For 2024 Pilgrims: €50,- donation = 1 year with no ads on the forum + 90% off any 2024 Guide. More here. (Discount code sent to you by Private Message after your donation) |
---|
I would suggest not to postpone your plans, however it is important that you have the right shoes/boots and backpack to do a long distance walk. You don't say how many days you want to walk but you will find that the more days you walk the fitter you get. So what I am saying is that the Camino itself can be the time for you to train as long as you take it easy in the early days of your walk and listen to your body. However, you are still likely to have some muscle pains when you first start but that is a so called good pain and will make you stronger as the days go on. I saw a few people who were physically fit but did not have the right shoes/boots and backpack and had to give up due to this. I would say, if you don't have any medical conditions and you are just a little unfit to just go for it. Just pack lightly and don't make any plans how many kilometres you want to walk in the early stages.Hi everyone! Walking Camino de Santiago has been one of my dreams, it sounds amazing and the right thing for me in so many ways. Now I will finally have a longer break from work and the first thing I thought was "finally I can do the camino!". Then I started to read this forum and got a bit discouraged, because of all the preparation the people talk about, in terms of training and gear. I am still working now and have almost no free time. I will have a week off before my camino is supposed to start and during this time I need to get all the necessary equipment plus train myself! I do have a backpack, but not even hiking shoes. I love to walk and do it often but I am not in the best physical shape. The big question is: should I postpone the Camino and do it one day when I will have had time to properly prepare for that? Or should I get the best equipment I can, go there and see what happens?
Hi everyone! Walking Camino de Santiago has been one of my dreams, it sounds amazing and the right thing for me in so many ways. Now I will finally have a longer break from work and the first thing I thought was "finally I can do the camino!". Then I started to read this forum and got a bit discouraged, because of all the preparation the people talk about, in terms of training and gear. I am still working now and have almost no free time. I will have a week off before my camino is supposed to start and during this time I need to get all the necessary equipment plus train myself! I do have a backpack, but not even hiking shoes. I love to walk and do it often but I am not in the best physical shape. The big question is: should I postpone the Camino and do it one day when I will have had time to properly prepare for that? Or should I get the best equipment I can, go there and see what happens?
Hi everyone! The big question is: should I postpone the Camino and do it one day when I will have had time to properly prepare for that? Or should I get the best equipment I can, go there and see what happens?
I cannot help feeling that making at least a little time from now on for some physical, mental and spiritual preparations would reap dividends later. Even if it were just to look at your current work routines and find a few moments here and there to reflect on what it means to undertake a pilgrimage, walk to speak to people if that is possible, take the stairs rather than the lift, or get out a floor or two below your destination, etc, etc. You may find turning your day to day activities into some form of preparation like that more beneficial than trying to cram everything into the last week.
Well said!I cannot help feeling that making at least a little time from now on for some physical, mental and spiritual preparations would reap dividends later. Even if it were just to look at your current work routines and find a few moments here and there to reflect on what it means to undertake a pilgrimage, walk to speak to people if that is possible, take the stairs rather than the lift, or get out a floor or two below your destination, etc, etc. You may find turning your day to day activities into some form of preparation like that more beneficial than trying to cram everything into the last week.
That is not "taking it easy"!
It is still an arduous two days! Starting in Leon will give you several days of flat/rolling hills walking as training grounds. Starting at SJPdP is quite vertical for two days. I sense a lot of self-doubt in your posts. If the anvil of the Pyrenees crushes your motivation, will it have been worth it if the alternative is starting in Leon and succeeding? Only you know. I suggest that you make the decision less on what others think and do, and more on what you think and can do. "it wouldn't be a proper experience" indicates a set of expectations and false criteria that will not serve you well! It sets you up for disappointment and a sense of failure that will sap your motivation when the path is difficult (which it will be).But if I walk slowly and break it up to 2 days? Roncesvalles is another option
Go for it. You only live once. Like so many people have said to you, fitness, training etc aside it's really a mental game of one foot in front of the other!! Go you!But if I walk slowly and break it up to 2 days? Roncesvalles is another option
I need to get all the necessary equipment plus train myself! I do have a backpack, but not even hiking shoes. I love to walk and do it often but I am not in the best physical shape. The big question is: should I postpone the Camino and do it one day when I will have had time to properly prepare for that?
Hi everyone! Walking Camino de Santiago has been one of my dreams, it sounds amazing and the right thing for me in so many ways. Now I will finally have a longer break from work and the first thing I thought was "finally I can do the camino!". Then I started to read this forum and got a bit discouraged, because of all the preparation the people talk about, in terms of training and gear. I am still working now and have almost no free time. I will have a week off before my camino is supposed to start and during this time I need to get all the necessary equipment plus train myself! I do have a backpack, but not even hiking shoes. I love to walk and do it often but I am not in the best physical shape. The big question is: should I postpone the Camino and do it one day when I will have had time to properly prepare for that? Or should I get the best equipment I can, go there and see what happens?
Good On YOU.....just take the first few days slowly and calmly....no need to rush. You will have a great experience, and, hopefully, a happy and fulfilling walk....Safe TravelsWow, thank you everyone for the extensive feedback, you people are so nice!!! I definitely became excited about it again and got some good advice, I will try to include some little activities into every day and let the Camino itself be the training time if needed! I think mentally I have been preparing for this for a while already. I have had a very stressful job that has pushed me too far from who I really am, and getting away from it and walking alone for few weeks already sounds like heaven. I was initially thinking about starting from Leon and walk until Santiago, but now I am doubting it, maybe it wouldn't be a proper experience if I don't do the whole way? So maybe I will start from SJPP (and definitely take the Valcarlos route), walk as much as I can in 3,5 weeks (that's how long I have for now) and come back later to continue from where I left off!
Totu, I would just like to add to my earlier post that the Camino Frances is not the only Camino that takes you to Santiago. I know it's the most popular and it is really busy in the summer months. If you like time on your own and time away from stress, as you mentioned, it maybe worthwhile to consider other Caminos. You could perhaps walk the the Primitivo from Oviedo or the Portuguese from Porto to Santiago and then continue to Fisterre and even Muxia. This could give you a sense of achievement and it would be within the time frame you have. I know it's not a contest but I really like to finish in Santiago every time I am on the Camino and I really like to collect my Compostela as it is something I can look at and reflect on. The Primitivo and the Portuguese Caminos have a very good infrastructure and you won't be alone, but I think you have more space and time for yourself than on the Camino Frances in the summer months. Winter of course is a different story altogether. And I have seen a few first timers on both of these Caminos, so nothing to be afraid of.Wow, thank you everyone for the extensive feedback, you people are so nice!!! I definitely became excited about it again and got some good advice, I will try to include some little activities into every day and let the Camino itself be the training time if needed! I think mentally I have been preparing for this for a while already. I have had a very stressful job that has pushed me too far from who I really am, and getting away from it and walking alone for few weeks already sounds like heaven. I was initially thinking about starting from Leon and walk until Santiago, but now I am doubting it, maybe it wouldn't be a proper experience if I don't do the whole way? So maybe I will start from SJPP (and definitely take the Valcarlos route), walk as much as I can in 3,5 weeks (that's how long I have for now) and come back later to continue from where I left off!
Love this...well said!Dear Totu, do what your heart tells you, listen to your heart! If it is screaming at you to go, then go!I am happy for you
Maybe we will meet there along the way, I should start next week . Have confortable shoes, I did it with tennis shoes, take your most comfortable ones. It is all about the shoes, after all it is your feet that carry you. I wear some new balance Minimus, is what I like, but any confortable sports shoes will work. About the distances don't try to keep up with others , go at your own pace. It took me 8 weeks to complete from SJPP to Santiago. Take a light pack, don't take your insecurities... this is what one person told me and they were right! All the "what ifs", you take a waay too heavy pack, you will walk through some cities and their stores will be happy to take your credit card payment! Don't worry about the logistics so much is the journey that counts.
... I do have a backpack, but not even hiking shoes. I love to walk and do it often but I am not in the best physical shape. The big question is: should I postpone the Camino and do it one day when I will have had time to properly prepare for that? Or should I get the best equipment I can, go there and see what happens?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?