Hello It's Angela Solorzano - starting at St-Jean-Pied-de-Po

[goingsolo]

Okay so I am finally doing it....The Camino Frances Saint Jean Pied de Port, to Santiago (Spain). A 500+ kilometer trek starting from France through the pyrenees mountains to Northern Spain to arrive at Saint James of Compostela. By myself. Why? One might ask. Because it scares me.

There is supposed to be a long weekend at the end of April 2008 in Spain, so ideally I'd like to be out of Canada by mid April and have finished this expedition by the beginning of June.

Any suggestions would be great ! Gear brand, places to eat, things to stay away from....

I am looking for a walking partner as well. i am female 31.

Regards, Angela

 

[JohnnieWalker]

Hi Angela and wlecome to the Forum. Many of the answers to your questions will already be here and if they aren't just ask and other pilgrims will share their experiences with you.

As for walking alone...well you possibly may meet other pilgrims at the airport when you arrive, you will certainly meet them on the bus to Roncesvalles if you go that way and its dead certain that you'll meet them as soon as you step out from St Jean...in fact you'll have to make a conscious decision to be alone!

Buen Camino

John

 

[Arn]

Hi Angela....and welcome to the Class of 2008!

As Johnnie Walker said, you'll have to make an effort to be alone as you walk the Milky Way. May I suggest that you check the Class of 2008 thread and the calendar at the bottom of the page to see who from the Forum is scheduled to start when you do.

I'll be starting from SJPDP on/about April 19th. April will be the start of many new adventures for you and the Camino should be bright with flowers and budding trees. Also, some of the Albergues will have just opened for the season, so you're on the crest of a very large wave.

Buen Camino,

Arn

 

[lckgj]

Hi Angela
I love your reason for walking the camino "because it scares me"!
I think a lot of us can identify with the need to put ourselves outside our comfort zone - I wonder why?? I may borrow this phrase when people ask me why I do it as it pretty much sums up how I felt when I set off for the first time!
As others have said, you will soon meet lots of walking companions and will never be alone unless you wish to be.
I would be wary of trying to find a permanent walking partner in advance, especially someone you dont know. Walking the camino is a very intense experience and you could find it a real strain to be with someone all day every day if you then find you dont have a great rapport with them. The albergues (assuming you plan to use them) are often very 'cosy' (ie cramped) with people sleeping in close proximity to each other and the pilgrims generally eat together in the evenings in groups, either in the albergue or at a pilgrims Menu Del Dia in a nearby restaurant.
Consequently you spend more time in close company with strangers than you have possibly ever spent with your partner or family! It would be a real shame to spoil your personal camino experience through feeling some kind of obligation to someone you find you do do wish not to travel with after all.
The other problem with arranging to walk with someone you dont know is that that you need to go at your own pace and it would be impossible to know in advance whether anyone would be as slow or as fast as you. Going faster than you are comfortable with could lead to strain or worse injury and going too slow is very frustrating and could spoil your timescale.
I know the whole 'going it alone' thing is incredibly daunting but trust me, you will soon make not just one friend but lots. One of the great joys of the camino is the fluidity of the friendships. Some people travel with you all the way and others you meet, lose and re-meet time and time again.
You have made the brave decision to go and the fear of being alone need not feature.
Happy planning and buen camino!
Laura

 

[jgray4613]

Hi Angela:

May I suggest making reservations in Orisson, http://www.refuge-orisson.com/, for your first night. It is 8 km from SJPP with the last 3 km or so being the hardest of the entire Pyrenees crossing. You can leave SJPP a little later and then you have most of the day in Orisson to make friends. And It makes the next day in the crossing Pyrenees relatively easy. We made reservations by email with no problem. They only speak French, Spanish or Basque so we emailed them in Spanish, no hay problema.

Ditto to what others have said. My daughter and I speak a moderate amount of Spanish but no French. So when we arrived in France we were a little apprehensive (scared) but then we started running into other pilgrims, first in Biarritz at the airport, then Bayonne and by the time we reached SJPP so we had not trouble at all. In the airport in Biarritz the woman at the information kiosk just looked at us directed us to the bus to Bayonne. When we asked how she knew we were pilgrims she broke out in a big grin. Pilgrims are easy to identify before they reach the camino, they have backpacks and look a little confused and are probably thinking what did we get ourselfs into. But then there are the old timers who are on their umpteenth camino and who will gladly help. Walking with others is easy; groups form and reform as people speed up or slow down. The camino is one big loose group anyway and you will turn into a pilgrim rather quickly ( by the end of day 1).

Everyone will tell you to take care of your feet. Good boots, not too tight with room for your feet to swell and great socks are an absolute necessity. Besides that, you don't need much else, a change of clothes, a fleece, some raingear (I like a poncho but some people hate them), a backpacking towel and a blanket or sleeping bag or bag liner and some personel stuff. There are lots of gear lists on the web but pack as light as posssible, you are a pilgrim. The average pack weight before adding water seemed to be 11 kg or 22 pounds with some weighing much more. Our backpacks fully loaded weighed 11 pounds each and we could have left a few things at home.

Most of the women had one nice article of clothing to wear in the evenings. Well as nice as you can cram into a backpack. My daughter carried a very light weight skirt, long but just a few ounces. Something to consider I guess.

Is it worth it? Absolutely! I'm planning/plotting my next camino. And a year later my daughter in reflection said it was a life changing event.

Give me a day or so and I'll get you some specifc recommendations for gear.

Buen Camino

 

[JeanB]

Okay so I am finally doing it....The Camino Frances Saint Jean Pied de Port, to Santiago (Spain). A 500+ kilometer trek starting from France through the pyrenees mountains to Northern Spain to arrive at Saint James of Compostela. By myself. Why? One might ask. Because it scares me.

There is supposed to be a long weekend at the end of April 2008 in Spain, so ideally I'd like to be out of Canada by mid April and have finished this expedition by the beginning of June.

Any suggestions would be great ! Gear brand, places to eat, things to stay away from....

I am looking for a walking partner as well. i am female 31.

Regards, Angela

Hi Angela, I think the distance is actually more like 500 miles! When are you starting your walk? I am starting on 20th from St Jean Pied de Port.

 

[JeanB]

Okay so I am finally doing it....The Camino Frances Saint Jean Pied de Port, to Santiago (Spain). A 500+ kilometer trek starting from France through the pyrenees mountains to Northern Spain to arrive at Saint James of Compostela. By myself. Why? One might ask. Because it scares me.

There is supposed to be a long weekend at the end of April 2008 in Spain, so ideally I'd like to be out of Canada by mid April and have finished this expedition by the beginning of June.

Any suggestions would be great ! Gear brand, places to eat, things to stay away from....

I am looking for a walking partner as well. i am female 31.

Regards, Angela

Oooops - you walked in 2008! Not 2018.

 

[Anniesantiago]

Is this a very very VERY old post????