I walked SJPdP to Santiago last August. I started off alone and on two separate occasions left a group of friends to walk on my own for 2-3 days, as I was curious to experience my first Camino as a solitary journey of self-discovery. Pre-Camino, my lifestyle was a private one. I had become introverted and distant. I had expected the Camino to be similar.
I enjoyed those days walking alone and can remember each of them vividly. I felt more open and vulnerable to what was around me. But on each occasion I was glad to re-join my new friends. As much as I enjoyed walking alone, I missed my new friends more. I missed the shared camaraderie, the social convening in the evenings, their genuine expressions of compassion and encouragement that I can still remember months after parting ways. By the time we walked together into Santiago, I could not have imagined a Camino experience as fulfilling without them.
For many (most?) the Camino is a inward-looking experience, a time to reflect within yourself and hope to discover more about yourself as a person. For me, it became an outward-looking period instead where I learned more from others and in doing so shed some of the insular traits I had built up over time before I arrived in St Jean.
The above is merely a personal reflection. On a practical level, it is possible to walk as alone as possible in August. Leave at different times to others, stay in smaller, less popular towns and villages, avoid the first cafes you encounter along the way. Before you know it, you will have walked long stretches of the day without seeing others, sleeping in half-empty albergues, and you can be sitting alone for breakfast and dinner and so on.
I certainly wouldn't be put off the Frances because of concerns over a lack of alone-time. Even during those last two weeks when I planned my walking schedule and accommodation in advance to join others, I still walked mostly alone. We'd set off together in the morning, but our different walking paces meant we walked alone most of the time. For me it was the best of both worlds, alone-time walking during the day, social get togethers in the evening. Plenty of time for reflection and celebration.