LIVE from the Camino Coastal route with 2 kids

[DumbriFamily]

Hi everyone!

We're a family from Latvia, starting our 2nd Camino de Santiago. We walked the central Portugese route 1,5 years ago, and will walk the coastal route this time.

The first day on March 18 ended in Labruge auberge after ~23km, the weather is fantastic (although a bit windy, which you would expect from the coastal route). Everyone's legs are hurting - it was a bit too much for the 4 and 6 year old kids, so we'll take it easy tomorrow and walk a much shorter stage. I'll post videos as soon as I have time to put something together - for now i'll post some pictures from day 1 and videos from our last Camino.

 

[laurenligreci]

Amazing!! I will be doing the coastal with my daughter in June and she’s 8! I can’t believe your little ones walked 23km, how fantastic! Buen Camino!

 

[SilentNight]

Everyone's legs are hurting - it was a bit too much for the 4 and 6 year old kids, so we'll take it easy tomorrow and walk a much shorter stage.

I admire you as brave, young parents, hiking with your children. We took our children wilderness backpacking from the age of 5, when they first trekked the Trinity Alps Wilderness (formally Ansel Adams). They both carried kid-size hip packs, holding a juice box and goldfish crackers. We found lightweight worked best for our athletic children. I’m glad to see your children unencumbered by the weight of backpacks. In case you want a couple of tips from my longtime backpacking family, here’s what got my children over the years to enjoy wilderness backpacking. BTW, they’re now in their 30’s, and they both still love the backcountry, hiking, and backpacking.

Whenever we reached a tough stretch, like a big elevation gain, whenever we wanted to encourage our twins to keep hiking, I told them stories that I made up along the way. I always used the same two characters, which they grew to love over the years. I would involve them by asking about the characters’ choices, and what they would want the character(s) to do in a situation, what they thought the character(s) might do, and the likely reaction of the other character. We would also discuss the consequences of the characters’ behavior. I liked to weave the local wild animals into the tale. Same for any hikers we met along the way. Whenever we stopped for a rest or food break, I would stop the story. This helped them to hike many miles, happily engrossed in the story. At about age 7, I encouraged them to add to the story, and they loved it. About age 8-9, they wanted to make the rest and food breaks as short as possible, so that I would continue the story. They at times asked their dad to join in. He would invariably kill off all of the characters, which was amusing fir a time, and my children later learned to circumvent their demise by reviving them. They loved the stories so much that as university students, they encouraged me to publish. I had other interests though.
Buen Camino and Godspeed!

 

[DumbriFamily]

I admire you as brave, young parents, hiking with your children. We took our children wilderness backpacking from the age of 5, when they first trekked the Trinity Alps Wilderness (formally Ansel Adams). They both carried kid-size hip packs, holding a juice box and goldfish crackers. We found lightweight worked best for our athletic children. I’m glad to see your children unencumbered by the weight of backpacks. In case you want a couple of tips from my longtime backpacking family, here’s what got my children over the years to enjoy wilderness backpacking. BTW, they’re now in their 30’s, and they both still love the backcountry, hiking, and backpacking.

Whenever we reached a tough stretch, like a big elevation gain, whenever we wanted to encourage our twins to keep hiking, I told them stories that I made up along the way. I always used the same two characters, which they grew to love over the years. I would involve them by asking about the characters’ choices, and what they would want the character(s) to do in a situation, what they thought the character(s) might do, and the likely reaction of the other character. We would also discuss the consequences of the characters’ behavior. I liked to weave the local wild animals into the tale. Same for any hikers we met along the way. Whenever we stopped for a rest or food break, I would stop the story. This helped them to hike many miles, happily engrossed in the story. At about age 7, I encouraged them to add to the story, and they loved it. About age 8-9, they wanted to make the rest and food breaks as short as possible, so that I would continue the story. They at times asked their dad to join in. He would invariably kill off all of the characters, which was amusing fir a time, and my children later learned to circumvent their demise by reviving them. They loved the stories so much that as university students, they encouraged me to publish. I had other interests though.
Buen Camino and Godspeed!

Thank You, SilentNight, that's a nice advice. For now we're solving some math problems, finding flowers and identifying them and things like that. Idea about a story is great, I used to love inventing bedtime stories for them just like this

 

[DumbriFamily]

Day 2 for us was 14 km and we arrived in Povoa de Varzim aubergue. A lot less after the long 23km day 1. Along the seaside's wooden path there's a big portion of the path covered with deep sand - be sure to get it out of the shoes, as it causes blisters pretty quickly. The municipal albergue is not situated exactly where a lot of maps say, just in case someone's looking - it's over the street a bit to the right.

 

[Rita Flower]

As an Australian Latvian, I am always so excited to see Latvians on Camino.
And loving your videos with commentary in my first language.
I might be in Latvia later this year. Maybe we could have a Camino catch up?
Buen Camino

 

[DumbriFamily]

As an Australian Latvian, I am always so excited to see Latvians on Camino.
And loving your videos with commentary in my first language.
I might be in Latvia later this year. Maybe we could have a Camino catch up?
Buen Camino

Definitely. We live in a country farm near Jaunpils, You can visit us.
We also have a close Australian family that have visited us already twice - it's my mother's cousin. Their surname is Neilands, maybe You've heared about them

 

[DumbriFamily]

Day 3 was another 14km walk to the village of Apulia. We took the inland route and didn't meet a single pilgrim during all day - I guess this route is not that popular, as we had to follow the app and we only saw some arrows on last 3kms. Both kids are feeling much stronger - we need less and less stops every day, so maybe we'll try the longer 18 km stage tomorrow.

 

[Rita Flower]

Definitely. We live in a country farm near Jaunpils, You can visit us.
We also have a close Australian family that have visited us already twice - it's my mother's cousin. Their surname is Neilands, maybe You've heared about them

I’m not very connected to Latvians in Australia- and it’s a huge country - so haven’t met your relatives. But will definitely send you a message next time I’m in Latvia. I stay with my relatives in Engure.

 

[AidaYYC]

Hi everyone!

We're a family from Latvia, starting our 2nd Camino de Santiago. We walked the central Portugese route 1,5 years ago, and will walk the coastal route this time.

The first day on March 18 ended in Labruge auberge after ~23km, the weather is fantastic (although a bit windy, which you would expect from the coastal route). Everyone's legs are hurting - it was a bit too much for the 4 and 6 year old kids, so we'll take it easy tomorrow and walk a much shorter stage. I'll post videos as soon as I have time to put something together - for now i'll post some pictures from day 1 and videos from our last Camino.

I watched it all and I am so proud of you for having the fortitude to walk the Camino, but taking your two young children along on this wonderful adventure. Buen Camino!

 

[DumbriFamily]

Today we walked 18 km. We started with a beautiful peaceful road along the sea, later through small villages, lettuce plantations and eucalyptus forests.
During one of the breaks, we got to a very colorful bar / museum, where there was everything about and around football, Che Guevara, Bob Marley, antiques and much more + a turtle in a small bathtub, which August liked very much. The owner was extremely warm, treated the children with oranges from the garden and other treats.
We met a lot of positive people, including Alex and Stephanie from Canada, who traveled to Santiago with a 5-month-old baby. This was already the second baby who went to Santiago at this time, because the day before yesterday we met a lady from New Zealand who was traveling with a 4-month-old baby.

 

[AidaYYC]

Today we walked 18 km. We started with a beautiful peaceful road along the sea, later through small villages, lettuce plantations and eucalyptus forests.
During one of the breaks, we got to a very colorful bar / museum, where there was everything about and around football, Che Guevara, Bob Marley, antiques and much more + a turtle in a small bathtub, which August liked very much. The owner was extremely warm, treated the children with oranges from the garden and other treats.
We met a lot of positive people, including Alex and Stephanie from Canada, who traveled to Santiago with a 5-month-old baby. This was already the second baby who went to Santiago at this time, because the day before yesterday we met a lady from New Zealand who was traveling with a 4-month-old baby.

Where in Galicia is this? I loved all your photos ... what a wonderful experience. Blessings to you and your family and Buen Camino!!!

 

[DumbriFamily]

Where in Galicia is this? I loved all your photos ... what a wonderful experience. Blessings to you and your family and Buen Camino!!!

Thank You! We're still far from Galicia - today we are in Castelo do Neiva in Portugal.

 

[DumbriFamily]

Walked 12km today at +28 degrees till Viana do Castelo.
Today was all about lizards and heat. There was quite a lot of walking along the road, which is not pleasant, but there were also beautiful eucalyptus forests and small villages. Smells like summer. After all this, Sara felt that she needed to run a little more and exercise

 

[AidaYYC]

Wow, 28 degrees and here in Calgary, we are having snow and -10c but yes - stopping for lizards gives a chance to catch your breath Buen Camino!!!

 

[DumbriFamily]

Today was a 13km walk till somewhere near Afife. Our son Augusts got a bit sick so we bought a grocery stroller for 15 euros (we couldn't find one for kids anywhere), updated it a little bit and carried our son all the way so he can get some rest. He's feeling a lot better now, so we'll be doing some wild camping in a tent near the beach. It was a beautiful and challenging day. A day before I got some time to finish our video about first 5 days, so here it is - live from the camino. Enjoy!

 

[AidaYYC]

Beautiful, I love your journey with your lovely children who seem to charm everyone wherever they go

 

[CaroleH]

These are the best family camino videos I've seen... and so delightful, with great photography and editing.
What you are doing for your kids is priceless and wonderful. They will cherish these memories and experiences, plus gain resilience and strength for all their lives.
Be proud of your children and of yourselves.
Buen camino siempre, Carole H (from Australia.)

 

[Goyo]

What a wonderful adventure for your family, an unforgettable journey and something you all will treasure forever. I’ve sent the link to my daughter to plant the seed. I hope it bears fruit! ¡Buen camino!

 

[DumbriFamily]

Walked 15 km today till Caminhos.
This morning Augustus woke up with a text - "I want to eat!" Well, he's almost fully recovered

Today were enjoying the sun, because tomorrow it's going to rain. All of Portugal is united in flowers, callas bloom in the forests, fruit trees near the houses and violet vines that smell from a great distance. Tomorrow we will be in Spain.

 

[DumbriFamily]

This was one of the most poorly planned days ever. Yesterday, after researching the optimal auberges, we decided to take a rest day and walk only 6 km. In the morning we crossed the river to Spain by motorboat, then we slowly wandered through the forest, looked at artists' installations and looked for the biggest cones. When we got to the coast, we met terrible wind and rain. The craziest thing is that we have to do the long day tomorrow, it's going to rain, and the wind is the strongest near the ocean, but the coast is not finished yet.

Santiago can be very different and sometimes you need to plan more, that is, we should have walked more today to escape the storm, tomorrow we will have to walk through the rain for ~23 km.

Can not wait!

 

[DumbriFamily]

30km today! Augustus woke up at 4:45 with a text that it was already morning

(hopefully he won't do that at home). Then we got up, left on time and headed towards today! Carefully following the weather forecast, we rested during rainy periods. However, the auberge we were looking at was not available, so we had to go a lot more than planned. August had help with a stroller to even get a nap, Sara didn't bring her bag today to make walking easier. In the evening, I think Arthur and I look more tired than children.

 

[DumbriFamily]

The bad weather continues and we walked 13 km today. We were lucky to have a hiding place every time there was the big rain, so we were more or less dry at the end of the day. Waiting for the sunny days to come back!

 

[DumbriFamily]

12 km today. A beautiful morning through the woods and small paths along beautiful waterfalls. As we marched into Vigo, it started to rain. We did shopping for the Easter holidays, drank kakao in a small suburban cafe, where it turns out that a lady from Latvia works, who has been living in Spain for 17 years. We chatted with the lady and went to the auberge we had seen. There will be some sunshine tomorrow.

 

[DumbriFamily]

We had two rather short days with some rain - 15km from Vigo to Redondela, and 8 km to the auberge "O Lar de Pepa", where we're having sort of a rest day. I was able to finish the 2nd video of our walk, so here it is - enjoy!

 

[DumbriFamily]

We finished our Camino in 21 days, totalling a 280 km walk.
On the last days I wasn't able to upload the pictures, but here's the third and final video about our Camino

 

[DumbriFamily]

I made a playlist of all 3 our videos, in case You want to see all of them in correct order. Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLL4CexJc7zOBiBvEJfmwYhewQiz3hgMdk