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#1 was the best. Everything was unexpected and 'new'.
#2 was good, a shorter one with my wife. Great to see it through her eyes.
#3 was OK. Again with my wife. But I realised I prefer to walk alone. It's a totally different experience. And more the type of experience I seek.
All 3 on the CF.
#1 800 kms.
#2 150 kms
#3 800 kms.
Great answers!!I am retired and have walked 4 times. All in the Fall. All the Camino Frances
Most common question asked of me: Why the Camino Frances every time?
A: Before each Camino, I look at the many choices of routes. The answer is always the same.
-Norte is TOO hilly.
-Portuguese is short (to fly across the Atlantic for).
-the rest... under developed and not many Pilgrims.
The CF offers greater flexibility in distance per day (less planning), lots of coffee/water stops, and endless social encounters.
Camino 1, 2, and 3 were walked with my Wife
Camino 4 was with my Son (31)
Camino 1, 3 and 4 from SJPdP
Camino 2 from Ronc.
#1 (same) Everything was unexpected and 'new'. Made many NewBee mistakes.
#2 Worked on improving accommodations (all private rooms) and improving the main meal (no more “Pilgrium Meals” at Bars).
#3 Half the stops were different, added many Communal Meals, searched out Bakeries with real “made in house” treats. Tried a few alternate routes.
#4 Walked with my Son (he's very social) added a completely new perspective. More Bars. More Young People. Longer distances per day. Learned how younger people can not function without a “phone”. Did all the alternate routes I could find.
Camino #3 produced the best set of pictures.
For every Camino, my backpack gets lighter.
Would I do it again: Already dreaming
I can definitely understand the age thing. I was 35 on my camino and felt in between the age groups for the first couple of weeks. Later though everyone just kind of put all that aside as they got comfortable and it was a lot of fun.Hard to encapsulate in a few sentences but I'll try.
#1 - Camino Francés
Everything was new and exciting but adjusting to the daily walking rhythm was difficult in the beginning (especially because my wife developed plantar fasciitis literally on the first day). Because we were used to wilderness hiking, and because most other pilgrims seemed a fair bit younger or older than us (we were in our late 30s), it took us a while to find our way socially too. By the second half we had adjusted better on both fronts and began to feel the spirit of the camino more and more. Being able to walk through so many different regions and see the changes from one to the next was a real highlight.
#2 - Camino Primitivo
This seemed like the ideal camino in terms of pilgrim numbers. By Bodenaya we had come together as a nice group of about 12-15 people doing basically the same stages and crossing paths along the trail or at the end of the day. Because the scenery in Asturias and Galicia is similar, it didn't have the same 'epic sweep' feel as the Francés with all its different regions and landscapes. The weather wasn't very good but we had such a great group of people that spirits were always high. Easily my favourite 'social camino'.
#3 - Camino de Madrid
I loved this camino but my wife would have preferred more pilgrims (we only saw about five the whole way, and all very briefly except one who we walked on and off with for the second half of the camino). It had easily the least pilgrim interaction of our caminos but the most local interaction. As others have noted, one thing that makes the CdM really attractive is that there is just enough pilgrim infrastructure so that you can stay in albergues virtually every night and feel like you're on a camino, but also that it is quite undiscovered as far as caminos go so you feel like you're off the beaten track at the same time. That seems like a rare combination.
#2 - Camino Primitivo
Because the scenery in Asturias and Galicia is similar, it didn't have the same 'epic sweep' feel as the Francés with all its different regions and landscapes. The weather wasn't very good but we had such a great group of people that spirits were always high. Easily my favourite 'social camino'.
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