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Safe to walk alone?

rebedev

New Member
Time of past OR future Camino
SJPP - Finistere (July 2010)
SJPP - SDC (20/09/15 - 20/10/15)
quick question if you don't mind guys... I've previously walked the Frances in 2010 as an 18 year old, alone at points along the trail and sometimes not even bumping into other pilgrims for the majority of the day. It just depended on how it worked out, I paid no attention to whether I was walking alone or not and never felt even slightly concerned for my safety or well-being. I loved the feeling of community combined with the ability to be completely alone if you wished

I'm walking again in a couple of weeks and have been browsing this forum quite a bit over the past few months and am slightly concerned at the number of "women on the camino" type threads reporting uncomfortable situations/feeling threatened etc.

I just wanted to ask those of you who have completed the camino recently - have the numbers of incidents increased dramatically since 2010 or am I just more aware of them now through this kind of research? I know that I need to have a level of awareness for my own safety but I don't want to have suspicions in the back of my mind or feel like I have to be on the look out or always within sight of other walkers. I'd like to think that these incidents are truly rare and not something that have come to be expected along the camino?

Thanks in advance for any insights :) and on a more positive note... I CANNOT WAIT! Buen Camino to all :)
 
St James' Way - Self-guided 4-7 day Walking Packages, Reading to Southampton, 110 kms
If I were your mom, I'd say go and have a great time!
I would caution you not to walk with earbuds in your ears, and to stay alert.
And I'd ask that you walk with a group on the section from Astorga to maybe Rabanal.
But otherwise, I wouldn't worry.

Life isn't meant to be lived in fear, imo.
 
If I were your mom, I'd say go and have a great time!
I would caution you not to walk with earbuds in your ears, and to stay alert.
And I'd ask that you walk with a group on the section from Astorga to maybe Rabanal.
But otherwise, I wouldn't worry.

Life isn't meant to be lived in fear, imo.
 
€2,-/day will present your project to thousands of visitors each day. All interested in the Camino de Santiago.
Agree with the thought. Having never walked a Camino I don't know. Planning to walk alone Porto to Finesterre in late Sept. Did hear a few stories of consern. Hope to find other pilgrims to walk on and off with. Be safe!

If I were your mom, I'd say go and have a great time!
I would caution you not to walk with earbuds in your ears, and to stay alert.
And I'd ask that you walk with a group on the section from Astorga to maybe Rabanal.
But otherwise, I wouldn't worry.

Life isn't meant to be lived in fear, imo.
 
Agree with the thought. Having never walked a Camino I don't know. Planning to walk alone Porto to Finesterre in late Sept. Did hear a few stories of consern. Hope to find other pilgrims to walk on and off with. Be safe!
Hopefully we will meet, i will definitely keep a lookout. I leave South Africa on the 20th September and am going to spend some time with my aunts in Lisbon - then sightseeing Lisbon to Porto - on public transport and then starting the camino from Porto - when do you plan to start?
 
Hopefully we will meet, i will definitely keep a lookout. I leave South Africa on the 20th September and am going to spend some time with my aunts in Lisbon - then sightseeing Lisbon to Porto - on public transport and then starting the camino from Porto - when do you plan to start?
 
The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
Plans slightly in the wind. Need to drive cross US and regroup. Flying to Lisbon and will navigate public transport to Porto. Looking at flights now. When will you start?
 
Plans slightly in the wind. Need to drive cross US and regroup. Flying to Lisbon and will navigate public transport to Porto. Looking at flights now. When will you start?
thinking that i will start the 27th or 28th and you?
 
A selection of Camino Jewellery
quick question if you don't mind guys... I've previously walked the Frances in 2010 as an 18 year old, alone at points along the trail and sometimes not even bumping into other pilgrims for the majority of the day. It just depended on how it worked out, I paid no attention to whether I was walking alone or not and never felt even slightly concerned for my safety or well-being. I loved the feeling of community combined with the ability to be completely alone if you wished

I'm walking again in a couple of weeks and have been browsing this forum quite a bit over the past few months and am slightly concerned at the number of "women on the camino" type threads reporting uncomfortable situations/feeling threatened etc.

I just wanted to ask those of you who have completed the camino recently - have the numbers of incidents increased dramatically since 2010 or am I just more aware of them now through this kind of research? I know that I need to have a level of awareness for my own safety but I don't want to have suspicions in the back of my mind or feel like I have to be on the look out or always within sight of other walkers. I'd like to think that these incidents are truly rare and not something that have come to be expected along the camino?

Thanks in advance for any insights :) and on a more positive note... I CANNOT WAIT! Buen Camino to all :)

Hi, rebedev,

I am of the firm belief that these things have been going on for a long time and that it's social media and the internet that makes us more aware. I have been walking caminos since 2000. Between 2000 and 2006, I was flashed four times and fondled once. Since 2006, nothing. That is probably because 2007 was the year I switched over to more solitary caminos -- kind of ironic that I may be safer from this kind of behavior walking alone on untraveled caminos than walking the much more populated Francés. But I think it makes sense -- if you were a pervert like this, it's unlikely you'd go hang out at a spot where only 2 or 3 people pass by every day. But in any event, I don't think the phenomenon is new, just the ability to spread the news about it is. Wishing you a muy buen camino, and I agree with Annie -- just use your head like you would in any other part of the world and be alert! Laurie
 

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