Very Early Planning

Hi Rod,

My wife & I walking in 2009, and probably started planning as far out as you have. We found the planning & anticipation a wonderful part of the whole Camino.

We walked from SJPP but had plenty of time, so didn't have the problem that you face.

Burgos - Leon as you know incorporates the Meseta, which sometimes gets a bad wrap, but my wife and I enjoyed it, although it can (IMHO) appear a little repetitious compared to other sections.

However, one of the things we discovered was that you just don't know what the "stages" are going to throw your way. We had some good experiences on the way across the Mesteta.

I remember commenting to my wife during our walk, that if I didn't have time to complete the complete CF route, then I would start from Leon.

The other alternative is to walk the complete route over a couple trips. Many of the Europeans do this, but of course it's a bit more of a committment for people in Oz to fly to the other side of the world.

Any how, good luck with your planning & decision making.

Buen Camino

Col

Unless there is a good reason, such as time, I would suggest not missing any of the stages.
The meseta, as someone said, is awesome... I made important life decisions on that long stretch.

I walked the Camino Frances in 2007, and, though I had planned to walk the entire route, my friend got sick in Roncesvalles and we had to take it slow for about a week. That put us a few days back, so we took a train from Burgos to Leon and finished from there.

At first I was really disappointed to miss out on the Meseta, but knowing that it was beyond my control, I quickly rebounded and adjusted to our new camino. When we got to Burgos I discovered from the other pilgrims that the train ride from Burgos to Leon is actually a well traveled route. Turns out that many of the pilgrims we walked with from Leon to Santiago had skipped the Meseta as well.

And before reaching Santiago, we actually caught up with some of the pilgrims who crossed into Roncesvalles with us on that first day.

I guess my point is that each camino is different and we all walk the path we're meant to walk.

Buen Camino!