Rachnapier,
That was me on Wednesday night just gone. The 'what the hell have I got myself into' moment.
The best advice I can give you is to leave any preconceptions at home. This is your Camino - it won't match anybody else's experience. No guide book, friend, forum contributor (no matter how helpful or well intentioned) can really describe the feeling of getting on the plane with so many butterflies in your stomach you could nearly fly there yourself; or the relief of falling into a bed the night before you start to walk.....and excitement and nerves in equal measure making you toss and turn; or the sense of adventure when you walk out the door and find the first arrow; or the eerie feeling of a mystical line of pilgrims creeping through a village in the early morning when the mist is still down; or the spine tingling delight when the sounds of a local piper welcome you to a tiny hamlet...
New experiences, new delights, new pains and aches. Old memories, long forgotten hurts and pleasures, new friends, laughs, stumbles, sunburn, tiredness, elation, delight when you reach today's destination, bittersweet realisation you are one step, one meal, one day closer to the end of this chapter - however long it takes....
And today, my day 3, twice I heard myself say 'next time I'll......'.
Very little of the past 3 days has been as I expected, some much better than I could have hoped for, some disappointments. Each day has followed a similar structure - wake, eat, walk, drink, walk, chat, walk, eat, sleep, repeat but each day has been different.
I don't know if you'll love or hate your experience - I've met people who have expressed both feelings, but I can tell you you'll never forget it.....