Hello all.
It'll be soon 4 years since I walked my last Camino (the 2nd one).
It is just hard to believe that it's been that long which I never intended to be like this.
It's always there in the corner of my mind like a phased out nostalgic note when I think of my walk on Camino.
It's just never the same or not even close when you've been back, feeling almost as if you've never walked in that country and read someone walking the Camino.
I'm aware that there are people going now but timing in life plays funny oftentimes. I don't even know how I would feel about having all that covid restrictions, not to mention the air travel arrangements along with that, if I do go.
My chance, all planned and ready to leave for a few months, for the 3rd one went into the thin air at the beginning of 2020 when the pandemic hit hard and blew our mind.
I guess I'm still stuck in that place even though I've moved on and being busy with life matters.
Any Canadians walking out there now? (any Albertan?)
I’m not out there yet, but have plans to be there April 1.
I’m travelling from Canada, but have an EU PP and EU digital COV pass, so some things are less complicated for me (and I am grateful, cognizant of that fact). However, Canada has lifted its travel advisory, and Portugal, France, Spain… all open to arrivals. I actually land in Germany on a lay-over and that looks like a non-issue at this point for those coming from Canada on Canadian PP too.
Whatever you plan, keep a close eye on things and make sure you get the good insurance for cancellations/re-bookings etc.
Different regions in Spain and Portugal seem to shift around rules about having the vaccination pass, but
you can be prepared for any eventuality if you carry your paperwork as paper and as a QR code on your phone (those are recognized as valid, but not everyone has the QR reader, so take paper copies as well). Having the digital copy with you will mean that if you lose your paper copy you can go print a new one.
I bought the 2-pack SWITCH health RT-LAMP test kits from Air Canada — live verification from telehealth that your results are accurate. Right now we don’t even need those tests, but I learned from a friend who got stuck at Heathrow Dec 2nd (!) without the results of her very expensive PCR test Arriving on time to board her plane. So she ran around LHR to find an RT-LAMP test, bought a whole new ticket on a different airline…. Taking the kit will protect against “eventualities”.
I am also taking
5 pre-loaded RATs — because a single test in a boosted person like myself is not likely to yield accurate information, but one taken every 48 hours over several days — if I feel crummy — can help me to know if I’m safe to keep moving (ie: not infectious to others).
As to the rest, well, I’ve booked accommodation during the Holy Week and I have in the back of my head that if I get to albergues that are too crowded for my comfort level, I’ll just find a bench or a doorway and throw myself there for the night.
Others may have different levels of tolerance for close company with strangers. I have a lung condition, so I’m more cautious.
What else? After a few lost plans for earlier in the year — blending work and camino — I found out that I had a pile of air miles that I hadn’t known about. So: I used them to get myself into prime seating. If you have any air Miles you can take advantage of, that might help you to feel better about the travel part. Honestly, it’s not the planes that worry me as much as the crowded airport lines and waiting areas, so having the shorter lines and the lounge access is a big deal for my own emotional response to this journey.
I am also
taking 5 3M N95 masks with me. Each one should last me about a week (they can be cleaned — instructions are available on Health Canada sites). I’ll only use them when I’m with people, not when I’m actually out walking.
The 5 tests, 5 masks and RT-LAMP kit add some bulk, but very little weight and lots of reassurance, so into my pack they go! Compensating for the bulk and weight by taking my lightest pack: Lumina 40L. The Lumina does not have a hip pocket so I’ve sewn a Gossamer Gear bottle holder to the hip belt as a place to keep things for quick access: phone, inhaler, lip-balm, mask...
If you haven’t had a third shot yet, you will need that soon as the
Canadian schedule for our first 2 doses will put that series out of date by the time you make your journey.
If you do happen to have an EU PP, contact your country of citizenship home office about getting an EU digital vaccine pass.
We have delayed Spouse’s coming camino for 2 years… was supposed to be in May of 2020…
Whatever you decide, I hope you are at peace with it.
I do think that we are now at a stage of COV reality in which we are being asked to take all the risks for the sake of work if we work not not with data but with real people…. So, there’s no strong reason to avoid seeing people for the sake of pleasure. A camino is a very low risk activity once you get out of the crowded airports. I’ve never seen a crowded train station between Bordeaux, Lisbon, Porto, Madrid and Santiago. Last crowded train station I saw in Spain was Barcelona… *years* ago now.
Buen Camino