braindancer
New Member
- Time of past OR future Camino
- May 2024
Hello! Newbie here. I've been searching/reading for a while, and it's been incredibly helpful. However, I am still torn between several route options, and would appreciate opinions, suggestions, advice I'll lay out my situation in some detail - hope it will help you help me. Thank you!
Who am I: 41 y/o male, living in California. Very fit (literally ran 7 marathons in the past 7 weeks). Have solid experience hiking, backpacking and light mountaineering. Have all my outdoor gear and know how to use it. Atheist. Introvert. Rudimentary Spanish ("agua por favor").
Motivation for doing Camino: 2 reasons.
1) As for many here, it started with the movie The Way. I watched it back in 2011 with my father, and we both liked it a lot. I thought about maybe doing it someday. Fast forward to 2020, and my father passed away suddenly. Somehow the whole thing with the movie character carrying his son's ashes spoke to me. I did a "virtual Camino" (covered the same distance on home trails while marking progress on the CF map) that same year, in my father's honor. It was meaningful, but I still feel that closing this "loop" and doing the actual route would be important. (No, I don't have his ashes.)
2) I am taking a break from working like a dog for 15+ years, and want to use this time to think about what I want to do next. A long scenic solo walk seems like a good way to do some housekeeping in my head.
Note: starting at "the start" and finishing at "the finish" is important for me. Religious/spiritual aspects are not. I'll get the Compostela as a badge of completion, but that's it.
Schedule constraints: I am planning to start in early May (can probably go as early as May 1 if I need to). I have all of May to get it done. Given that I am planning to cover 40+ km per day, any route should be doable. Ideally, I'd like to bake in 3-4 zero days in important/interesting locations to explore them.
With these inputs, I think I narrowed down my options to 3:
1. Camino Frances. Pros: this is the "movie route", so the closure will be most complete, plus I can probably relate to some locations from the movie. Cons: it's crowded, and especially so in May. I am really not a crowd person. I want to be able to think, zone out, meditate. Occasional human interaction is great, I'm not a sociopath , but when I read about "conga lines", I shudder.
2. Camino del Norte. Pros: not crowded, very beautiful. Cons: lots of pavement (I can handle it but don't love it). Not "the" route. (Yes, yes, I know, there's no such thing... )
3. Via de La Plata. Pros: solitary, starts in Seville, goes through cool towns. Cons: likely to be hot as hell in May?.. Not "the" route.
So, here I am What should I do? What am I missing? Thank you for any tips!
Who am I: 41 y/o male, living in California. Very fit (literally ran 7 marathons in the past 7 weeks). Have solid experience hiking, backpacking and light mountaineering. Have all my outdoor gear and know how to use it. Atheist. Introvert. Rudimentary Spanish ("agua por favor").
Motivation for doing Camino: 2 reasons.
1) As for many here, it started with the movie The Way. I watched it back in 2011 with my father, and we both liked it a lot. I thought about maybe doing it someday. Fast forward to 2020, and my father passed away suddenly. Somehow the whole thing with the movie character carrying his son's ashes spoke to me. I did a "virtual Camino" (covered the same distance on home trails while marking progress on the CF map) that same year, in my father's honor. It was meaningful, but I still feel that closing this "loop" and doing the actual route would be important. (No, I don't have his ashes.)
2) I am taking a break from working like a dog for 15+ years, and want to use this time to think about what I want to do next. A long scenic solo walk seems like a good way to do some housekeeping in my head.
Note: starting at "the start" and finishing at "the finish" is important for me. Religious/spiritual aspects are not. I'll get the Compostela as a badge of completion, but that's it.
Schedule constraints: I am planning to start in early May (can probably go as early as May 1 if I need to). I have all of May to get it done. Given that I am planning to cover 40+ km per day, any route should be doable. Ideally, I'd like to bake in 3-4 zero days in important/interesting locations to explore them.
With these inputs, I think I narrowed down my options to 3:
1. Camino Frances. Pros: this is the "movie route", so the closure will be most complete, plus I can probably relate to some locations from the movie. Cons: it's crowded, and especially so in May. I am really not a crowd person. I want to be able to think, zone out, meditate. Occasional human interaction is great, I'm not a sociopath , but when I read about "conga lines", I shudder.
2. Camino del Norte. Pros: not crowded, very beautiful. Cons: lots of pavement (I can handle it but don't love it). Not "the" route. (Yes, yes, I know, there's no such thing... )
3. Via de La Plata. Pros: solitary, starts in Seville, goes through cool towns. Cons: likely to be hot as hell in May?.. Not "the" route.
So, here I am What should I do? What am I missing? Thank you for any tips!