Planning a 2-3 week trip w/teen daughter

Quinranda · Dec 2, 2015

hello. I am planning to walk part of Camino with my 16 yr old daughter in July. I'm in the early planning stages and my first questions are about accommodations. I'm having a hard time deciding if I should pre-book some smaller rooms for part of the journey, all of the journey or not at all. I want my daughter to be comfortable... And I want to experience "communal living," but I'm thinking it might be too much for her every single night. Since we are walking in the summer, I know things can get booked up. Any advice, suggestions, previous experience w teen would be greatly appreciated. I want this to be an incredible experience for us both.

Donna Sch · Dec 2, 2015

I can only talk from my experience on the VDLP but I ended up frequently sharing a twin room with one of my walking buddies which meant that private options weren't too expensive.There are some days when you just don't want to wait for a shower or to do your laundry. In order of preference: parochial albergues/monasteries, municipal albergues and then private accommodation unless there was something really awesome about a place and it fell in the budget.

JillGat · Dec 2, 2015

Some years ago, I moved my young teenage daughter to a foreign country, ripping her away from her friends, culture and everything she knew. She was furious and bitter, threatening to mutiny when we first got there. Gradually she adjusted - actually must faster than we adults did - learned the dialect, etc. She was ready to go home after two years, though. And now, at age 24, she values and credits that experience more than any other in her life for much growth and developing her identity. Just saying this because, even if there is resistance, in the long term, you are doing one of the greatest things you can do for your child.

simeon · Dec 2, 2015

I did from tricastella to Santiago with my daughter of the same age this spring. We found that the private alburgues were excellent (and had wifi which was the lifeline she needed) and still had the communal living available. However you will probably need to put aside your expectations of what you want the camino to be and just let it happen for you both. The communal living experience was not an experience we had as she was generally late out of the bed in the morning (not my preference) and we missed the wave of walkers which made it more difficult to socialise with others. There weren't any 16yr olds around either which made the communal living more difficult as chatting to 40yr olds wasn't exactly her thing! So we ended off mostly chatting together along the way.

I found that doing the preparation together deciding on things together and taking her lead where possible worked best especially when they dident work as expected as then it was our rather than dads fault!

That said we had a wonderful time sharing the difficulties and joys and reached Santiago wet tired and elated! The promise of a night of luxery in a hotel on the last night helped a lot as well (NH Hotel breakfast is amazing!). It was one of those once in a lifetime experiences which we cherish and was a privilege to be able to do.

Quinranda · Dec 2, 2015

simeon said:
I did from tricastella to Santiago with my daughter of the same age this spring. We found that the private alburgues were excellent (and had wifi which was the lifeline she needed) and still had the communal living available. However you will probably need to put aside your expectations of what you want the camino to be and just let it happen for you both. The communal living experience was not an experience we had as she was generally late out of the bed in the morning (not my preference) and we missed the wave of walkers which made it more difficult to socialise with others. There weren't any 16yr olds around either which made the communal living more difficult as chatting to 40yr olds wasn't exactly her thing! So we ended off mostly chatting together along the way.

I found that doing the preparation together deciding on things together and taking her lead where possible worked best especially when they dident work as expected as then it was our rather than dads fault!

That said we had a wonderful time sharing the difficulties and joys and reached Santiago wet tired and elated! The promise of a night of luxery in a hotel on the last night helped a lot as well (NH Hotel breakfast is amazing!). It was one of those once in a lifetime experiences which we cherish and was a privilege to be able to do.

Quinranda · Dec 2, 2015

That's great advice. Especially about allowing her to help decide the pace, as I'm sure there are mornings she'll want to sleep later. What is the best resource to research private alburges? And does getting a later start some days mean we should book in advance in July?

She is excited to make the trip-has chosen this over other options- and I'm hoping it'll be a memorable experience before she heads off to college.

purplesage · Dec 2, 2015

JillGat said:
Some years ago, I moved my young teenage daughter to a foreign country, ripping her away from her friends, culture and everything she knew. She was furious and bitter, threatening to mutiny when we first got there. Gradually she adjusted - actually must faster than we adults did - learned the dialect, etc. She was ready to go home after two years, though. And now, at age 24, she values and credits that experience more than any other in her life for much growth and developing her identity. Just saying this because, even if there is resistance, in the long term, you are doing one of the greatest things you can do for your child.

JillGat... I couldn't agree more with you. I've often told my daughter the same things..... when she has "regrets" for things she did instead of "what she should have done instead" and I caution her by saying that she's learned more from doing the things she did. By "things" I mean... she travelled like there was no tomorrow and her Mother and I supported her all the way. She's a great daughter now... I can see it !!!

NualaOC · Dec 2, 2015

Hi @Quinranda, the Brierley guide: http://www.santiagodecompostela.me/...t-jean-pied-de-port-to-santiago-de-compostela has excellent information on the accommodation available in each place. It also shows the number of beds in each albergue, how they are divided between the rooms and the places that have private rooms. You might, for example prefer the places that have fewer bunks in each dorm - you can easily identify these places from the guide.

There's also lots of information on http://www.gronze.com/camino-de-santiago/caminos/guia-del-camino-frances

Buen Camino to both of you! I'm sure it will be a very memorable experience.

purplesage · Dec 2, 2015

Quinranda said:
hello. I am planning to walk part of Camino with my 16 yr old daughter in July. I'm in the early planning stages and my first questions are about accommodations. I'm having a hard time deciding if I should pre-book some smaller rooms for part of the journey, all of the journey or not at all. I want my daughter to be comfortable... And I want to experience "communal living," but I'm thinking it might be too much for her every single night. Since we are walking in the summer, I know things can get booked up. Any advice, suggestions, previous experience w teen would be greatly appreciated. I want this to be an incredible experience for us both.

My two cents.... Give her the Camino experience "as it is..." else she'd have something else and not the real Camino experience. Remember pilgrims in the early days who slept in the mountains because there were no pensions or albergues to sleep in back then? Your daughter will learn so much from being on the Camino and she deserves it all. Buen Camino to both of you

Donna Sch · Dec 3, 2015

Don't over-plan. Have an idea about what is around but be really flexible. I worked on doing a minimum of 20 km each day. Some days I walked high 30s. Never pre-booked a thing. Mind you that was on the VDLP/Sanabres. The only place where it may be useful to book is Santiago if you are going to be there for Saint James' Day. Do check out the elevation maps on the Eroski site - having to climb uphill at the end of the day can reek and the same walk may be absolutely delightful when you are fresh first thing in the morning.

jefferyonthecamino · Dec 3, 2015

Quinranda said:
hello. I am planning to walk part of Camino with my 16 yr old daughter in July. I'm in the early planning stages and my first questions are about accommodations. I'm having a hard time deciding if I should pre-book some smaller rooms for part of the journey, all of the journey or not at all. I want my daughter to be comfortable... And I want to experience "communal living," but I'm thinking it might be too much for her every single night. Since we are walking in the summer, I know things can get booked up. Any advice, suggestions, previous experience w teen would be greatly appreciated. I want this to be an incredible experience for us both.

Definitely book ahead and let the experience happen (it may not)... and Buen Camino