Planning for 2024

[rdcalhoon]

I don't know how many folks plan their Camino as far out as several years from now. My wife and I are planning to walk the Camino Frances in 2024, the year I turn 70. A good friend of my wife walked some 4 or 5 years back in her 70th year and she overflows with enthusiasm when talking about her experience. There are various reasons for waiting till then which I could discuss if anyone in interested, but they do preclude starting before 2023 at the earliest.

Meanwhile, I am enjoying exploring the Camino community here on this forum and elsewhere.

 

[Kanga]

Welcome @rdcalhoon - and may you not be overwhelmed with information but enjoy the planning.

 

[AnneO]

I am planning my first Camino in 2023, to celebrate my 50th birthday.

 

[davebugg]

Hello, rdcalhoon , and a warm welcome to the Forum.

Here is a link which also may be of help as you plan: American Pilgrims on Camino's FAQs about a Camino pilgrimage

The good news is, you are in a forum with a wonderful group of people. Most are here to help people like you to achieve their pilgrimage goals. We can offer you encouragement, knowledge, and point you in the direction that will help you help yourself.

Some suggestion which may help:

Take a deep breath. Write down in large letters the reasons why you want to go on Camino. Place that piece of paper where you can see it every day. That way, if anxieties and fears threaten to overwhelm you as you plan, you can just breath, read what you have written, and focus on those reasons until the negative stuff fades.

Make a list of questions and concerns that you have.

Go to the Search Engine at the top of the Forum pages. Enter the words or phrase that you want more information about. You will get a huge amount of information to explore.

If you find that you need help with anything, post a new thread so that your question or concern can be readily seen. If you post a question within someone else's thread, you won't receive as big of a response.

2024 gives you time and leeway to see how things in the post-COVID world and tourism in Spain/EU is shake out and, hopefully, settle.

Remember that perfect timing as it relates to how you feel, scheduling, and day to day life issues, seldom align themselves perfectly. If one waits for such to occur, doing something like a pilgrimage will always be in danger of taking a back seat while you wait for that perfect alignment to happen

 

[gerardcarey]

Mate !!! Best of luck in waiting til 2024.
But I for one wouldn't put any money on you hanging out that long.
Regards and best wishes,
Gerard

 

[Kanga]

@AnneO welcome to the forum. I also walked my first Camino the year I turned 50. A fabulous thing to do.

 

[lt56ny]

Hello, rdcalhoon , and a warm welcome to the Forum.

Here is a link which also may be of help as you plan: American Pilgrims on Camino's FAQs about a Camino pilgrimage

The good news is, you are in a forum with a wonderful group of people. Most are here to help people like you to achieve their pilgrimage goals. We can offer you encouragement, knowledge, and point you in the direction that will help you help yourself.

Some suggestion which may help:

Take a deep breath. Write down in large letters the reasons why you want to go on Camino. Place that piece of paper where you can see it every day. That way, if anxieties and fears threaten to overwhelm you as you plan, you can just breath, read what you have written, and focus on those reasons until the negative stuff fades.

Make a list of questions and concerns that you have.

Go to the Search Engine at the top of the Forum pages. Enter the words or phrase that you want more information about. You will get a huge amount of information to explore.

If you find that you need help with anything, post a new thread so that your question or concern can be readily seen. If you post a question within someone else's thread, you won't receive as big of a response.

2024 gives you time and leeway to see how things in the post-COVID world and tourism in Spain/EU is shake out and, hopefully, settle.

Remember that perfect timing as it relates to how you feel, scheduling, and day to day life issues, seldom align themselves perfectly. If one waits for such to occur, doing something like a pilgrimage will always be in danger of taking a back seat while you wait for that perfect alignment to happen

I have seen you post this many times and it is good advice.

Write down in large letters the reasons why you want to go on Camino.

What I would find interesting is if new pilgrims who do this exercise find that when they return if the reasons they wanted to do the Camino turned out to still be valid or did they realize that they discovered that there were far more important feelings and reasons that emerged then the ones they felt before they went.
For me after 5 Caminos I still don't know why I want to go except that I know I have to and that when I am there it feels like I have come home. I guess those are the reasons haha.

 

[Beeks]

2024 is my 60th trip around the sun. July. 1st full camino.

Gonna risk the heat to spend 3 days in Pamplona during the San Fermín festival.

FIESTA...!

 

[rdcalhoon]

Thank you all for your welcome. For me the planning stage is part of the journey. Not that I want to know where we will be at 11 am on the 5th day. It is more identifying and dealing with those problem issues that can either be minimized or turned into a feature, and also getting up in the morning with options for the day and also the ability to toss that aside if desired.

 

[rdcalhoon]

Welcome @rdcalhoon - and may you not be overwhelmed with information but enjoy the planning.

Thank you @Kanga. I do enjoy jumping in the deep end of the information pool.

 

[rdcalhoon]

I am planning my first Camino in 2023, to celebrate my 50th birthday.

I would love to be on Camino on my birthday, but I am leaning towards late May - early June so we would be finished before my June 20 birthday.

 

[rdcalhoon]

Hello, rdcalhoon , and a warm welcome to the Forum.

Here is a link which also may be of help as you plan: American Pilgrims on Camino's FAQs about a Camino pilgrimage

The good news is, you are in a forum with a wonderful group of people. Most are here to help people like you to achieve their pilgrimage goals. We can offer you encouragement, knowledge, and point you in the direction that will help you help yourself.

Some suggestion which may help:

Take a deep breath. Write down in large letters the reasons why you want to go on Camino. Place that piece of paper where you can see it every day. That way, if anxieties and fears threaten to overwhelm you as you plan, you can just breath, read what you have written, and focus on those reasons until the negative stuff fades.

Make a list of questions and concerns that you have.

Go to the Search Engine at the top of the Forum pages. Enter the words or phrase that you want more information about. You will get a huge amount of information to explore.

If you find that you need help with anything, post a new thread so that your question or concern can be readily seen. If you post a question within someone else's thread, you won't receive as big of a response.

2024 gives you time and leeway to see how things in the post-COVID world and tourism in Spain/EU is shake out and, hopefully, settle.

Remember that perfect timing as it relates to how you feel, scheduling, and day to day life issues, seldom align themselves perfectly. If one waits for such to occur, doing something like a pilgrimage will always be in danger of taking a back seat while you wait for that perfect alignment to happen

Thanks for the thoughtful suggestions @davebugg.
I have been poking around here and elsewhere on the web. I have quite a collection of bookmarks on my browser.
The Why answer has certainly developed and changed since we first had the "We should do that!" response. I can see it deserves some deeper thought.

 

[rdcalhoon]

Mate !!! Best of luck in waiting til 2024.
But I for one wouldn't put any money on you hanging out that long.
Regards and best wishes,
Gerard

Hey @gerardcarey, it's not just me making the timing decision. The original idea was my wife's - to go in 2025 when she turns 70. I talked her into 2024 for my 70th. (I haven't yet opened the idea that we go both in 2024 and 2025).

 

[rdcalhoon]

2024 is my 60th trip around the sun. July. 1st full camino.

Gonna risk the heat to spend 3 days in Pamplona during the San Fermín festival.

FIESTA...!

I'm not all that big on the heat, but I am all for FIESTA!

 

[davebugg]

I have seen you post this many times and it is good advice.

What I would find interesting is if new pilgrims who do this exercise find that when they return if the reasons they wanted to do the Camino turned out to still be valid or did they realize that they discovered that there were far more important feelings and reasons that emerged then the ones they felt before they went.
For me after 5 Caminos I still don't know why I want to go except that I know I have to and that when I am there it feels like I have come home. I guess those are the reasons haha.

i appreciate your thoughts For new Forum members, trying to provide a welcome and maybe a few tips that might be useful does make it a bit repetitive to us 'veterans'.

I think you should share your observation, as part of a formatted welcome to 'newbies', that sometimes one's reasons for wanting to go on Camino may not be crystal clear in the near term, but that discovering the 'why' can be a vital part of letting the Camino take its time revealing its unique purpose to you.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

@davebugg, I love your warm and kind welcome reply to new forum members...it's the best! Keep on keepin' on! I'm sure they appreciate it as your words go above and beyond.

 

[AnneO]

I would love to be on Camino on my birthday, but I am leaning towards late May - early June so we would be finished before my June 20 birthday.

Same general time frame for me, but my birthday is early June so will work perfectly. I am a college instructor so will leave as soon as school ends in May.

 

[jpflavin1]

I don't know how many folks plan their Camino as far out as several years from now. My wife and I are planning to walk the Camino Frances in 2024, the year I turn 70. A good friend of my wife walked some 4 or 5 years back in her 70th year and she overflows with enthusiasm when talking about her experience. There are various reasons for waiting till then which I could discuss if anyone in interested, but they do preclude starting before 2023 at the earliest.

Meanwhile, I am enjoying exploring the Camino community here on this forum and elsewhere.

Depending on the type of person you are; Too much planning or developing expectations can, imo, take away from the benefits a Camino offers. Most importantly learning something about yourself. I do believe it is important to plan your ingress and egress, pack weight, shoes and gear. After that, I believe in letting the Camino be my guide.

The Frances is the easiest route to take this approach. You have a town every 6-10 km's with the exception of two days. This provides you with a lot of flexibility. Planning every stop ahead of time locks you into your day. It could be very hot and you might not want to walk as far. It could be pouring ran. It could be a beautiful day and you want to keep walking. You could meet someone and enjoy walking together. You could develop an injury. The best approach, imo, is to just let the Camino be your guide.

Setting expectations ahead of time, imo, can also lead to disappointment. More than likely, you have never done anything like this before. Take this as an opportunity to just soak in whatever the Camino has to offer.

The Camino has taught me, a little bit at a time, how to be a better husband, Father, Grandfather, friend, neighbor and human being. It truly is an introspective journey.

Ultreya,
Joe

 

[lt56ny]

i appreciate your thoughts For new Forum members, trying to provide a welcome and maybe a few tips that might be useful does make it a bit repetitive to us 'veterans'.

I think you should share your observation, as part of a formatted welcome to 'newbies', that sometimes one's reasons for wanting to go on Camino may not be crystal clear in the near term, but that discovering the 'why' can be a vital part of letting the Camino take its time revealing its unique purpose to you.

I think you are correct and it is good for new pilgrims to explore the why they want to walk for maybe more clarity and maybe even to help reduce their pre camino stress and jitters. I will think about how I could address this topic clearly. As I said I think what you wrote is a good starting point to help pilgrims and to let them know that the moment they made their decision to walk that they have already taken their first spiritual and mental steps towards Santiago.
What I would love to read about is how pilgrims feel after the end of their camino. Where the pressing reasons that thought they needed to walk really that important. Or were there that there were there other things that emerged while walking the camino that were the things they really needed to experience and need to learn? Things that they only thought of in passing as not as significant or never thought or felt before?
As we all say the Camino gives you what you need not what you want.
The answer to this question may take months to discover or maybe one or two or ten more Caminos to discover. I think this is where I am.
Less is so much more, camino is home, and 5 caminos is not enough, it is my refuge and my peace. I still haven't been able to duplicate it in the alternate reality I live in when I am not walking. Maybe I never will, who knows.