First, to all who are new here, welcome! This blog originally started out as a bit of a travel diary so Kris and I could remember details of our adventures. It then morphed into a way to bring family and a small handful of friends along on trips. With the scope of this latest trip, the audience has expanded again. I mention all of that to provide context for older entries.
So, the Camino de Santiago. This is an ancient Catholic pilgrimage to see the remains of James the Apostle in Santiago de Compostela. It’s also one heck of a hike and an opportunity to do something new, meditate on life, and make plans for the future. I am choosing to complete the French Way by starting in St Jean Pied de Port France and walking across northern Spain to the ocean at Muxia which is roughly 500 miles. This isn’t the exact route I’m taking, but it gives you a rough idea.
Since I’ve started sharing this plan with folks I’ve gotten a lot of questions, so I thought I’d use this first post of the trip is answer some of the more common ones. Subsequent posts will be more about the day to day. Thank you for coming with me on this journey!
- How long will it take? I’m planning on ~45 days so I have time to take a couple of rest days and explore some of the towns and villages. Generally people aim for 35-40 stages or walking days.
- Are you going with a group? Nope, just me. Although considering more than 300k people complete some portion of the Camino every (normal) year, I suspect I’ll find people along the way.
- Follow-up question – You’re husband isn’t going? Erm…Nope. Kris is staying at home for this one. While I will miss him dearly, this is an opportunity for us to develop some new things to talk about over dinner again. Pandemic has sure wiped out independent experiences…
- How do you get your stuff from place to place? While there are ways of sending your belongings ahead every day, I’ll be carrying everything I need on my back. I’ll share a gear post at a later time.
- So, you’ll be camping? The bonus of this route is that it’s pretty well established and you’re basically walking from town to village to city. I’ll be staying in albergues, hostels, or hotels every night. This means a real bed, and no tent! It also means a hot shower and dinner I don’t have to eat out of a bag.
- How many pairs of shoes will you need? Hopefully just one! I’m taking a new but broken-in pair of the Keen Targhee III WPs that are my preferred hiking shoe. (Note, I’m not sponsored, I just love Keens.)
- Are you taking your work laptop with you? I love my coworkers and will miss them all, but no. I’m not lugging my work laptop with me on my sabbatical.
- Are you coming back to work? I sure hope so! I’ve gotta pay for the next adventure (Peru anyone?) somehow!
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