a group! That would be a heckuva trip report!

Cehegin

I did it two years ago from Roncesvalles to Santiago770kms +/-. An experience of a lifetime.Cant wait to do it again.It took 30 days and I enjoyed it immensely and made some very good friends. If you like walking and the outdoor it is fantastic.If you want any info or advice let me know and I will help if I can.
This is my blog on Spain(no posting on the Camino yet!).

cruiseluv

Glad to see this thread come up again. In a little less than 2 months, on June 28, my family and I will start walking from O'Cebreiro. The anticipation is mounting and I wish that day was already here. This has been a goal of mine since the first time I visited Santiago, in 2002. Posters like lreynold have been an inspiration, although I must confess that I'll be doing it in a more pampered way, staying at casa rurales and hotels, rather than at the refugios.

Barb, that's great that you have that goal, you'll be more than ready by the time 10/13 rolls in. I'm little by little increasing the number of miles I walk at a time. So far about 6 miles at a time, but have to do more and add a a backpack.

Cehegin, look forward to reading about your Camino experience when you add it to your blog.

I have mixed feelings about the statistics Laurie has posted on above post. I guess I'm a bit selfish as I would have preferred that this increase didn't happen on the year I'm doing the Camino. Oh well, too late now, God willing I'll be there, together with the rest of them!

¡Buen Camino!

lincasanova

I'm no expert, but I don't think a lot of training is necessary. Just have excellent footwear. You can walk as far or little as you prefer. As fast or slow. Stop for snacks and water as often as you feel like it.

Exhausted? Just tired of walking? Call a taxi and he'll take you to the hotel. Or if you don't have reservations, the nearest café will point you the right direction.

It is all very civilized the last 100kms. You are NOT in the middle of nowhere, helpless, and struggling and climbing huge granite walls.

Believe me. You will be fine.

What I most ask myself .. is why don't I take these huge long walks close to home? There are plenty of places that have trails near here.

I guess that's part of the beauty of the whole experience. Some of us are doing something we have never done, on such a large scale.

Cruiseluv.. are you going to be in Madrid a day or two? You can email me again at screen name at yahoo dot com.

Good luck everyone. I know you will be writing some nice reports when you are back!

amer_can

Don't forget to pick up a "passport" at one of the hostals, hospitals. I, at 80yrs young, got mine last week at Burgos. Apparently it is not necessary to walk the whole way or on only one of the routes to qualify as a "Peregrino".In order however to receive a credential at Santiago you must do the last two stops getting the official stamps from whichever route you take. I have on the past few years done about 100K on the ruta de plata..10K in the burgos area, 10K into Santiago and god willing and the creek don't rise in 2 years when my daughter retires we will continue to rack up the Ks..The passport cost 2Euros at Burgos and the accomodatioons there are about 5 Euros /night. Keep this plan of yours in mind and try, try try...

easytraveler

STCirq: <i>Maybe we should put together a group!</i>

Great idea!

If it fits within my schedule, I'd be game - at least for part of the way, if not all!

Just hiked almost 5 miles today, so feeling that the Camino is definitely a possibility and not a dream!


amer_can: Truly <i>you</i> are the inspiration!


To those of you hiking this year: please report back!

cruiseluv

Wow Amer can, you're an inspiration indeed!

Lin, Glad you chimed in, was hoping maybe i would see you in the Camino. Yes, we'll be in Madrid a couple of nights at the beginning and one night at the end. I'll email you.

For sure I'll report back.

amer_can

Thanks for the kudo that I am an inspiration..You are only as old as you let yourself be and as far as I'm concerned that is not an issue as long as my feet, knees and pension hold out!! I forgot to mention Segovia, Avila and Madrid..Add up another few Ks. But OMG would I ever love to do the whole thing. Maybe someone will carry my ashes in a box someday!!!

lincasanova

To get the "Compostela" you do need to walk at least 100kms or bike 200kms.

I love al these reports from the young-uns! You ARE an inspiration.. my goodness.. from Burgos. You still have quite a walk to do!

lincasanova

I found this website. Not as nicely set up as many, but full of info .

http://www.americanpilgrims.com/cami...tml#compostela

mpprh

I've come across pilgrims locally pushing a handcart with tent, stove, etc. They were starting at Rome and following the route Arles, Nimes, St Guillem, Lodeve Toulouse etc etc

Some info on the Languedoc part :

http://www.the-languedoc-page.com/to...ompostella.htm

kerouac

I have been to Le Puy-en-Velay a number of times and have been impressed every time by the number of people there specifically to begin a trip on the <i>chemin de Saint Jacques de Compostelle</i>, very often German retirees, but also a lot of French people.

The idea attract me as well, even though I am allergic to just about all forms of spirituality.

ribeirasacra

Our favourite Pilgrim is currently on vacation so she cannot answer all of your questions right now.
But I would head over to this forum http://www.caminodesantiago.me/board it is perhaps the most active and informative around on this subject.

Cehegin

Kerouac: most people on the Camino I met didnt do it for spiritual reasons.Everyone had their own reason but I would say the majority were non religious.

Micheline

Our friend and neighbor walked 750 km on the Spanish side five years ago at 69 years old . This month he is walking the French side. You might like to read his blog.
www.guythatcher.wordpress.com/2012/04/22/21

flygirl

This has been on my list for a while, too.. no idea which year it will be - probably during a gap year for me.

Barb

"You are only as old as you let yourself be" Amer Can, what a great outlook and so true.

I have decided to go for it, planning on late Sept, early October, 2013. A Camino GTG would be wonderful.

Question.... I would like to do the Camino first and then continue traveling, maybe a nice beach to recuperate, lol. What would I do with my luggage for my continuing trip? I probably will want to burn my Camino clothes when I am done. I was thinking I would stay in Santiago before the walk and then for a few days afterwards. I wonder if the hotel would store my suitcase. Are there storage places specifically for this purpose in Santiago as I would imagine other people have the same issue.

Also, I would like to walk for about a week, maybe starting before Sarria. What town before Sarria would be a good starting point? I'm going to strive for 10k - 15k per day.

lreynold1

Hi, Barb,
When I walk, I frequently send something to Santiago to the hotel where I will be staying at the end of the walk (I fly into Madrid, usually, and head from there to my starting point, so I don´t go to Santiago first). The Hotel Costa Vella is wonderful, and the people are very accommodating, and I´ve had stuff sitting in their closet for 6 weeks and they never bat an eye.

I also know people who use the luggage storage service offered by the Pensión Badalada (you don´t need to stay there to be able to use it, but there´s a fee): http://pilgrimhelper.wordpress.com/luggage-storage/

If you are planning to walk a week at 10-15 kms a day, you will have to start after Sarria, or possibly in Sarria. Sarria is 100 kms from Santiago, and you will be ablet o walk 70-105. So I´d say Sarria is a good starting place. Be forewarned, it´s very crowded, that´s where the biggest crowds start, but there´s just no way to avoid the crowds (unless,for instance, you wanted to walk the last 100 kms on the Camino Primitivo from Lugo, or the last 100 kms on the Via de la Plata from Ourense, or the last 100 kms on the Camino del Norte from Baamonte, all are great options as well). Buen camino.

november_moon

We are planning to walk the Camino in October 2014 for my 40th birthday. I'd been mulling around the idea of doing the camino for awhile, but then I decided that it was the way I wanted to celebrate my 40th. It just seems like the perfect way to celebrate the milestone in so many ways - esspecially a milestone that for a lot of women truely means the end of youth, onset of middle-age, being over the hill. For me it will be "What? Old? Old-schmold - I'm walking half way across Spain."

I don't know how much time we'll be able to devote to the Camino, but I think we will only have a couple weeks, so we'll probably do about 200km. We'll see when we get closer - maybe we'll be able to go for longer.

november_moon

kerouac - My motivation isn't really spiritual, definitely not religious. The closest thing to "spirituality" that I am looking for is that I am hoping that through the act of walking a long distance that I can gain some clarity and calmness - kind of a reset in my brain. Unplug from daily life and have the opportunity to just BE.