Camino procrastinator

[Polite]

Morning

As we approach this time of year I invariably start to think of my beloved dad. At the same time I think about doing the camino. Then I realize I don't have enough holidays. Then I put it off. So I'm now seriously considering a life change in the hope I can complete it and perhaps find whatever it is I'm looking for.

Could anyone advise how long a fit fortysomething might need to complete the camino Frances (roughly)? How much it's likely to cost (ignoring getting there and back)? And finally, when NOT to do it (weather/availability of places to stay)?

Thanks in advance, I'm sure there's nothing new in my questions but I would appreciate any guidance.

 

[wayfarer]

It should take you 32 to 34 days, I would advise doing it mid April to mid May, it should be cooler and less busy then, you can spend anything from €25.00 to €50.00 per day depending on the level of comfort you choose. June, July and August seem to be the busiest times and it can also be very hot.
Go for it.
Happy planning and Buen Camino.

 

[supersullivan]

P, I'm a 54 year old type 2 diabetic who chain smokes cigarillos and is about 10 kilos overweight but I am a regular hill walker in Ireland. I prepared well physically last year and took 24 days to go from St Jean to Finisterre but I would accept that this was a demanding schedule. Sit down and think about how long you realistically can take away from work, you say you are fit and if you are thinking of a 2015 camino that gives you several months to further improve your fitness and specifically condition your body for several hours daily walking with a back pack. From what you say, a 30 km daily average should be well within your capacity and not see you walking past 3 pm daily. 30 km x ? days gives you an idea of a reasonable starting point - 14 days available= Carrion de los Condes, 20 days= Najera etc. As we don't know your location it's not possible to advise about travel connections once you arrive in Spain but even taking just 10 days away from work would readily allow you to walk from somewhere like Ponferrada ( about 210 kms from Santiago ) which has excellent travel connections, allow you to get qualify for a compostela and get a feeling for what a longer distance on the camino might entail.

From a rely to an earlier similar question concerning likely costs:

"Hi Jenny

Welcome to the forum, there are various threads relating to expenditure elsewhere but just to give some early indication: if you are intending to stay in pilgrim hostels ( albergues ) then municipal albergues typically cost €6 per night, privately run albergues run from about €6 to €12, several private albergues will supply a communal dinner with costs ranging from about €6 to €10. Municipal albergues will usually have a kitchen area to cook a meal but knives, forks, plates etc. can be lacking so if intending to self cook regularly then perhaps bring a lightweight set. Villages and towns with cafe/bars/restaurants will usually have a dinner pilgrim menu available for a typical cost between €8 and €10. Breakfast for most will consist of coffee/ juice and toast with butter and jam/marmalade usually between €2.50 and €4. Lunch can run from about €5 to €7 unless you want to eat picnic style when you should be able to eat well for €3 to €5. That should give you a fair idea of the likely minimum daily costs but if you factor in a couple of short additional breaks on long/ very hot days then another €4 to €6 for cold soft drinks/beers would be reasonable. Private albergues will often have a private bedroom ( twin/ double ) available for between €20 to €30. If intending to use small hotels from time to time then rooms are charged per room rather than occupant so a twin room will range from about €25 upwards with the large towns/ cities usually a bit dearer.
Highly recommended to carry just 4/5 days of ready cash and use a debit card to top up cash in the larger villages/ towns.

Buen camino

Seamus"

My 4 caminos to date have occurred from early May to early September and at times the heat has been somewhat too much for an Irishman who thinks 20 Celcius is at the upper end of comfortable walking temperatures so next year I am considering St Jean to Santiago at the end of April/1st half of May but the other side of that coin is likely to be colder nights and more rain.

Regards

Seamus

 

[tyrrek]

Hi!

First of all, let me tell you that your procrastination problem is curable. Once you've done a Camino you'll be looking for any excuse to do your next one.

As a fit forty-something you can expect to do the Camino at a fairly average pace. That's 32 or 33 days, plus a couple of optional rest days, plus a couple of days down time in Santiago at the end.

Real cost (excluding flights) is a relative thing. It depends whether you're on paid leave or if you're losing pay, and also how much you usually spend at home. People say 35 euros a day if you stay in albergues, but if you stay in private rooms they can cost around that on their own. There is a ceiling on how much you can spend because it's basically food, drink, accommodation and possibly pharmacy. (Unless your boots fail etc).

The Frances is ostensibly open all year, but seek and take local advice in winter especially in mountain areas. The busiest times along most of the route (up to Astorga) are spring and autumn because the middle section is hot and exposed in summer. From Astorga it's busiest in July and August. If you want the best weather it will be busy, so choose your compromise.

Do consider walking in stages at different times. For me the Camino splits nicely into 3 parts - part 1 to Logrono or Burgos, part 2 to Leon or Astorga, and part 3 the rest. These also happen to be well connected cities from Madrid and other entry points.

Keep researching, keep an open mind about other routes, and Buen Camino!

 

[Stephen]

There are many others better qualified than me to tell you how long it might take or what it could cost. I just wanted to add if it's in your heart to walk the Camino then find the time and do it.
In the past I walked parts of it and it was always in my mind that some day I'd return and walk it all. Man proposes, God disposes. I now find myself in a role of 'carer' and the chances of a return to walking grow more distant with each passing day.

 

[Al the optimist]

You have my sympathy Stephen. I am also limited in what I could do as I have been looking after my now 90 year old mother for some 6 years. We are fortunate that she has improved of late and so I can go walking. But I never book a return flight in case I need to go back earlier than planned and from a different place. Fortunately getting back to England isn't too much trouble. I have met many on the Camino who have done it in stages and all have the same feeling of accomplishment and change when they are on the last legs. I sense that you already know it is the journey Polite and I am sure that with that approach you will start to discovery the new you even walking just as much as time allows. You mention a life change. Maybe you should walk a little before deciding on what that change should be as your Camino may cause you to choose a different change. All the best with your thinking on this. We will all help you as much as you want, but only you can decide. May I be the first to wish you Buen Camino. (just thinking about it means you have started it).

 

[scruffy1]

Shalom Camino procrastinator and Greetings from Jerusalem!

No, you are not procrastinating and you are not putting anything off. I am not an especially spiritual person, certainly no mystic, but my experience(s) have often shown that many things happen, unexplained things occur, delightful discoveries are revealed always at the proper and best times. Many times there a feeling that important decisions, chance encounters, inexplicable feelings come about when and if they were so intended. When you are truly ready to walk even part of the Camino, it will be waiting for you. Gather your thoughts, your emotions, your memories, plan well, and then it will be time for your pilgrimage. The decision to walk has been made, just a question of choosing the most auspicious time when all has come together and you are ready for the encounter, both with the Camino and with you yourself.
S

 

[lettinggo]

Hola

So many good advices already.
About fitness, you may want to put 10 kilos into a back pack and take a walk of 10 km.
It will give you an idea about what you will be doing for a month or so

Happy planning and
Buen Camino
Lettinggo

 

[Polite]

Shalom Camino procrastinator and Greetings from Jerusalem!

No, you are not procrastinating and you are not putting anything off. I am not an especially spiritual person, certainly no mystic, but my experience(s) have often shown that many things happen, unexplained things occur, delightful discoveries are revealed always at the proper and best times. Many times there a feeling that important decisions, chance encounters, inexplicable feelings come about when and if they were so intended. When you are truly ready to walk even part of the Camino, it will be waiting for you. Gather your thoughts, your emotions, your memories, plan well, and then it will be time for your pilgrimage. The decision to walk has been made, just a question of choosing the most auspicious time when all has come together and you are ready for the encounter, both with the Camino and with you yourself.
S

Thank you.

 

[david g]

Sounds like you're almost ready to commit, Polite. That's the first step, and one of the biggest. I would agree with the idea of doing it over 32-35 days. You could knock it out in less, but that would possibly affect what you get out of it. It would become a hurried walk, rather than a contemplative journey. (Which is what it sounds like you're after.) As for when to walk it, I think mid-late September would be a great time to start. Cool, crisp mornings with blue skies and sunshine in the afternoon. (I'm a big fan of autumn.) But to make this happen, you need to mark a date on your calendar. You need to look at the date on a regular basis and tell yourself you're going to walk the Camino. Once you begin doing this you'll be amazed at how things start to fall into place to make it happen. Buen Camino!

 

[David]

In response to Al - I looked after mother for 5 years - took a flat just down the road ... moved to a new town to do that, gave up my life as it was ... we do these things, last man standing, who else was there? I cancelled a number of my first aid visits to the Camino, curtailed the others as I was needed at home ... always the guilt, always the not knowing how long one would be away and always wondering if one should even be away.
The thing is, even with support in train (I had none until she was moved to a nursing home) the guilt remains .. it is how it is - we either walk away or accept what the universe is manifesting to us - and how can we live with ourselves if we walk away?

Mother died August 31st and my post-funeral attempted visit to the Camino - free at last - was quite the disaster ... car died south of Bordeaux, had to scrap it in France, repatriated the caravan and took the train home. I had mother's ashes in the caravan, planned to cast them on the Camino (Eunate came to mind). To add to the comic-drama they managed to jacknife on the motorway in England whilst towing it to me and totalled the van. Then a wait for two weeks while they decided to tell me ... caravan is now here, arrived this morning, and her ashes are back in the house - too late to return really ..... perhaps she didn't want her ashes spread in Spain - who knows these things.

So - Polite - your questions are really about lack of confidence, don't you think? You most likely already know that you are looking at an average of 35 days from St Jean but could cut your Camino to fit your time .... the thing is (my personal opinion) there are some people for whom the Camino is an interlude, or rather a deep catalyst between one life and another ... sometimes, possibly most times, it is better to let go, just let go of all we have been holding onto and just go - just go - and let the future take care of itself .. it isn't a holiday, it isn't a hike, it is a pilgrimage - and a pilgrimage is to do with internal change ... of facing oneself (and God, however we describe that internally) .. and during that long time out there the "real" world that one has been trapped in becomes like a delusional dream and drops away .... so for me, I say - go, just go, forget time, forget the world at home and just - go.

Re cost - people on here will answer from how they live their lives ... I have heard some suggest you need 50 euros a day! Nonsense, utter nonsense! Many eat at least twice a day in restaurants and cafes and consume expensive coffees and cakes in between, but you don't have to do that, not at all. You can carry simple food and look after yourself - you won't starve in 35 days eating pasta and bread and cheese and sausage and fruit, in fact, you will be healthier than the restaurant goers eating their mass-produced and overcooked food. It will also give you a sense of power, of freedom, of self-reliance - you provide for yourself. If you are addicted to caffeine give it up a month before you go and there will be absolutely no desire for coffee stops - so, how much? Refugio fees plus some euros for your own food - not a lot, not much at all.
20 euros would be plenty, I know pilgrims who have done it for less.

As for procrastinating ... you just aren't ready yet .... if you open wide the doors of a battery chicken barn it can take weeks for the hens to falteringly step outside and stand under the beautiful sky and breathe fresh air ... think about that ....

Buen Camino!!

 

[Alyssa]

I'm 46 and of average fitness. It took me 32 days from St. Jean to Santiago (about 15 miles per day). I met people who did it in less time and those who took more time.

 

[Scott Sweeney]

Hello and welcome Polite,

First time I thought about that going on vacation for that long or time or being away from work that long would be an issue, I work for local governmemt , had the time but to be gone for five weeks....seemed like I was stretching it. I asked the county administer about taking the time (also threw in "its a religious pilgrimage) and his response was that if my department could function five weeks without me...go. And I did.

Second time it was much the same but I secretly hoped they would tell me not to come back...they didn't.

Third time I just went.

I found that taking sick days off and calling them mental health days work also.

Find the time, go and enjoy. Don't put it off.

 

[jefferyonthecamino]

I have met several pilgrims who had calmly taken 5-6 weeks from SJdP. Budget varies greatly, but staying at albegues, around 25 euros a day. Winter could be very challenging. Buen Camino!

 

[Al the optimist]

Sorry to hear about your Mom David and about the caravan. What you have said only endorses my first impression of you a a truly caring person full of love for your fellow man and an example to us all. They (whoever "They" are) that trouble comes in threes. So next year you are owed a great one? Enjoy rebuilding your life. I look forward to hearing your plans and wishing you a Buen Camino.

 

[Kanga]

@Stephen like Al I feel for you. For several years it seemed like I had walked my last camino. Sometimes the longing to be on the road again was almost a physical ache. Be patient, have courage. There is a time to every purpose under Heaven.

 

[Al the optimist]

And next year you get back Kanga!

 

[Kanga]

Yes, @Al the optimist - although @David 's experience teaches us not to be too sure! I'm so much looking forward to hearing you are on the road again next year @David

 

[David]

Sorry to hear about your Mom David and about the caravan. What you have said only endorses my first impression of you a a truly caring person full of love for your fellow man and an example to us all. They (whoever "They" are) that trouble comes in threes. So next year you are owed a great one? Enjoy rebuilding your life. I look forward to hearing your plans and wishing you a Buen Camino.

Al, nooo, I only replied as I did as you are obviously going through the same process of caring for an elder and I wanted you to know that there are folk out here who understand your situation .... I am not what you think I am - I am a bungling and sometimes argumentative fool who sort of hangs on by my fingertips to the trailing edge of what is right! - in fact, our Clan Horsburgh motto is "keeping to the right path but with great difficulty" hahaha!

As for next year ..... the spring should see me sorted and able to go for as long as I want - possible I may just pop over there and stroll along with my first aid kit and pack .. but, you know how it is ... the universe manifests and we have no idea what comes next!

I wish you well with the role you have been given - you will treasure it when you look back.

and thank you Kanga x

All is well

 

[JennyH94]

Hi Polite -
Just a few thoughts to add to all the excellent posts above.
As you increase your training walks you'll find that your focus will shift more and more to the Camino as you find your rhythm and your pace, and within that rhythm and pace your Camino plans will start to germinate. As you're considering a life change, all the walking you do as part of your training will help you gain clarity as to the best way to go with this aspect of your life too. You'll find a time and a way to get to the Camino - best wishes with all your planning.
Take joy in every step -
Jenny
PS - Al and David - thank you both for sharing ... you're both very bright lights on the Forum and you're two reasons why I love the Forum so much.

 

[Al the optimist]

David we need to ask Ivar for a new emotion for blushing

 

[David]

Yep, I'm hiding under the table now ...

 

[JennyH94]

Al and David -

!!

Cheers !

 

[Stephen]

This little emotion seems suitably red-faced.