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Not only that, but I would encourage them to,spread out during the day and evening as not to have such a large group take over small bars and even albergues. It changes the dynamic for everyone: these people, the staff in bars and restaurant, other people walking.Just a word of warning please make it clear to your group that even though you have organised it you are not their tour director if things go wrong.
You sound like a remarkable and generous lady to spend so much time researching a trip for so many people! That was "mucho" planning for sure. Wishing you all a Buen Camino in September!Do you find, when you get back from your camino, and after your friends have asked “How was your trip?”, you start telling them, but very quickly their eyes glaze over, and they soon lose interest?
Not so with my friends in The Lowveld Rambling Club!
The first Saturday hike after I get back, they really want to hear all about it. They would love to go too, they tell me; “just couldn’t afford it”, says another; “my husband would never let me go away on my own”; “I’ve never been out of the country, let alone go to Spain”; “I would never go away on my own in a million years”; “Jill, you are so blessed to be able to do the camino”; and so it goes on . . . .
And all the while I’m thinking, but you can do it, all and every one of you.
So I started thinking, I wonder if they would go, if I planned and organized it all for them?
It could only be for a limited time, as most of them have jobs, so 3 weeks maximum. The weather would have to be good – don’t want to put them off the camino if it’s too hot, or too cold. We’d have to stay in albergues - wages are pretty low around here, hundreds of miles from the big cities, so they will be on very limited budgets. I’d have to book ahead, being peak season, as I couldn’t risk turning up with a group of people, only to find no beds. And then I’d have to choose the days and mileages very carefully, so that all fitness levels were catered for.
So just for the fun of it, I worked out an itinerary for 3 weeks, and costed it. I still had to factor in the airfares, and getting to and from the big city. But, amazingly, I came up with a very affordable cost price, and ran it by the club’s committee members. They agreed to put it in the club’s program for this year, and I started emailing a few private albergues (in Spanish, using Google Translate).
I was hoping that I would get 6 or 7 people interested . . . I never envisaged that 15 altogether would sign up!
Once they started buying their own return flights (on Iberian Airlines, departing Johannesburg on 8 Sep, and returning from Santiago via Madrid on 29 Sep), I knew we were good to go. I’ve organized for a charter bus to get us to Jo’burg airport and back, and booked us all on the Alsa bus to León when we arrive in Madrid. It has been so much fun putting this trip together, and being able to put something worthwhile back into the club after so many years of happy hiking with them.
So this upcoming camino will be a very different one for me, and I am so looking forward to it. After years of telling everyone they should go alone if they really want to experience the camino in all its glory, I now have my “camino family” readymade right from the start! I will be hoping, as the days progress, they will see just how easy it really is . . . . and then one day, when they feel the camino calling again, be brave enough to go it alone.
Jill
Do you find, when you get back from your camino, and after your friends have asked “How was your trip?”, you start telling them, but very quickly their eyes glaze over, and they soon lose interest?
Not so with my friends in The Lowveld Rambling Club!
The first Saturday hike after I get back, they really want to hear all about it. They would love to go too, they tell me; “just couldn’t afford it”, says another; “my husband would never let me go away on my own”; “I’ve never been out of the country, let alone go to Spain”; “I would never go away on my own in a million years”; “Jill, you are so blessed to be able to do the camino”; and so it goes on . . . .
And all the while I’m thinking, but you can do it, all and every one of you.
So I started thinking, I wonder if they would go, if I planned and organized it all for them?
It could only be for a limited time, as most of them have jobs, so 3 weeks maximum. The weather would have to be good – don’t want to put them off the camino if it’s too hot, or too cold. We’d have to stay in albergues - wages are pretty low around here, hundreds of miles from the big cities, so they will be on very limited budgets. I’d have to book ahead, being peak season, as I couldn’t risk turning up with a group of people, only to find no beds. And then I’d have to choose the days and mileages very carefully, so that all fitness levels were catered for.
So just for the fun of it, I worked out an itinerary for 3 weeks, and costed it. I still had to factor in the airfares, and getting to and from the big city. But, amazingly, I came up with a very affordable cost price, and ran it by the club’s committee members. They agreed to put it in the club’s program for this year, and I started emailing a few private albergues (in Spanish, using Google Translate).
I was hoping that I would get 6 or 7 people interested . . . I never envisaged that 15 altogether would sign up!
Once they started buying their own return flights (on Iberian Airlines, departing Johannesburg on 8 Sep, and returning from Santiago via Madrid on 29 Sep), I knew we were good to go. I’ve organized for a charter bus to get us to Jo’burg airport and back, and booked us all on the Alsa bus to León when we arrive in Madrid. It has been so much fun putting this trip together, and being able to put something worthwhile back into the club after so many years of happy hiking with them.
So this upcoming camino will be a very different one for me, and I am so looking forward to it. After years of telling everyone they should go alone if they really want to experience the camino in all its glory, I now have my “camino family” readymade right from the start! I will be hoping, as the days progress, they will see just how easy it really is . . . . and then one day, when they feel the camino calling again, be brave enough to go it alone.
Jill
Hi Jill,
For a fee they will courier the passports to you. I had mine delivered to so there was no need to face the trip to the city again.
Petro
I would love to hear how this goes. I have a lot of friends who keep asking me to do something like this, but I have always equivocated. I feel kind of guilty and like a bad friend, but I just don't know if I would be good at it or enjoy it.
Are you planning to all do the same stages? All walk together? Are all the nights pre-arranged? Will everyone have a Spanish phone?
Sorry to bombard you with questions, Jill. Buen camino, Laurie
Do you find, when you get back from your camino, and after your friends have asked “How was your trip?”, you start telling them, but very quickly their eyes glaze over, and they soon lose interest?
Not so with my friends in The Lowveld Rambling Club!
The first Saturday hike after I get back, they really want to hear all about it. They would love to go too, they tell me; “just couldn’t afford it”, says another; “my husband would never let me go away on my own”; “I’ve never been out of the country, let alone go to Spain”; “I would never go away on my own in a million years”; “Jill, you are so blessed to be able to do the camino”; and so it goes on . . . .
And all the while I’m thinking, but you can do it, all and every one of you.
So I started thinking, I wonder if they would go, if I planned and organized it all for them?
It could only be for a limited time, as most of them have jobs, so 3 weeks maximum. The weather would have to be good – don’t want to put them off the camino if it’s too hot, or too cold. We’d have to stay in albergues - wages are pretty low around here, hundreds of miles from the big cities, so they will be on very limited budgets. I’d have to book ahead, being peak season, as I couldn’t risk turning up with a group of people, only to find no beds. And then I’d have to choose the days and mileages very carefully, so that all fitness levels were catered for.
So just for the fun of it, I worked out an itinerary for 3 weeks, and costed it. I still had to factor in the airfares, and getting to and from the big city. But, amazingly, I came up with a very affordable cost price, and ran it by the club’s committee members. They agreed to put it in the club’s program for this year, and I started emailing a few private albergues (in Spanish, using Google Translate).
I was hoping that I would get 6 or 7 people interested . . . I never envisaged that 15 altogether would sign up!
Once they started buying their own return flights (on Iberian Airlines, departing Johannesburg on 8 Sep, and returning from Santiago via Madrid on 29 Sep), I knew we were good to go. I’ve organized for a charter bus to get us to Jo’burg airport and back, and booked us all on the Alsa bus to León when we arrive in Madrid. It has been so much fun putting this trip together, and being able to put something worthwhile back into the club after so many years of happy hiking with them.
So this upcoming camino will be a very different one for me, and I am so looking forward to it. After years of telling everyone they should go alone if they really want to experience the camino in all its glory, I now have my “camino family” readymade right from the start! I will be hoping, as the days progress, they will see just how easy it really is . . . . and then one day, when they feel the camino calling again, be brave enough to go it alone.
Jill
I hope Mr. Brierley is getting a cheque in the mail for these copies of his copywrited material.I’ve printed off 15 copies of Brierley’s maps, with each albergue that we are staying at highlighted, so they shouldn’t get lost.
They know they can stay with me all day if they really want to. I expect we’ll regroup at bars along the way anyway.
I hope Mr. Brierley is getting a cheque in the mail for these copies of his copywrited material.
Hey, why does anybody bother? I walk alone, I'm not even a little group. Should I also not pay people for their work? I'm sure Ivar would have also welcomed the few € he gets from these sales.Personal use is all fine; oh, for goodness sakes, it’s just my little group from deepest darkest Africa; I’m not trying to sell the photocopies. Anyway, it has inspired some of my group members to buy the book – now available in stores in South Africa (for any South Africans out there: check out Exclusive Books) – there was a half price sale a few months ago, and several of the group members bought the book. Lighten up Anemone!
Jill
I'm sure Ivar would have also welcomed the few € he gets from these sales.
Do you find, when you get back from your camino, and after your friends have asked “How was your trip?”, you start telling them, but very quickly their eyes glaze over, and they soon lose interest?
Not so with my friends in The Lowveld Rambling Club!
The first Saturday hike after I get back, they really want to hear all about it. They would love to go too, they tell me; “just couldn’t afford it”, says another; “my husband would never let me go away on my own”; “I’ve never been out of the country, let alone go to Spain”; “I would never go away on my own in a million years”; “Jill, you are so blessed to be able to do the camino”; and so it goes on . . . .
And all the while I’m thinking, but you can do it, all and every one of you.
So I started thinking, I wonder if they would go, if I planned and organized it all for them?
It could only be for a limited time, as most of them have jobs, so 3 weeks maximum. The weather would have to be good – don’t want to put them off the camino if it’s too hot, or too cold. We’d have to stay in albergues - wages are pretty low around here, hundreds of miles from the big cities, so they will be on very limited budgets. I’d have to book ahead, being peak season, as I couldn’t risk turning up with a group of people, only to find no beds. And then I’d have to choose the days and mileages very carefully, so that all fitness levels were catered for.
So just for the fun of it, I worked out an itinerary for 3 weeks, and costed it. I still had to factor in the airfares, and getting to and from the big city. But, amazingly, I came up with a very affordable cost price, and ran it by the club’s committee members. They agreed to put it in the club’s program for this year, and I started emailing a few private albergues (in Spanish, using Google Translate).
I was hoping that I would get 6 or 7 people interested . . . I never envisaged that 15 altogether would sign up!
Once they started buying their own return flights (on Iberian Airlines, departing Johannesburg on 8 Sep, and returning from Santiago via Madrid on 29 Sep), I knew we were good to go. I’ve organized for a charter bus to get us to Jo’burg airport and back, and booked us all on the Alsa bus to León when we arrive in Madrid. It has been so much fun putting this trip together, and being able to put something worthwhile back into the club after so many years of happy hiking with them.
So this upcoming camino will be a very different one for me, and I am so looking forward to it. After years of telling everyone they should go alone if they really want to experience the camino in all its glory, I now have my “camino family” readymade right from the start! I will be hoping, as the days progress, they will see just how easy it really is . . . . and then one day, when they feel the camino calling again, be brave enough to go it alone.
Jill
I think a better quisten is: "Where did you start your Camino" And you find a very diffetent answer.Do you find, when you get back from your camino, and after your friends have asked “How was your trip?”, you start telling them, but very quickly their eyes glaze over, and they soon lose interest?
Not so with my friends in The Lowveld Rambling Club!
The first Saturday hike after I get back, they really want to hear all about it. They would love to go too, they tell me; “just couldn’t afford it”, says another; “my husband would never let me go away on my own”; “I’ve never been out of the country, let alone go to Spain”; “I would never go away on my own in a million years”; “Jill, you are so blessed to be able to do the camino”; and so it goes on . . . .
And all the while I’m thinking, but you can do it, all and every one of you.
So I started thinking, I wonder if they would go, if I planned and organized it all for them?
It could only be for a limited time, as most of them have jobs, so 3 weeks maximum. The weather would have to be good – don’t want to put them off the camino if it’s too hot, or too cold. We’d have to stay in albergues - wages are pretty low around here, hundreds of miles from the big cities, so they will be on very limited budgets. I’d have to book ahead, being peak season, as I couldn’t risk turning up with a group of people, only to find no beds. And then I’d have to choose the days and mileages very carefully, so that all fitness levels were catered for.
So just for the fun of it, I worked out an itinerary for 3 weeks, and costed it. I still had to factor in the airfares, and getting to and from the big city. But, amazingly, I came up with a very affordable cost price, and ran it by the club’s committee members. They agreed to put it in the club’s program for this year, and I started emailing a few private albergues (in Spanish, using Google Translate).
I was hoping that I would get 6 or 7 people interested . . . I never envisaged that 15 altogether would sign up!
Once they started buying their own return flights (on Iberian Airlines, departing Johannesburg on 8 Sep, and returning from Santiago via Madrid on 29 Sep), I knew we were good to go. I’ve organized for a charter bus to get us to Jo’burg airport and back, and booked us all on the Alsa bus to León when we arrive in Madrid. It has been so much fun putting this trip together, and being able to put something worthwhile back into the club after so many years of happy hiking with them.
So this upcoming camino will be a very different one for me, and I am so looking forward to it. After years of telling everyone they should go alone if they really want to experience the camino in all its glory, I now have my “camino family” readymade right from the start! I will be hoping, as the days progress, they will see just how easy it really is . . . . and then one day, when they feel the camino calling again, be brave enough to go it alone.
Jill
I think a better quisten is: "Where did you start your Camino" And you find a very diffetent answer.
Buen Camino
Well, that was an interesting 3 weeks. We had our ups and downs. Some fun times. Some bed bug bites! We had to learn tolerance, living together as a group. Some adapted to life on the camino better than others. We had a few injuries. No rain! (Only at night.) Some great meals together. Overall it was a success – all 16 of us met up in front of the cathedral at 6pm for a group photo. But individually? I’ll be listening in to the club’s grapevine over the coming weeks and months to find out . . . .
Jill
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