hi Heidi, I have almost zero cartilage in both knees and rheumatoid arthritis - remember to take your meds and get a cortisone shot 8 days or so before your leave... then walk at your pace ... I took a leisurely stroll from SJPdP to Santiago 49 days and no serious issues with knees / joints. I had made use of Jacotrans on and off during my walk - I'd look at the profile / elevations and downhills for the following day and then decide if I wanted to drag my pack up / down hill - almost all albergues, Refugio's, hostals, small hotels etc have the little Jacotrans envelopes at their 'reception' desks - you simply advise the person who runs the accomm that you would like to book a 'mochilla transport', almost every time they called Jacotrans to advise that my pack would need collection in the morning or Jacotrans goes past their accomm every morning anyway - anyhow, 7 euros into the envelope, you mark the envelope with your name, your contact tel number, from X albergue and delivery to Y albergue, if you have it, the tel number of your destination albergue and voila, packs get transported - Jacotrans do collect from all accomm facilities along the main
Camino Frances route, whether that accomm is listed on their site or not...there are 3 main Jacotrans contact numbers for the various sections along the camino - if you're taking a cell phone, save these numbers - in the event that you have to call Jacotrans yourself to reserve ... I used google translate: Ola me gustaría reservar una colección mochila para mañana por la mañana de (collect from albergue name) a entregar a (deliver to name) gracias.. always worked... I also knew pilgrims who had no reservations for the following day, they'd simply select the albergue they like and had their packs transported there, if the albergue was full, they'd pick up there packs and move on... good luck with all the planning and Buen Camino
