Long vs Short Camino Emotions Experienced

[La Brique Jaune]

Hi to All,


I imagine is a strange question but I'm trying to plan my next vacation (august) and i want to have some thoughts/opinion from pilgrims. Last year I did the Camino Francès From SJPDP to Finisterre, I have full of time. When I came back home I realize that was maybe the best experience of my life, I felt big emotions there. But I think I lived theses emotions because I walk during a long time and could not be experienced on a shorter walk. I want to see Finisterre again so I'm interested to do the Ingès way and do a Loop Like Ingès-Muxia-Finisterre. So want do you think ? How a smaller Camino can give great emotions ? it is possible ? How i can focus myself ?

PS: I come from north America, maybe three week of vacations, walk 20 km/day and a Compostela it is not important for me.

Thanks

 

[Robo]

I find that I need 2 weeks walking just to settle in before the magic happens....

 

[La Brique Jaune]

Thanks You,
I can not do a Camino this year, not enough vacation . so I will wait for the next one.

 

[jungleboy]

I am about to do a short one (the Primitivo), so we'll see if it's long enough to feel the magic and emotion of the camino. I hope and suspect that once you have felt the magic for the first time, you can recapture it fairly quickly in subsequent walks. But I'll have to wait a few more days to find out if that's true!

 

[november_moon]

Our first Camino was interupted after a week due to an emergency at home. We still got some Camino magic, but did feel like we were just begining to hit our stride. When we got home, we definitely felt changed even in the short time that we walked though. When we went back 2 years later to complete it, we felt like we hit our stride a little faster - even the first day walking we felt ourselves getting into our Camino groove. So I do think there is something to the theory that it is easier and faster to recapture the Camino groove on subsequent walks.

 

[Kiwi-family]

When we just walked from Porto to Santiago it definitely felt too short although there had been plenty of magic. We were just grateful for the opportunity and understand that while we like a three month walk, sometimes it's not possible and a shorter one can be just right for the time.

 

[Anamya]

When we just walked from Porto to Santiago it definitely felt too short although there had been plenty of magic. We were just grateful for the opportunity and understand that while we like a three month walk, sometimes it's not possible and a shorter one can be just right for the time.

We did Porto-Santiago as well, but it did not feel too short. It was magical for sure, in a different way than the CF had been.

Maybe because now we knew how to pack well, what to expect from albergues, trains, from Santiago itself... So all the "doubts" were gone and there was just magic and excitement. And amazing food.

I totally believe a shorter experience can be just as magical. If not, shorter Caminos such as the Ingles or the Primitivo would not even be a thing anymore, right? And they have big-time fans

 

[MKalcolm M]

I have walked both long and short caminos, the end result of walking a short one is that I feel restless and start planning another one soon! Last year I only had one week, so I walked the Salvador, which was lovely, but it ended in Oviedo and the vast majority of people in the albergue were about to walk the Primitivo. It was very, very hard to get on the flight home, as every part of me yearned to head West and walk to Santiago...