Hi Jennifer
I walked the camino last September and with time to spare before returning home walked to the coast. I felt the camino ended when I stood in front of the alter in Santiago cathedral and the ensuing walk was merely like licking my fingers after eating the cake. Do it if you have the time but don't get too hung up about it.
This year I will be walking the Gorges of the Verdon in Provence but the camino has left a deep imprint on my spirit and I think about it regularly. I am not in any way religeous and in fact walked the route to raise money for a charity I support. However, the camino has more to teach me, I think, and I will do the walk again one day. I will be thinking of you on your journey in September with a great deal of envy.
Enjoy yourself, don't get too hung up about Muxia, make Santiago your goal and make your decision about the coast when you get to the cathedral. You will see things from a different perspective then.
Roger, thanks for the advice and many happy thoughts for your trip in the Gorges of Verdon, it sounds wonderful. I am pretty flexible, and have no fixed plans for the El Camino. I have done many spiritual practices and have found they evolve as they will, better without too much planning. I would like to see the ocean though, and may bus it after Santiago. I am going to start the Camino
August 31st and that is about all I know! If you like such walks you should try the American southwest, as the Navajo say, beauty before you, beauty behind you, beauty to the left of you, beauty to the right of you, beauty above you, and beauty below you...may you walk in beauty. Jenny
You will no doubt have read much about the walk and I humbly throw in my five penny worth at
http://www.justgiving.com/thepilgrim
Buen Camino
Roger