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Camino Spring 2022: Dreams | Goals | Plans

Chris Hassell

New Member
Time of past OR future Camino
2022
Hey all

Thought I'd start a thread for all us potential pilgrims for Spring 2022! Would be very interested to hear your plans/thoughts/concerns/expectations for next year! I completed my first Camino in May 2017 so this will be Camino no. 2 for me! I'm very excited to get back out on the road! What do you think the Covid situation will be like then and how do you think it will affect the walk?

Look forward to hearing from you all!

Chris
 
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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! I *love* plans... and for 2022... I am hopeful. My plans assume that at some point in 2022 we will be on a regularized vaccine and booster system, that the mutations won't be stronger (mutations in respiratory infections generally do not need to get stronger as they are already very good at what they do -- so the historical trend has been that they get better at spreading and less likely to devastate the immune systems of bodies already familiar with the genre), and that the camino routes will not have been so devastated that the infrastructure is down more than 10% or so. Decimated it might be, but obliterated, no.

My beloved childhood friend is hoping to walk her first camino with the intent of walking into Santiago on her birthday. In 2019 I pushed like mad to make up lost time on the one nasty blister I have ever had so that I could arrive in SdC to get the Compostela in the name of my friend's mother who had died the year before. Now friend aims to get her own, and have her own time/freedome/exploration for what will be her 55th birthday.

I am *hoping* to find an apartment to rent in the NW and to start looking for a permanent place that I could move into at least half time starting in 2023. I will be seeking something close to one of the established camino routes for I do not see myself losing interest in walking long distances in a region that fascinates me endlessly.

*AND* .... after our parents' horrific separation caused us to lose each other some 35 years ago, my step sister and I found each other 2 years ago (She has the French equivalent name to "Jane Smith" and her mother had gone to ground after our parents split; I had changed my name on marriage). But eventually we found each other and we hope o walk from Porto to SdC together as "sister/friends" (as she likes to say).

*AND* if it has not been safe and practical for Dear Spouse to do his own walk this fall from somewhere south of Porto, then he will do that while I am walking with my sister/friend and we will meet at the end in Santiago. He was supposed to go May 11, 2020 after being cleared on March 10 (!) to do the walk following a "heart event". Assuming he was going to pass the clearance for the event that he had had in January, I had been planning to buy his ticket on March 11th... but we all know how that went.

These are dreams, and so far all I have procured are the Anos Santos passports, the Casa Ivar enamel pins, and distributed Wise Pilgrim Apps to everyone.

Right now, I am sheltering in the woods and when it stops pouring rain, I intend to start walking long distances (so excited because I've found a route that I can complete as a 25-30K circle with 4 variations, all of which stop at the take-out burger joint on a nearby lake)... and there's my walk into town that gives me a 22K round trip and rewards me with a whiskey walnut brownie at the midway point. I'm here until the end of April and see this is my "reminder" that I am a person who loves to walk....

But there is *nothing* like walking in Europe *for me*. The web of small towns, each one stuffed with history that is visible.... terrible and marvellous... it makes me feel so young and naive.... and I long to return to that feeling. And to see the elderly people in the villages (please let them still be there!) who come out with plums or apricots or figs to offer them and wish us well on our way... to see the elderly Galician women pushing wheelbarrows of carrots and firewood.... to see the multigenerational networks of families enjoying company and letting the little ones roam in the plazas late into the evening.... stumbling on the heaved stones of *yet another* Roman road (how did I not think that of course the Romans *numbered* the roads?! I love that one can follow the RR 21 north out of Albergaria de Venhola... )

Oh yes! I have plans!!

May all of our dreams come true! Meanwhile... I'm doing Spanish lessons every day on Duolingo, and thinking to enrol in a Spanish course at work in the fall...

Buen camino everyone.
 
3rd Edition. More content, training & pack guides avoid common mistakes, bed bugs etc
The first edition came out in 2003 and has become the go-to-guide for many pilgrims over the years. It is shipping with a Pilgrim Passport (Credential) from the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela.
Hey all

Thought I'd start a thread for all us potential pilgrims for Spring 2022! Would be very interested to hear your plans/thoughts/concerns/expectations for next year! I completed my first Camino in May 2017 so this will be Camino no. 2 for me! I'm very excited to get back out on the road! What do you think the Covid situation will be like then and how do you think it will affect the walk?

Look forward to hearing from you all!

Chris
I have a feeling you will know what the situation is a lot better next year than now. Plan and have fun doing it. By the time your departure approaches you will know exactly what to do. Don’t worry about it or plan for something that you can be sure will change. Just like the Camino all the planning in the world gets tossed with your first step.
 
I turn 70 next year. My wife is a little younger. We walked the Frances route from St Jean in 2017 and again in 2018. We plan to walk again starting the first week of May in 2022. Both of us can’t wait to get started. We have purchased our boots and walking now to break them in. Like our trips before, we will be writing a blog posting photos and comments almost daily for family and friends to follow (reassurance we are doing well). Buen Camino!
 
Join the Camino Cleanup in May from Ponferrada to Sarria. Registration closes Mar 22.
Hey all

Thought I'd start a thread for all us potential pilgrims for Spring 2022! Would be very interested to hear your plans/thoughts/concerns/expectations for next year! I completed my first Camino in May 2017 so this will be Camino no. 2 for me! I'm very excited to get back out on the road! What do you think the Covid situation will be like then and how do you think it will affect the walk?

Look forward to hearing from you all!

Chris
I'm also hoping to walk next spring, if everything is calmed down by then. I dream about returning as many others do as well. Can't come soon enough. I kind of worry there will be so many of us starting out but it will surely aid the albergues and folks there who've suffered through this pandemic.
 
Hey all

Thought I'd start a thread for all us potential pilgrims for Spring 2022! Would be very interested to hear your plans/thoughts/concerns/expectations for next year! I completed my first Camino in May 2017 so this will be Camino no. 2 for me! I'm very excited to get back out on the road! What do you think the Covid situation will be like then and how do you think it will affect the walk?

Look forward to hearing from you all!

Chris
We are ails planning for late April 2022. This will be our first full Camino Frances.
Nelson
 
Join the Camino Cleanup in May from Ponferrada to Sarria. Registration closes Mar 22.
My hope and plan is to walk the Camino Frances to Ponferrada, then the Invierno to Santiago, starting at Roncesvalles on the first day of spring, 2022.
I’ve walked the Camino Frances route twice from SJPD, in 2015 and 2017. I had hoped to walk again in 2021 but have now moved my start date out to summer 2022. I too have decided to walk from SJPD to Ponferrada and then continue on the Camino Invierno route to Santiago. I’m excited to experience the last 10 days into Santiago on new paths.
 
Ideal pocket guides for during & after your Camino. Each weighs only 1.4 oz (40g)!
Hoping to do a 100km -plus Camino Frances early April 2022; have booked the trip home with miles/points and waiting till a different airline opens up award seats so I can book the trip out! All can be cancelled/redeposited in the event of extended pandemic.
 
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The 2024 Camino guides will be coming out little by little. Here is a collection of the ones that are out so far.
We are planning to walk the Frances from March 18 - April 18, 2022. Sure could use some feedback on how these dates sound with most consideration given to weather possibilities.
 
Technical backpack for day trips with backpack cover and internal compartment for the hydration bladder. Ideal daypack for excursions where we need a medium capacity backpack. The back with Air Flow System creates large air channels that will keep our back as cool as possible.

€83,-
To follow up on my post above--I was able to get tickets with miles/points and fly into Bilbao then plan to stop in Burgos, Leon, and then walk from Sarria to Santiago. My husband developed terrible knee issues, inoperable, and has some telehealth work to do, so now instead of walking with me he will be getting himself transported and meet me when I'm finished for the day.
 
Camino number three.
Either Lisbon to Santiago or St Jean to Santiago (undecided) in April 2022 or, if plans fall apart, September 2022.
Not too far off now, if it turns out to be April.
Yea!!
 
I'm thinking mid-May 2022, starting in SJPdP, but won't book any flights till much closer to that time. I'll be watching covid developments, both at home, and in Spain, for the next few months.
 
Get a spanish phone number with Airalo. eSim, so no physical SIM card. Easy to use app to add more funds if needed.
I will (hopefully!) be starting my first Camino the first week of May 2022, postponed from 2020, and will be following this thread with interest - not to mention looking forward to crossing paths with anyone reading this who may be walking around the same time.
 
I could use some guidance.

I'm planning my first camino for spring 2022, Le Puy to Muxía. I would start the Monday after Easter (April 18). That would put me in at St Jean around May 21... which would put me in Muxía around the end of June.

Here's the part I need advice on, because I am a bit of a delicate flower:
  1. I kinda hate crowds and I've heard that May is the most popular route (so I might just bail on the Francés and walk something a little less popular - and that is fine).
  2. I hate heat. Anything above 32 degrees is gonna slow me down (and I'm slow already).

So, to me, doing Le Puy to SJPdP in April/May sounds perfect... and on to Muxía is a crapshoot. And then there's the pandemic.

Should I look at doing this in the fall instead? I'd really prefer not to break this up.

Thanks in advance (and thanks to you, @Chris Hassell, for starting this thread)
 
Just a little live update for you Spring Dreamers. I am going to be walking into Santiago in two days, having started the Frances on the 21st of September.

Nobody knows what the spring will look like, but for the moment, the Frances is happening. A significant number of places (20 percent??) have shut down from previous years, and others are looking a little threadbare (reduced staff, reduced menus) , but for the most part, the Camino infrastructure has survived pretty well. Finding accomodations has been easy, as has food. The number of choices is reduced, but there is still plenty available.

A number of places don't offer communal meals anymore, but others still do. The morning coffee has gotten harder to find in some places, but persistence pays off - somebody is always making cafe con leches somewhere nearby. The number of pilgrims has gone way down from previous years, but there is always someone around walking your way. I miss the regular run-ins with the down under pilgrims, but the NA and euro pilgrims are all here.

For anyone worried about what they might find: Don't be. The Camino continues to provide. You need to wear masks indoors, and the albergues are keeping some beds empty, but other than that, things are much as they were. Oh, and as for The Way itself, it is timeless....

Buen Camino
 
Ideal pocket guides for during & after your Camino. Each weighs only 1.4 oz (40g)!
Camino number three.
Either Lisbon to Santiago or St Jean to Santiago (undecided) in April 2022 or, if plans fall apart, September 2022.
Not too far off now, if it turns out to be April.
Yea!!
I'm also thinking of starting from Lisbon in mid April, and if I'm lucky returning in September for the Norte/Primitivo.
 
Hey all

Thought I'd start a thread for all us potential pilgrims for Spring 2022! Would be very interested to hear your plans/thoughts/concerns/expectations for next year! I completed my first Camino in May 2017 so this will be Camino no. 2 for me! I'm very excited to get back out on the road! What do you think the Covid situation will be like then and how do you think it will affect the walk?

Look forward to hearing from you all!

Chris
Hi Chris, happy new year!
im look to come back and walki the Camino again, hopefully this spring. Are you aware of any special restrictions, guidelines ? Will the albergues be open along the way?
thank you. I’m in Florida, when are you planning to go?

Tamar
 
Camino number three.
Either Lisbon to Santiago or St Jean to Santiago (undecided) in April 2022 or, if plans fall apart, September 2022.
Not too far off now, if it turns out to be April.
Yea!!
April 4 start my first Camino! From St Jean....Santiago
 
St James' Way - Self-guided 4-7 day Walking Packages, Reading to Southampton, 110 kms
April 4 start my first Camino! From St Jean....Santiago
I’m jealous. Mine is postponed till late June. Hot burning heat, I know, but there’s the Camino and there’s everyday life and sometimes they’re out of sinc. But I ain’t complainin’. Any time is a good time for walking the Camino, far as I’m concerned.
 
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Hot burning heat can't be hotter than Texas. I'm planning on June 9 but if I hear here that that the albergues are open, they have blankets and dinners and all is well, I'll leave early. So you early spring chickens, give us the sitrep!
 
Down bag (90/10 duvet) of 700 fills with 180 g (6.34 ounces) of filling. Mummy-shaped structure, ideal when you are looking for lightness with great heating performance.

€149,-
Hot burning heat can't be hotter than Texas. I'm planning on June 9 but if I hear here that that the albergues are open, they have blankets and dinners and all is well, I'll leave early. So you early spring chickens, give us the sitrep!
Probably shouldn't need a blanket in June, but who knows?! We had almost everything in our pack on when I look back at the photos of mid-June 2016 out on the Meseta! I had on a shirt, hoodie, my buff and my white overshirt. My husband made me take off my hat and shades for this June 18th photo apparently! they guy on the unicycle was apparently cold, too. The things you see on the Meseta! 20160616_092357.jpg20160619_072006.jpg
 

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