Iowa teens on pilgrimage

[Hroswitha]

I posted earlier in this thread, and have done a lot of thinking and investigating. I've come up with a new and reduced plan, but more questions.

We think we would like to fly in to Madrid, then take a train to Sarria. 6 walking days from Sarria to Santiago, two days in that town, then a train back to Madrid and home. My plan would require appx. 13 days in Spain.

I have been speaking with a representative of a travel agency that can set this thing up, but they're British. They want 1010 BPS per person for accommodations, baggage transfer service, and access to a 24 hour service number. That's roughly $1600 per person. It would cover just the hotels and the baggage service. They've sent me links to hotels they use, none of which charge more than 80 Euros per night. At 3 person occupancy, it seems steep to want this kind of money. I think I can set up the accommodations, train tickets, etc. myself, but am I foolish to do this?

Albergues won't save much money overall, if they go for around 15 Euros per night per person. My parents are a little stiff on the concept of using them with teens, though I may be able to persuade them. For now, I'm planning bed and breakfast and inns instead.

Are there services that just charge for baggage transfer? The company I've checked with seems to only offer this as part of a package, and if I do all the organizing myself, I will still want this service.

More help please?

 

[Farmer John]

Hello Iowa Kids! I'm an Iowa farmer who walked the Camino from LePuy, France to Finnesterre, Spain last summer. Send me a PM and you can get my phone number and I can help you out with a lot of your questions.

 

[wayfarer]

IMO you can do this yourself.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

Just walk it and carry backpacks, and you can do it for 30E per day each. Add about 5E a day for baggage service for teens that need it.

 

[Dutch]

No problem to do it yourself and you'll probebly save some money to

 

[bokormen91]

I might have gotten this wrong, and if I have - apologies...

You will have responsibility for children that are not your own. I think this adds stress as one wants to reassure parents that it will be safe...

You can always book private albergues/hotels etc in advance and without a travel agent, it might take more time, but it is doable. You can book luggage transfers independently, I've never used them but they seem to be €5-10 per pilgrim per day.

Not all places can accommodate a 3-person occupancy: the rooms are too small to put an extra bed in or they do not have spare beds to put in.

Sleeping in a dorm... It might seem counter-intuitive, but I would worry less if it was a dorm with 50 people in an albergue with a set opening/closing time, than if it was a private room with 3 ... It is difficult to hide with 50 people that are all in sleeping in an unfamiliar place, that will pay attention to noise and disturbances as it is unfamiliar - they will notice if "sneeking" out is on the cards, they will all notice if there is "unusual" attention paid towards a member of your group

May be it is just me, but remembering my teens and early 20s, and the other people I met of the same age whilst traveling - if I was a parent I'd gone for the +"50" watchers every time. The "kids" might be good, some because they are - some because they never had a chance to do otherwise...

I have traveled a fair bit, I have been lucky - the only times I've been close to a "bad encounter" were in small dorms, night carriages on trains for 4-6 people etc

I can understand parents being worried, that's their "job". It all depends on why the parents have "issues" with albergues.

Having traveled with "youngsters" that were not "mine", I'm all for introducing extra "watchers" and removing "ideas" of "looking at nightlife abroad". I'd go for the albergue...

Best wishes for your planning

 

[Hroswitha]

If it were just me, I would do albergues and arrange a baggage transfer arrangement. I have a bad back and really don't want to do this in pain.

There will be three adults on this camino, if we do it. Since we are planning for 4 girls and a boy, we'll have one adult male and two female. Chaperons will be on duty most of the time, though we all get a night off during the pilgrimage. One of the chaperons will be a minister, and we'll be able to celebrate eucharist on the road as we go.

There are health concerns for us. The minister has a progressive liver disease, and I'm a type 2 diabetic. We're both fine, but have to watch our activity levels and I have to pay attention to my glucose levels. I'm not worried about this - I can do this trip as long as I pay attention. However, carrying two weeks worth of luggage on this walk is not in the picture for us. The teens will welcome the opportunity to have luggage passed on from town to town and just carry what we need for the day on our backs.

I will continue talking to the parents about albergues. First, I need an up or down vote on this camino (they're considering a cheaper one to the missions in California as well). Once we know they want to do this Spain trip, I can start working out details such as whether we will go total immersion or stay in actual hotels along the road.

If any of you has used a baggage transfer outfit, please let me know. I would like to have this part nailed down before I present again. I'm getting a range of between 5-10 Euros per bag per day - at most 60 euros per person for the walking portion of the trip. That's doable, but I need to confirm that this is possible and the rates reasonably accurate.

Thanks again to all of you. I sincerely hope this is the trip they choose, as it would be the visit of a lifetime. How awesome would it be, to walk through Spain in the footsteps of a million others on their way to Santiago?