Hi Elle, For a bunch of boring reasons, I booked my self-guided full
Camino Frances through a company called Macs Adventure out of Glasgow. They organised all accommodation and baggage transfers. I carried a 6kilo daypack. Support was supplied by a great local Spanish company called Teetravel
www.tee-travel.com I called them a few times with various problems and I spoke with someone in English each time. Their support was first rate. Teetravel might organise everything for you directly for a better price. In fact, I learned early on that my whole trip had been farmed out to Teetravel.
Booking all my accommodation in advance did cause some pressure because it's very inflexible. Bookings are locked, especially at busy times, so you just have to get to the next stop. One time I had walked about 18kms, had dawdled taking too many photos, had 10kms to go. It got to be 6:30pm and it started to rain. I called Teetravel and they organised a taxi for me. I factored in a few days off but would have preferred more, especially in bad weather when all my gear got wet.
Over a shortish distance, I expect that a locked schedule is not as inconvenient as over 800kms.
Sarria to Santiago is very well signposted and there are lots of walkers to follow. This section of The Camino is more populated and "civilised" than most but there was plenty of good food and beautiful country. I had walked through a very wet Meseta, this final 100kms was sunny and warm and I loved it.
My next trip will be shorter (400kms) and I'll allow a day off each 7 days. I've decided that I won't walk more than 15 to 20kms per day. I walked an average of 22kms per day over 800kms on my recent (first)
Camino Frances. Some days were 30kms. Some folks can manage that without too much effort but I found it a grind towards the end.
I walked with a couple from Burgos to Leon who could only be away from family commitments for a limited time. This had been their 3rd section of their Camino over a few years. I walked with another man from O Cebreiro to Santiago. Two old guys, a mathematician and an artist, talking psychology, poetry, architecture, etc., as you do. All these folks were always fresher and quicker than I as I had been walking for weeks before meeting them.
Buen Camino, - Mike
P.S., Don't apologise. Time stretches out a lot if you don't measure it so diligently. You watch the beauty, let others watch the clock.